The Department of Computer Science Senior Design Center celebrated Posters & Pies on December 4th, a culmination of the Fall 2024 Senior Design capstone course.

Student teams gave brief presentations on their Senior Design projects in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library Auditorium. Afterward, pizza, dessert pies, and cake were served in the IEI Duke Energy Hall, where sponsors and attendees had the opportunity to meet with the student teams one-on-one.

For 30 years, the Senior Design Center (SDC) has brought student teams and corporate sponsors together to work on real-world problems, with a goal of creating viable products, services and solutions. The Senior Design Project course has been consistently rated as a high point in students’ academic careers because of the valuable hands-on experience it provides.

Student teams work within the supportive environment of the SDC, where faculty and staff provide teaching and direction. Students are able to grow their writing, speaking, interpersonal and project management skills; most importantly, they learn to work in a collaborative environment, critical in today’s interconnected world. Corporate sponsors have the opportunity to mentor and form working relationships with a talented class of graduating seniors, helping grow the workforce of tomorrow, today.

The Fall 2024 course featured 34 student teams. Projects covering everything from app development to creating educational platforms, with sponsors ranging from international companies to local NC governments and organizations.

“It’s just a privilege to be able to have a company like the Town of Cary to be able to sponsor us and provide us this project,” said Senior Design student Garrett Thompson, who worked on the town’s Employee Self-Service Portal project. “Having someone local, being able to reach out and visit us in person, and us being able to go to their agency, it was just a unique opportunity and we’re very thankful for that.”

"The Senior Design Center is the cornerstone of the Computer Science Department at NC State University," said Eric Bolender, Software Developer at SAS and a mentoring sponsor for Fall 2024. "The program provides an environment for students to apply the technical skills they've acquired through their coursework on pertinent industry problems, as well as develop essential communication and project management skills. Each semester my co-workers and I are continually energized collaborating with our student teams and appreciate the perspective they bring to solve the business problems at hand. Our team is excited to continue the legacy of partnership between SAS and NC State University by helping mentor the next generation of computer scientists."

Thanks to our event sponsors, BCBS of NC, the Computer Science ePartners Program, and the NC State Engineering Foundation.

To learn more about the Senior Design Center and this semester’s projects, visit: https://sdc.csc.ncsu.edu/about/the-center

Event Gallery: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBUtgT

~brown~