💬 We just finished the Spring 25 semester at UCCS, and I am proud of my students who built some excellent applications in our Advanced Software Engineering course. Students shipped production-ready, AI-enhanced web apps—from a smart to-do list to a plant-ID game—using Django, external APIs, and CI/CD pipelines to identify code coverage metrics, code smells, and security vulnerabilities. Each team acted as a customer group for one group and a development group for another. They learned about full-stack development, cloud deployment solutions, agile methodologies, and teamwork, turning real-world problems into user-focused solutions.

🎧🔊 Listen to our Podcast Reflection

1 | To-Do List App – lightweight, personalized task & calendar manager for busy users
• AI-powered task suggestions
• Motivational-quote widget
• Dark/light mode
• Progress & sharing tools | Students navigated compromised API keys, deployment failures, and tight schedules by practicing continuous learning, diligent refactoring, and consistent team communication.
Demo Video

2 | Food Scanner – barcode-scanning nutrition assistant | • Open Food Facts integration
• AI-generated health score & ingredient analysis
• Product comparison & allergen alerts | Built a three-step scan/analyze/decide flow and piped data through OpenAI for real-time scoring; honed CI/CD & API data-parsing skills.
Demo Video

3 | Calendai – academic planner & study hub |
• Canvas assignment import
• Rich notes workspace with AI summaries
• Auto-generated quizzes | Team mastered OpenAI integration inside Django, emphasized early starts & clear communication to turn challenges into growth. 
Demo Video

4 | Applier Pilot – end-to-end job-application helper | • AI job-description analyzer
• Resume optimizer & cover-letter writer
• Interview coach & fit/rejection analysis | Surmounted a forced mid-semester pivot (LinkedIn TOS conflict) by reprioritizing features and focusing on highest user value.
Demo Video

5 | CampMate – outdoor-trip planner | • Campsite search with maps & weather
• AI-generated packing list
• Trip calendar & “AI buddy” guide | Engineered a robust GitHub Actions → Docker Hub → AWS pipeline; learned to tame merge conflicts and process multi-API data in Django.
Demo Video

6 | AI Fitness App – adaptive personal-training coach | • Daily AI-tailored workouts
• Progress analytics & calendar
• Warm-up generator with external exercise GIFs | Deployed Django + Gunicorn + nginx on Digital Ocean with auto-rebuilds; tackled merge pain when multiple devs touched shared DB schemas.
Demo Video

7 | Active Interview Service (AIS) – interactive interview simulator | • Resume/job-listing upload
• Text-to-speech & speech-to-text interview chat
• Scorecard with visual feedback | Wrestled with displaying results graphs and refactoring upload subsystems; refined product via customer-driven testing cycles.
Demo Video

8 | LeafQuest – plant-identification & social exploration app | • Custom AI image model for plant ID
• “PlantDex” collection & trivia
• Leaderboards, badges, privacy controls | Team members grew skills in neural-network tuning, Google Colab pipelines, full-stack UI/UX, Django architecture, and story-driven feature design.
Demo Video