Welcome to the Senior Capstone Design Program for CS@NAU!

Thank you for your interest in sponsoring a project for the Senior Capstone Design Program in the Computer Science Programs at NAU! This program is the final stage in a unique, award-winning curriculum called the Design4Practice sequence, which was instituted at the college in the late 1990's in an effort to better address the needs of a rapidly-changing economic landscape in the high-technology sector. Specifically, our aim is to produce talented software engineers who not only are skilled in traditional, discipline-specific concepts and techniques (i.e. are great software designers and coders), but who are prepared to immediately take productive, leadership roles in leading software companies around the nation. This means great SE and coding skills, but also strong competence in working in teams, participating in team/project management, communicating technical knowledge in written and verbal forms, and developing efficient solutions with a strong reference to end-users and the market realities of the modern high-tech economy.

Quick Start Guide for CS Capstone process and Project Sponsoring

The main things to know about the CS Capstone process are summarized in the few points below. If you are new to the process, be sure to click on the "details" links within each one to get a solid understanding of all key elements and expectations for all facets of the program.

• Sizeable realistic projects, semi-inpedendent teams. Capstone projects must be sizeable software development effort, ideally spanning from conceptual design through to implementation. Teams of 3-5 seniors work on each project for a whole years (two-semester sequence). For more detail on Capstone program philosophy and aims, click here.
  
  
• Built on a one-year development cycle. The key phases are:
  • Phase 0, August: gathering and refining project proposals from clients. Projects are selected, teams are assigned to projects and we're off...
  • Phase 1: Requirements and Tech exploration. September through December: Requirements aquisition, feasibility studies, and conceptual design. Product: A detailed requirements document and proof of concept implementations of key technologies.
  • Phase 2: Implement, Refine, Deliver. January through April: Major implementation, testing, and delivery. This is the crunch phase, where projects are implemented and refined. Product: completed project delivered at Capstone Conference in April.

  UPDATE: As of the 2021/22 academic year, we will add a *second* overlapping Capstone cycle, starting in January and delivering projects in fall. The overall phases are the same as above, it's still a two-semester course sequence...but just shifted a semester. Our numbers have grown so much that we need two cycles running in parallel! Bonus: you can certainly submit (separate) projects in both rounds! Get twice the free software development per year!

  For more detail on the structure of the Capstone Process and the Rules for Teams, click here.
  
  
• Becoming a CS Capstone Sponsor. It's easy to become a CS Capstone Sponsor and submit a project! Here are the key steps:
  1. If this is your first time sponsoring, please take a few minutes to click through this web page in depth, including all of the "details" links within the various sections. This will save lots of confusion and questions as we move ahead.
  2. Think up a suitable CS Capstone project. Not every idea is necessarily suitable for Capstone; in other cases, a few small adjustments can make a good idea into a great one. Here is a quick bullet list of what makes a good CS Capstone project that distills years of experience into some key characteristics.
  3. Get some feedback. If you're not sure the idea is suitable and would like some feedback, send email to Eck Doerry, the current CS Capstone Coordinator (eck.doerry@nau.edu). Briefly describe your project idea: concept, scope, final function/deliverables...and leave your phone number, for a follow-up call to discuss and clarify details.
  4. Write it up! Once you're sure you have a suitable project, you will need to write up a project description. This nails down relevant details in a compact, standard format that allows the both CS faculty and Capstone students to understand key aspects of the project. Here is the Capstone Project Proposal Template (MSWord) template to use to write it up. It is annotated with instructions to clarify what goes in all the parts. Keep in mind: the point of the project description is not to present complete specs for the product (the team will extract full requirements from you when we get going), rather, it is to give students a solid idea of what the client's problem is, what software solution is envisioned, and what nature of skills and equipment might be required.
  5. Focus on your project description! The "project description" section of your proposal is really vital. Making this compelling gives you a really good chance of having your proposal appeal to students, and also helps students understand clearly what they're getting into. Tips:
     • Examine and follow the "flow of paragraphs outline" given within the Word template linked above. Your job is to write a paragraph (or two) for each of those; this ensures your description presents a clear and coherent "story/pitch" to outline and motivate the project!
     • Have a look at these two previous description (one and two) that I've marked up to give a concrete idea of what each part of the "flow outline" looks like in real life.
     • Finally, take a look a these two "good" proposals here and here; if you have a bit more time, browse some further project descriptions from previous years.
  6. Email it to me! Mail your project description to the CS Capstone Coordinator (currently Eck Doerry, eck.doerry@nau.edu) for review. I'll typically contact you with some feedback or refinements, leading to a finalized proposal.
  7. Project Selection. All submitted projects are posted for review by CS students as the semester begins. Students all rank them by preferences, projects are chosen and staffed with teams...and then we're off and running. To read more detail on the CS Capstone Project selection process, click here.
  8. Project launch. Once projects have been selected and teams for each assigned, the first semester/phase of the project begins. Specifically, this starts with the team contacting their sponsor to introduce themselves and begin the design process. Teams should generally contact their sponsor by the second week of September.

More detailed information on key elements

• Introduction to the Capstone Program. A description of the Capstone program, how it fits into the academic development of students, and the characteristics of students and projects. Read this document to understand who the students are and the nature of Capstone projects.
• Capstone Partnership Guidelines. By definition, Capstone projects involve the creation of novel software solutions through collaboration between the corporate sector (the sponsor) and academia (Northern Arizona University). This document outlines the legal foundations for this collaboration, establishing a framework for negotiating the inevitable intellectual property issues that arise in this collaboration. I emphasize that, filtering through the legalize in this document, the word negotiation is a key term; in general, we have been very successful in arriving at acceptable terms with our sponsors.