Innovate for Social Good
SENG 480B: Course Information
Course Overview:
SENG 480B will be offered in Fall (September – December) 2026.
SENG480B is a project-based, experiential course that brings students together to design and build real-world solutions with meaningful community impact. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students will engage directly with community and industry partners to identify needs, scope problems, and iteratively develop solutions, while exploring emerging approaches such as generative AI, agentic AI, and “vibe coding” as part of their development process. The course emphasizes hands-on learning, critical reflection, and responsible innovation, encouraging students to not only apply technical skills but also examine the broader social, ethical, and human dimensions of the systems they create. The course creates unique opportunities for connecting within a network of industry leaders, academic partners at other universities, as well as the growing INSPIRE (inspireuvic.org) innovation student network.
Course Projects:
The projects in SENG 480B are designed to be societally impactful and rooted in real-world needs, often identified in partnership with local organizations, non-profits, or government bodies. projects focus on addressing challenges related to equity, accessibility, sustainability, or community well-being, allowing students to build solutions that make a tangible difference. Throughout the course, students will be supported by industry mentors who bring domain expertise and professional insights, helping guide technical decisions and exposing students to industry practices. This ensures that each project is both technically rigorous and societally meaningful. This offers students a chance to build a portfolio that reflects both innovation and societal impact.
Should I Take SENG480?
SENG 480B is an exciting and rewarding course, but it’s not for everyone. This is an intensive, hands-on learning experience that demands strong communication skills, a teamwork and collaborative mindset, and a genuine passion for making a difference in society. If you’re someone who thrives in team environments, cares about creating social impact through technology, and has experience working with communities or real-world stakeholders, this course is a great fit. Expect significant teamwork through which you’ll be building real solution: you’ll be meeting with clients and industry experts, reflecting on ethical and societal impacts, and participating in team-led activities and events. Your ability to work well with others, contribute meaningfully to a project, and navigate complex, dynamic team environments will directly impact your grade. It’s challenging, fast-paced, and immersive, but if you’re ready to dive in, SENG 480B will be one of the most impactful and inspiring semesters of your degree. For more information about SENG 480B that is specific to your faculty, please explore the menu below.
Important: Seats fill up quickly. Please register for SENG480B as possible on your assigned registration date.
Description & Learning Outcomes
Please refer to your faculty
SENG 480B invites Software Engineering and Computer Science students to collaborate with social-science peers on multidisciplinary teams tackling urgent community challenges. Through lectures, labs, and three hands-on hackathons you will deepen your technical expertise while practising human-centred design, agile delivery, and evidence-based decision-making. If you want to write production-ready code, see users benefit from your work, and graduate with a portfolio that stands out, this course is for you.
Why Software Engineering and Computer Science Students?
Technical leadership. Your skills in requirements engineering, architecture, full-stack development, and testing bring ideas to life and ensure solutions are robust and secure.
Real-world impact. Projects come from municipalities, nonprofits, and community organizations focused on sustainability, equity, and resilience, so your code will make a difference in society.
Professional-grade workflow. You will use version control, continuous integration, and more while working with product and research teammates just as you would in industry.
Career acceleration. You will practise cross-functional communication, requirements engineering, and ethical reasoning: capabilities that recruiters value in modern software teams.
What you will Experience:
Across twelve weeks you will experience engaging teamwork in a full-life cycle project that moves through an Ideation phase, a Build phase, and an Impact & Feedback phase. You will:
- Frame technical requirements from mixed-methods research and stakeholder interviews.
- Design and build a minimum-viable product with rapid feedback loops and automated testing.
- Iterate to improve usability, accessibility, and performance.
- Presentation of your project outcome, journey and successes at the 2025 INSPIRE Conference at the end of the course (community partners, industry, academics and other students in attendance)
Eligibility:
- Standing: Year 3 or above in Software Engineering or Computer Science.
- Recommended Prerequisite: Completion of SENG265, and SENG321 OR SENG310.
- Nice-to-haves (optional): experience with web or mobile frameworks and community-based projects.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Employ design‑thinking principles to understand a community need for technological solution, (ideate, prototype, test, and refine human‑centred solutions).
2. Familiarity and experience with co-designing robust software solutions balancing various factors such as scalability, maintainability, and performance.
3. Analyze software requirements and translate them into technical specifications that align user and community needs with system capabilities.
4. Employ collaborative tools and agile methodologies to coordinate tasks, track progress, and adapt to changing requirements.
5. Communicate technical concepts and project updates clearly to both technical / non-technical stakeholders and peers.
6. Present developed software in an engaging way to stakeholders and community members.
7. Collaborate effectively to develop software in a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary team with various domains of expertise.
8. Gain experience in implementing clean, well-documented code using modern programming languages, AI-based workflows, industry-standard frameworks, and version-control workflows.
SENG 480B invites Social Science students to collaborate with engineering peers on multidisciplinary teams that address urgent, real-world challenges. Through lectures, labs, and three immersive hackathons you will explore human-centered design, agile development, and evidence-based decision-making while guiding software projects that create measurable social value. If you care about community, sustainability, and positive change, this course is for you.
Why Social Science Students?
Human perspective. Your understanding of behavior, culture, and policy keeps every project grounded in lived realities and ethical considerations.
Equity and impact lens. Community partners include municipalities, nonprofits, and community organizations focused on inclusion and sustainability. Your contributions ensure the work truly improves lives.
Research and communication skills. You will apply mixed-methods research, and your skills in policy analysis, and/or stakeholder facilitation: competencies many employers are currently seeking.
No coding required unless you want to. Software engineers handle programming while you lead research, stakeholder engagement, and design choices. You are welcome to explore the technical side if you are curious.
What you will Experience:
Across twelve weeks you will work in a team to:
- Identify community needs through stakeholder engagement and data exploration.
- Translate insights into user stories, design requirements, and design guidelines.
- Test prototypes with real users, refine social-impact goals, and present findings to partners.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Employ design‑thinking principles to understand a community need for technological solution, (ideate, prototype, test, and refine human‑centred solutions).
2. Familiarity and experience with co-designing robust software solutions balancing various factors such as scalability, maintainability, and performance.
3. Analyze software requirements and translate them into technical specifications that align user and community needs with system capabilities.
4. Employ collaborative tools and agile methodologies to coordinate tasks, track progress, and adapt to changing requirements.
5. Communicate technical concepts and project updates clearly to both technical / non-technical stakeholders and peers.
6. Present developed software in an engaging way to stakeholders and community members.
7. Collaborate effectively to develop software in a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary team with various domains of expertise.
8. Gain experience in implementing clean, well-documented code using modern programming languages, industry-standard frameworks, and version-control workflows.
Eligibility:
- Standing: Year 3 or above in a Social Science program.
- Community experience: Prior work or volunteering with community organizations is required because we need teammates who listen, empathize, and collaborate.
- Nice-to-haves (optional): Coursework in qualitative or quantitative research methods, policy studies, or community development.
Learn More
Want to learn more about what projects in SENG480 might look like? Visit the link below for details and examples of past projects.