Computer science students show off capstone projects

An app that helps cancer patients manage the side effects of their treatment, an app that helps college students better manage their budget, and a tool to help record and share the location of bike trails are just some of the projects that more than 30 Grand Valley computer science students worked on as part of their senior capstone class.

The students were paired with a sponsoring organization and tasked with creating a real-world solution for a problem that was identified by the organization. In total, 14 software solutions were created by the students. Presentations on the projects were presented December 12 in a lightning-talk format. 

Projects included the development of several apps: one allows people to report Marten sightings, another tracks honey bee forage, others focused on the Internet of Things, and another will be used to control a large display at a horse racing track in Puerto Rico.  

A few were startup projects, including an app that helps college students budget their finances, and another that allows the user to record and share bike trails.  

"Experiential learning is a key component in the GVSU School of Computing and Information Systems degree programs," said Jonathan Engelsma, professor of computer science. "Our newly established Applied Computing Institute provides our computer science students these sorts of hands-on learning opportunities while simultaneously providing our industry partners a meaningful opportunity to collaborate with students and faculty." 

For more information on the computer science program, visit gvsu.edu/cis.