Fall 2024 Capstone Update

August 20, 2024

University start dates are right around the corner and I’ve been busy getting ready for the biggest semester yet of UW-Madison’s Computer Science Capstone! This fall we’ll have our largest number of partners and students yet. I can’t wait! Here’s a little bit of what to expect for the Capstone this year.

Experiential Learning Article

UW’s own Jason Gohlke wrote a great article about experiential learning and why it’s so important. He featured the Capstone and a couple of our partners, mentors, and students. It is a lovely article and I encourage everyone who wants to learn more about the course or experiential learning at UW-Madison to read it.

What is a Capstone?

UW-Madison’s Computer Science Capstone is a course in which we partner with companies and non-profits to give students the most realistic work experience possible in an academic setting. Companies provide projects and mentorship throughout the semester. Students form teams of 4-5 and work with a partner on that project all semester. I teach students how to collaborate on teams and ship viable code incrementally. We discuss everything from customer interviewing to scrum teams to how companies are using AI today. At the end of the semester, the students have completed amazing projects and formed lasting relationships with their teammates and mentors. Many partners even hire students right out of the course. It’s a real win-win for everyone involved and I love seeing the students learn and build great products all semester.

It’s An Official, Permanent Course

UW-Madison’s Computer Science Capstone has spent years as a special topics course, but this semester, we get to unveil its new, permanent course number: CS620. The Capstone course is here to stay and my goal is to keep it growing year over year until we can accommodate all of our graduating computer science seniors in the course.

Fall 2024 Capstone Partners

We have our largest number of partners yet this year: twelve! Our partners are:

I am very much looking forward to working with all of these partners and seeing what the students come up with for their projects!

Fall 2024 Capstone Students

And speaking of our students, we will have a record 110 of them taking the course this fall. Not too shabby at all.

Want to Join Us?

If you’re a Computer Science major with senior standing, Product Management MBA, or UX Masters student at UW-Madison, sign-up for CS620! The fall semester is full, but the course is also available in the spring.

If you’re a company or non-profit who might be interested in partnering with us for a future semester, you can contact me here. I’d love to chat with you about the course!

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About Amber Field

Amber has over 20 years of experience working in the software industry with agile software teams and specializes in creating efficient, happy teams & clients while helping them scale, execute, and work / live intentionally.
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