An industry-mentored undergraduate software engineering project

Software design lifecycle application to a real world project is a critical skill required by the undergraduate computer engineer. Interaction with the local professional software development community is also an equally important opportunity that should be provided. This fosters growth of both technical and soft skills, and exposes the student to standards and working practices in providing quality software solutions for customers. This paper describes the structure of a group-based software development project that integrates industry mentors in the learning and assessment processes. Industry liaisons are given a forum to elucidate some of the industry´s requirements of students in terms of knowledge of software design and industrial standards; students gain better understanding of some of the processes which take place in an actual industrial setting; and university curriculum gains industry relevance. The impact of this project is yet to be fully assessed. Assessment can be determined from two aspects: (1) in terms of the benefit to the student (effectiveness of learning objectives achieved, and motivation gained from project based learning and group work) and (2) the impact of providing industry led mentorship.