COMP 97 and 98: Senior Capstone

Tufts University Department of Computer Science, 2019 - 2020 Academic Year

Course Description From Bulletin

Requirements analysis and design of a senior capstone project. Requirements analysis and elicitation methods, and prototyping. Design principles and methods, including designing for usability, security, testability, performance, and scaling. Project management and planning, including cost and effort estimation. Writing effective documentation.

What is Senior Capstone, Really?

• Fall semester: requirements gathering and analysis, design, proof of concept
• Spring semester: implementation, professional development, testing, showcase

Why Senior Capstone? What Purposes Do Senior Capstone Serve?

• Students work in teams
• Students work in interdisciplinary teams
• Students work on an open-ended, loosely-defined project
• Students understand the needs of customers and project stakeholders
• Students understand real-world engineering challenges and trade-offs

Senior Capstone shall be integral to help students to attain according to ABET:

1. An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the program's student outcomes and to the discipline
2. An ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution
3. An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs
4. An ability to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal
5. An understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security and social issues and responsibilities
6. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
7. An ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society
8. Recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in continuing professional development
9. An ability to use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practice

The Lessons to Be Learned in Senior Capstone

• Ask questions.
• Your transition from a student to practicing professional.
• Iteration: think, act, do, fail, think, act, do, fail, reflect on failure, either on- or in-action etc.
• Your work product is a reflection on who you are and how you appear to others.
• Your interaction with others establishes who you are and your reputation.
• High standards of work, conduct, and participation are the expectation.
• Design is about merging aesthetics with analysis where the synthesis leads to design.
• Ask questions.

Instructors

• Computer Science: Ming Chow, mchow@cs.tufts.edu
• Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE): Ron Lasser
• Human Factors and Engineering Psychology: Linda Borghesani
• Data Science: Alva Couch

Prerequisites

• Senior standing or permissions of instructor

Requirements for Senior Capstone Project

Students are given considerable freedom in their choice of project, to be completed in one academic year. However, the following are the requirements for a senior capstone project:

• (NON-NEGOTIABLE) Project must be done in a team of at least two people but no more than six people. Individual projects not allowed.
• (NON-NEGOTIABLE) Project must have a real project sponsor, signed-off by the end of September. Project sponsor cannot be instructor of the Senior Capstone course.
• (STRONGLY RECOMMENDED) Project should have at least one team member not in the Computer Science undergraduate program (major or minor). Interdisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged.
• (STRONGLY RECOMMENDED) All teams must have a Human Factors element.

Senior Capstone Integration

ECE Senior Design is harmonized with the Capstone classes in Computer Science (being taught by Ming Chow) and with Engineering Psychology (being taught by Linda Borghesani). Teams are to be 3 to 6 students. By harmonized we mean that all project deliverables are identical across all three classes, but specific course work assignments are not. This allows for multi-disciplinary team projects which provide excellent experience of working with people from different technical backgrounds. This experience is very valuable in industry. You are welcome to select any project.

Frequently Asked Questions by Students

Q: Can Computer Science seniors in the School Arts & Sciences take Senior Capstone? A: Absolutely, strongly encouraged! In the past, Computer Science seniors in Arts & Sciences shunned Senior Capstone. We have always wanted more Arts & Sciences students take Senior Capstone.

Q: Can a JumboCode project count as a senior capstone project?
A: Yes --at long last. As of September 2019:

• Any JumboCode project is eligible to become a "capstone project" - i.e., a project manager or designer may get credit for any JumboCode project.
• CS students serving as JumboCode Project managers are eligible to get Senior Capstone credit, by applying and being accepted through JumboCode’s project manager application process in mid-March.
• Human Factors students are also eligible to get credit through serving as a UI/UX designer on a JumboCode project, by applying and being accepted through the designer member application in September.

Q: Will we be meeting every class day?
A: No. See schedule below.

Q: Am I allowed to do a project with a company?
A: Absolutely! We have a few projects from corporate partners and friends. This is great opportunity to develop relationships with a company, and learn skills that are helpful for managing a team or starting a company.

Q: Who owns the intellectual property?
A: Generally speaking, you, the students, own the intellectual property.

Q: Is there an archive of past capstone projects for us to see to understand the scope of a capstone project?
A: Yes. Here you go.

Frequently Asked Questions by Project Sponsors

Q: What are the requirements for the company/person who submit the idea, assuming it is chosen? I'm curious of the time typical time commitments.
A: We expect a time commitment of no more than 1 hour from project sponsors per week.

Q: Does a project tend to revolve around software typically?
A: Software has been the predominant focus. We are encouraging more projects that involve hardware and interdisciplinary projects (e.g., Data Science + Cyber Security).

Q: What do project sponsor(s) contribute to a project besides acting as a client for the project?
A: (1) Occasionally provide the Capstone instructor(s) feedback about team's work including professionalism, progress, quality of deliverables, etc., and (2) answer any questions from team regarding scope of the project, requirements, design, etc.

Q: Who owns the intellectual property?
A: Generally speaking, the students, own the intellectual property.

Course Infrastructure

1. This course website - Serves as public record. This is not really possible with Canvas. We are not using Canvas for this class.
2. Piazza - For discussions, announcements, and files not to be made public.
3. Box - For file uploads and submissions.
4. GitHub or GitLab - For source code and status updates.

Project Ideas

Project ideas are posted on Piazza. The reasons:

1. List of project ideas was growing too long.
2. Some projects cannot be made publicly available.

A project sponsored by industry is good for several reasons including industry experience, industry contacts for your network, potential job or reference. And a multi-disciplinary is an added advantage. Projects must be selected ideally by September 20th and project proposals are due by October 1st.

Status Reports

Starting on Friday, October 4th, a status report is due from each team each week until the last week of classes for the semester. Instructions:

• Format:
  1. Fails of the week
  2. Successes of the week
  3. Difficulties this week
  4. Goals for next week
• One page MAX
• One submission per team
• PDF format
• To be written as a team
• To be submitted to Box

Schedule and Deliverables

Schedule is subject to change.

Major milestones are marked in green.

Spring 2019

Fall 2019