Design Studio
In Design Studio, we integrate agile engineering processes, lean business development, and interdisciplinary design thinking into an iterative process for problem solving and product development - our unique brand of innovation. Our iterative development methodologies lead to the development of robust software products that address real problems and provide elegant solutions. Throughout the process, Design Studio teams are mentored by industry professionals from the community, helping teams more effectively communicate, overcome technical challenges, and drive innovation for their partners.
As the capstone program in the Raikes School, Design Studio integrates concepts from our unique computer science and business curriculum, reinforcing core concepts through 4 semesters of hands on learning. Students gain a head start in their careers by participating in product development teams, working with real clients to understand complex business requirements, and developing innovative solutions to wicked problems. The studio model ensures that, prior to graduation, each student in the Raikes School has gained the valuable experience of participating in the full software product development life cycle - from inception of the concept to deployment for the solution.
Design Studio Annual Report
Endless Opportunity for Students
Create innovative applications and business processes to solve real-world problems
Gain valuable experience working with industry leaders in self-organizing teams
Develop a greater understanding of how business and computer science are used in companies
Work on a real software development project to develop strong project management skills prior to graduating
Form key networking contacts with top local and national companies.
Earn college credit while working with cutting edge technology to complete real software projects
Industry Partnerships
Design Studio serves as a connection point between academia and industry, creating a unique opportunity for our partners to engage some of the brightest minds on campus and leverage the value of a Big 10 research institution. Each year Design Studio engages industry partners who provide complex problems for which our student teams develop software solutions using industry best practices in software engineering and business development. This year, teams in Design Studio are completing the following projects:
| Sponsor | Project |
|---|---|
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Reentry Data Tracking PlatformBridges to Hope works with those reentering the community after incarceration. Build a cloud-based data-driven platform and mobile app that simplifies the reentry process and enables Bridges to Hope to be more effective and efficient. |
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Improve Customer Satisfaction with Machine LearningCreate an innovative solution which presents the right data to a user enabling self-discovery of helpful information for improving their business through the development of an automated system that intelligently presents relevant existing feedback and ideas to types of users. |
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Customer Operation Relationship VisualizerCreate a solution with presents the capability to discover and visualize real-time Customer Operation relationships across the FCSAmerica customer-base by linking and leveraging a variety of existing datasets within the FCSAmerica data cloud platform. |
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Culture PlatformCreate a platform supporting the Do More Good® Movement to help with facilitating internal communication, driving team/vision alignment and centralizing tracking of important internal metrics. |
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Financial Data Visualization App – Pocket GalleriDevelop a native, mobile-centric solution to enable actionable analytical insights for bank executives when they are away from their desks. |
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Bonus CaptureCreate a solution where athletes around the country can take their phone out of their pocket, set it up quickly, and easily record themselves doing drills and upload to their Hudl profile for recruiters to see. |
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Drone Progress TrackingLeverage existing drone imagery paired with AI to measure incremental progress of solar panel field build projects by building an automated solution. |
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Monitoring the Performance of Dynamics 365 FinanceCreate a series of dashboards to assess the health of the user interface and batch business processes within Dynamics 365 Finance (e.g. posting of journals, consolidations process) that will lead to self-healing initiatives and proactive alerts to our customers, resulting in increased confidence in our solution. |
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First Time HomebuyersLeverage creativity and innovative approaches in an ambiguous environment to develop a solution to identify prospective customers and their attributes for Mutual Mortgage through analysis of traffic from a variety of online analytical sources. |
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Dynamic Intersection Creation and Vehicle Crash PlacementAdd new functionality to NTIP vehicle collision diagramming software system by dynamically creating a map of an intersection and automatically placing vehicle crash information on appropriate intersections without user interaction. |
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NSAAdministratorDeveloping an MVP of a new solution for a more efficient system of maintaining high school registration, eligibility, rosters, contacts, reports, archives, and other activities supporting the Nebraska School Activities Association support of high school activities in the state. |
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Event Ticketing SystemCreate an event solution for higher ed institutions for athletic ticket sales, commencement ceremonies and performing arts events (seating assignments) which could include patron management, crowd sourcing for alumni and donations, and host a view for calendar of events. |
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Cattle CountingThe New Stockyard Group is an FNBO-sponsored startup looking to build an innovative approach to leverage real-time data to automate routine checking of cattle inventories to ensure the herd is accounted for and in the correct pasture locations. |
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Automated Phone Survey SystemLeverage the technologies available in the AWS ecosystem to enable a proof of concept/MVP for NRC Health’s outbound phone calling functions to experience a “real” voice rather than a computer-generated voice and develop the ability for administrators of the system to easily adjust the system to add additional introductions, questions, etc. through the new solution. |
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Building Efficiency Platform Phase IIIncrease Olsson’s ability to study building usage with the goal of providing quick, timely, and actionable information to reduce operating costs, increase usage efficiencies, provide highly marketable spaces, and only use the natural resources that we truly need. Enrich data collection and develop a portal solution which creates and presents analytics. |
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AI Sentiment AwarenessDevelop a solution to improve Signature Performance’s call center software to improve associates’ ability to respond to calls where Veterans are in crisis utilizing technology such as sentiment analysis, AI, machine learning, natural language processing, and others. |
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Multi-Channel Production Information Management (PIM)Develop a solution which increases the velocity in which SKUs (stock keeping units) are listed on several different channels that Speedway uses for sales including steps to review, approve, update and launch the listing as well as methods to import bulk listings. |
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Taxonomy RevolutionResearch, assess, recommend, and develop a revolutionary prototype for efficiently, intelligently and effectively updating Spreetail mapped taxonomies to evolve along with changes that occur with marketplace partners. |
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Project Retail Data FindingsEngineer an exploratory solution which analyzes existing data about UBT customers and how they use bank services identifying findings, dashboard views, reporting details which provide insights for bank officials to make decisions on how to strength the relationship with their customers. |
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Project Web/Mobile AppStudent startup who aims to fill the baseball coach current gaps with a solution to track, store and analyze their players’ performance data; leveraging feedback from their pilot information this project aims to develop enriched features and creating an iOS and Android application along with incorporating customer feedback into the web application that exists today. |
Industry Collaboration
Students in Design Studio learn not only from top practitioner faculty, but also from industry leading experts. Whether it is a local software executive who gives a guest lecture on enterprise architecture or a CEO who coaches a Design Studio team, students regularly interact with and learn from top industry professionals. Regular collaboration between faculty, students, and industry partners creates an ecosystem unique to Design Studio that drives innovation at all levels. Through that collaboration, students and their teams are making big things happen every day.
Students in Design Studio not only learn from industry leaders, they innovate with them. Every year our students are developing new concepts, sharing creative ideas, enriching our partner organizations, and becoming members of their team.