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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 four 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:
ALLO Fiber – Machine Learning for SmartTown Network Insights
Transform ALLO SmartTown network data into meaningful insights that help improve security, detect potential threats, and optimize performance.
Allstate – Lifetime Value Insights Monitoring Dashboard
Build an easy-to-use dashboard that tracks customer lifetime value trends, increasing transparency and enabling Allstate’s teams to make more data-driven decisions.
brainrotcode
Build an interactive web platform to enable developers to create, compare, and visualize gaming algorithms and machine learning models.
Buckle – AI Shopping Assistant
Create a robust AI- powered application to connect Buckle customers with the perfect product for any occasion, resulting in the most enjoyable shopping experience.
Buildertrend – Automated Project Manager
Develop an automated project manager agent that provides periodic summarizations for residential contractors to assist supervision of project timelines and streamline progress updates.
Cattle Kettle – CK Monitor: From Prototype to Product
Build a remote water management solution designed for ranchers, allowing them to monitor tank levels and control pumps from anywhere, saving time and ensuring their livestock always have access to water.
Conagra Brands – Depreciation Exploration and Visualization
Enhance Conagra Brands’ capital expenditure decision-making by building a model that examines historical data on depreciation, offering detailed insights into its impact on margins and allowing for precise, granular analysis across the company.
DMSi – Forecasting and Inventory Optimization Program
Develop a data-driven inventory optimization tool that forecasts demand and streamlines purchasing, empowering DMSi customers to maximize profitability and improve satisfaction through optimal inventory management.
ECHO Collective (sponsored by Spreetail Foundation) – Refinery Learning Management System
Empower New American women by creating a Learning Management System designed for multicultural needs that will support their business and technology education.
Farm Credit Services of America – CropCents
Empower customers to effortlessly manage their financial data through personalized conversational workflows, transforming the way they interact with their finances into a seamless, insightful, and engaging experience.
HDR – Keen Insights
Provide HDR a comprehensive risk analysis tool that understands past experiences to provide future insights.
Hudl – AI-Powered Sport Storytelling from Event Data
Use a large-language model to harness Hudl’s underutilized data to generate game content that improves streaming and ticketing visibility while enriching the fan experience.
Kiewit – FieldVision
Find innovative ways to attract and educate students from all engineering backgrounds so they will consider an exciting career in construction and ensure students view Kiewit as the construction and engineering employer of choice.
Mutual of Omaha – Claims GenAI Copilot
Develop a robust retrieval augmented generation architecture for an AI-powered Claims Assistant to deliver accurate policy and rider information, streamlining operations and boosting productivity for Mutual of Omaha associates.
Nelnet – EduNova
Leverage artificial intelligence to find data-driven insights in student performance that empower education professionals to improve the learning environment in their classroom.
Olsson – Funding Strategy Development Tool
Create a discretionary funding dashboard for Olsson’s Funding Strategy Team to reduce hours spent manually sifting for information and to create an efficient matching algorithm for customer projects and funding opportunities.
Privy AI
Build a streamlined electronic health record documentation system to allow physical therapists to focus more time on patient care.
Scoular – 3PL Insights
Develop a comprehensive system for Scoular that facilitates seamless data transfer and communication with third-party logistics (3PL) partners, enabling accurate tracking, efficient management, and strategic utilization of inventory data.
Signature Performance – WorkflowXM
Elevate operational capabilities across service lines at Signature Performance by deploying WorkflowXM, a dynamic, no-code workflow engine that enables the design and execution of complex workflows without technical intervention.
TeachFront
Develop and build a platform that supports alternative grading systems, encouraging equitable education and modeling our mission of lifelong learning.
Tenaska – Flow Tracker
Build a real-time, responsive web application monitoring Tenaska’s natural gas pipelines to give schedulers more of their time back.
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.