Students Develop Software for Local Entrepreneur

For their first project, Joseph Diaz ’21 and Matt Nappo ’21 are creating a web-based customer communication checklist and tracking system. They will be working with a former educator who now owns and operates a financial services firm in Mount Kisco, New York.

As part of the software development lifecycle, the students will gather preliminary information to develop a problem statement, which is a document that defines the client’s needs, and serves as a springboard for the designers’ plans and experiments. Once they verify this problem statement with the client, they will begin the design process that is pictured above. When the design is completed, tested and deployed, the goal is for the student designers to train the financial services’ staff on how to operate their new software.

“Software development is a lot more than just simply coding,” said Chiodo, who serves as Masters' Director of Innovation, Engineering and Computer Science. “And what better way to introduce students to the whole process than by having them work with a client who will actually use their product.” 

Chiodo noted that he's unsure how long the entire product development lifecycle will take, and how many iterations of the design will be created before it is launched. The timeline is especially volatile due to the impact of COVID-19 and financial markets, he noted. As it stands, the student team has formulated their questions for the client in preparation for developing the design brief. 

As Nappo and Diaz await further developments with the software project, they have remained busy by engaging in another tech venture on campus. 

"The team is looking to develop a method of displaying weather information from Masters' weather station on the Xibo (TV) displays around campus," Chiodo said. "They are going through documentation now, and we will begin hashing out the problem and constraints on Tuesday."