In 2009, I kicked off my senior year in college with a class that ultimately changed the way I thought about my degree—and my future.

At the time, your graduation—and by extension earning your degree—from the Computer Science program at the University of Colorado at Boulder was dependent on successful completion of a capstone project, which represented the culmination of your education up to that point.

While many of my friends at other schools completed thesis papers or self-direct projects to earn their degrees, the approach at CU was centered around the practical application of our skills in real-world scenarios.

What that ultimately means is that we built and managed projects for businesses that came in and pitched their ideas to us.

It wasn’t just for a grade, or a degree, but for a company and their customers.

The impact and stakes were real.

It wasn’t exactly easy. My team picked up a project that the prior year’s team failed at completing, which meant that our work wasn’t just a representation of our experience, but of the entire Computer Science program itself.

Talk about pressure.

But, in the end, we nailed it. Our project, rooted in machine learning and object-recognition, went on to win an award for best-in-show in the School of Engineering’s capstone showcase. It was the first time I felt like more than a student, because we didn’t just complete a project, we built a product, and learned what working in the industry was actually like.

That experience has always stuck with me, and now that I’ve made the leap to teaching, I want to recreate that moment of transformation for my students.

So… here’s the pitch:

I’m looking for capstone sponsors for the 2025–2026 school year. These are high school seniors in their second year of a rigorous applied computing program. They’ve already tackled a wide ranging curriculum of coding, systems, networking, and security; now they’re ready for something real.

If you are a Product Manager or business leader that has an R&D idea gathering dust, or a small project that needs some focused, sustained attention, let my students take a crack at it.

All projects must be:

  1. Self-contained
  2. Appropriately scoped for 1–2 students over 9 months
  3. Possible to complete virtually (no on-site requirements)

I’ll handle the training, structure, and scaffolding. You provide the problem. Together, we give students a chance to build something that matters.

What’s the commitment?

Not as much as you might think. Here’s what I ask of sponsors:

  1. Pitch your project (virtually) in late August or early September.
  2. Offer feedback throughout the year—async is fine, and the cadence is up to you.
  3. Meet with me for a short sync twice per semester.
  4. Provide grade-bearing feedback at the end of each semester.
  5. Attend the final capstone showcase (virtual) in May 2026.

You don’t need to be in Colorado. You don’t need to manage students day-to-day. You don’t even need to turn on your camera (though I hope you do). You just need a problem worth solving, and a little patience as students grow into the kind of thinkers who can solve it.

Interested?

Shoot me an email: [email protected] Or connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to talk it through.

And if you don’t have a project but like what I’m doing?

Please share this post. The right person might be just one forward away.

Let’s build the kind of learning experience that sticks.