Welcome to the Capstone Process website for NAU Computer Science Programs

The CS Capstone sequence consists of two distinct courses spanning a full academic year (two semesters):

CS476. Requirements Engineering (2 credits). The first semester course is somewhat less intensive, focused around:

• Getting teams created, projects assigned and the whole process rolling
• Provide lecture materials and readings centered around large project, team-base software engineering.
• Main focus is on detailed requirements acquisition and exploring of technologies to be used (feasibility analysis)

By the end of CS476, all Capstone teams should deliver a fully-refined requirements document signed off on by the client, a demonstration of technology feasibility, and a preliminary software design. In short, they should be ready to immediately begin coding the project when the second semester starts.

CS486. Capstone Design (4 credits). In this intensive final semester of the student's career, the focus is on implementing, testing, and refining the design. Deliverables include:

• A fully specified design document, giving the detailed technical plans for completing the project
• A preliminary prototype by around mid-February
• Several design reviews during the term to report progress
• As final "as-built" report for the project, along with any appropriate user documentation
• A final presentation and delivery of the finished product to the client at the end of the term.

CS486 has its official ending at NAU's Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Design (CURD), where projects are presented to the world. Teams have until the first day of Finals Week to complete all deliverables and actually deliver the product to the client.