SENG 480B: Course Information

SENG 480B invites Social Science students to collaborate with engineering and business 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. Conduct comprehensive market research to uncover user needs, industry trends, and emerging opportunities based on public datasets.
   
2. Apply appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
   
3. Translate research insights into clear, actionable design requirements that guide solution development.
   
4. Engage effectively with diverse stakeholders—collecting feedback, reconciling interests of stakeholders and constraints of the student team, and building shared understanding.
   
5. Employ design‑thinking principles to ideate, prototype, test, and refine human‑centred solutions.
   
6. Craft and deliver engaging presentations and persuasive product pitches tailored to technical and non‑technical audiences.
   
7. Collaborate within multidisciplinary teams, integrating varied expertise to enhance creativity and problem‑solving.
   
8. Gain hands‑on experience managing team dynamics, and resolving conflicts to maintain momentum.
   

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.

How to Join:

1. Confirm you meet the standing and community-experience requirements.
2. Register for SENG 480B – A03 in UVic’s online timetable, or email the program manager, Kezia Devathasan, at kezia.devathasan7@gmail.com with a brief note about your community engagement if you need an override. Please include your V-Number.

SENG 480B invites Business students to join forces with engineering and social-science peers in multidisciplinary teams that tackle urgent, real-world challenges. Through lectures, labs, and immersive hackathons, you’ll learn human-centred design, agile development, and evidence-based decision-making while steering software projects that deliver measurable social value. If you care about people, planet, and positive change, and want to sharpen the skills employers are searching for, this course is for you.

Why Business Students?

Strategic perspective. Your skills such as market analysis, financial modelling, and stakeholder-management expertise ensure our solutions are viable, sustainable, and scalable.

Impact mindset. Projects originate from municipalities, nonprofits, and the larger community focused on sustainability, equity, and community resilience. You will see that your work makes a difference.

Career-ready skills. You’ll practice product management, critical thinking, and  product-pitching, competencies prized in almost all career opportunities.

No coding required—unless you want to. Software engineers handle the programming; you guide market strategy, partner relations, and business-case development (and can dive into the tech side if you’re curious).

What you will experience:

Across twelve weeks you’ll progress through an ideathon, a build sprint, and an impact round. You will:

• Uncover unmet community needs through stakeholder interviews, market scans, and data exploration.
• Translate insights into user stories, and business requirements. 
• Test prototypes with real users, refine a product plan, and craft a persuasive pitch for partners.
  

Eligibility:

• Standing: Year 3 or above in Business.
• Community experience: Prior work or volunteering with community organizations required: we need teammates who listen, empathize, and collaborate.
• Nice-to-haves (optional): Coursework in marketing strategy, entrepreneurship, or financial analysis; familiarity with tools like Tableau or Power BI.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop and articulate a compelling business case that justifies investment and outlines expected value.
   
2. Formulate market and strategy plans that position a product or service for sustainable growth.
   
3. Manage stakeholder relationships, ensuring clear communication, aligned expectations, and long‑term engagement.
   
4. Conduct systematic competitor analyses to identify market gaps, threats, and points of differentiation.
5. Employ design‑thinking principles to ideate, prototype, test, and refine human‑centred solutions.
   
6. Craft and deliver engaging presentations and persuasive product pitches tailored to technical and non‑technical audiences.

How to Join:

• Confirm you meet the standing and community-experience requirements.
  
• Register for SENG 480B – A04 in UVic’s online timetable, or email our program manager, Kezia Devathasan, at kezia.devathasan7@gmail.com with a brief note about your community engagement if an override is needed (please include your V-Number).
  

INSPIRE UVic is hiring full-time co-op students who will serve as project leads for the multi-disciplinary SENG 480B teams. Project leads will steer the project work of the course-only students  from engineering, business, and social-science programs as they build software solutions for community partners such as municipalities, nonprofits, and other community organizations. The projects will leverage publicly available datasets containing current data on environmental and social trends in our communities, enabling students to explore data-driven approaches to societal issues such as housing, health, education, or sustainability. Your team will work with stakeholders with expertise in the area of your project. You will work closely with up to two other full-time co-op leads, as well as faculty supervisors, and industry mentors in these projects.

Core responsibilities:

Coordinate with the other full-time students in leadership position towards the project work of your team, as follows: 

• Own the entire product cycle: problem discovery and exploration, requirements engineering, solution ideation and rapid prototyping, user testing, and deployment, for one community project with at least one well-identified stakeholder group.
• Coordinate the cross-functional team of SENG 480B students (8–10 peers per project) by running stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives.
• Plan and lead hackathon style sessions for ideation, implementation, and feedback for all project members in coordination with all full-time co-op leads.
• Liaise with business and social-science teammates to translate research insights into clear technical requirements.
• Lead communication of progress to community partners through demos, milestone hackathons, and written reports.
• Ensure that usability, accessibility, and ethical considerations remain central throughout development.

What you will gain

• Hands-on practice with agile methods, human-centred design, and continuous delivery.
• Leadership experience guiding a real software project with social and environmental impact.
• Mentorship from senior developers, product managers, and community experts.
• A standout portfolio piece that demonstrates technical depth, societal impact and team-leadership ability.
• A strong professional network in civic tech and community innovation.

Required qualifications

• Year 3 or above in Software Engineering or Computer Science.
• Completed coursework in data structures plus at least one software development class (SENG 321 is an asset).
• Proficiency with Git and modern testing or CI tools.
• Experience mentoring peers or leading project teams in class, hackathons, or internships.
• Demonstrated engagement with community organizations (volunteer or paid).
• Strong communication, organization, and facilitation skills. 

Nice-to-have assets

• Experience with accessibility standards or inclusive design practices.
• Prior involvement in civic tech, open-source, or community-based research projects.

Compensation and logistics

• Full-time, 35 hours per week from September through December 2025.
• Full-time, in-person participation is required for this role.
• Compensation Offered: $12,000CAD for the Fall Semester

How to apply

For questions about the application process, please email the program manager, Kezia Devathasan, at kezia.devathasan7@gmail.com. Please submit your application through this Survey Monkey link.