2026 Fall Application are now open. Proposal deadline is April 15th.
The following client projects are available for CSC400 teams. These are real-world projects with actual clients who need your help building solutions.
Interested in working on a client project?
Email Prof. Nisreen Cain at cainn3@southernct.edu with:
Your project preference (1st choice, 2nd choice)
Relevant skills/experience
Your team members (if you have them)
Don't have a team yet? No problem! You'll be matched with others who apply to the same project.
After reviewing your request, Prof. Cain will connect you with the client to develop your project proposal.
Client: iSolvRisk, Inc.
Team Size: 3-4 students
Complexity: MEDIUM
Description:
Develop an AI-powered Challenge Builder feature directly within iSolvRisk's production codebase for their gamified risk management platform, Gauntlet. Educators will input subject matter (text or uploaded materials) and instantly generate structured challenges by specifying factors, outcomes, and difficulty levels. You'll integrate AI functionality into an existing platform, follow their architecture and design patterns, and collaborate closely with iSolvRisk's development team.
What Makes This Unique:
Work directly in a real company's production codebase (not a standalone project)
Integrate AI/ML into an existing InsurTech platform
Collaborate with professional developers through weekly check-ins
Follow industry-standard architecture and development practices
Client Support:
Full access to iSolvRisk's test environment and developer credentials
Figma prototype showing end-to-end design flow
Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with their development team
Onboarding process and documentation provided
Note: All work remains confidential and proprietary to iSolvRisk, Inc. Students may reference contributions for academic and portfolio purposes.
You can apply only if you have experience with AI/ML and are comfortable working in existing codebases.
Client: Upptik (Career Readiness Platform for CT Youth)
Team Size: 3 students (security/cybersecurity coursework or experience)
Description:
Three-part security and compliance engagement for a platform serving minors:
1. Security Audit & Penetration Testing: Vulnerability assessment of the Upptik website, API endpoints, and user data flows with remediation recommendations.
2. Privacy & Regulation Audit: Review database and data practices for COPPA (minors), FERPA (student data), and CT state privacy requirements. Document compliance status and gaps.
3. User Verification Architecture: Design framework for future features requiring identity verification and background checks for mentors and employers interacting with youth.
What You'll Need/Learn:
Security Tools: OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, or similar
Knowledge: Web security fundamentals, OWASP Top 10
Compliance: Understanding of COPPA, FERPA, privacy regulations
Architecture: System design for identity verification workflows
Skills: Security testing, documentation, compliance analysis
Client: Prof. Sarah Reeves (Women's & Gender Studies)
Team Size: 3 students - Staffed
Description:
Build a smart teleprompter that uses speech recognition to scroll text in sync with the speaker's voice. Helps students practice presentations by automatically adjusting to their speaking pace. The app will import speeches from Word documents, use real-time speech recognition, auto-scroll synchronized to speaking pace, display large readable text, and include manual controls and pause functionality.
Note: Scope will be reduced to achievable MVP (basic teleprompter with speech recognition). PowerPoint automation likely out of scope.
What You'll Need:
Skills: Machine learning/AI, real-time systems, desktop or web development
Prerequisites: ML/AI experience, algorithms background, desktop development
Client: Work with a local nonprofit (Connecticut statewide human services)
Team Size: 3 students - STAFFED
Description:
Build a web app that helps Connecticut residents find the right 211 service by describing their situation in plain language. CT 211 maintains thousands of listings for food, housing, utilities, and crisis support, but the current keyword search is hard to use when you're in a hurry or in crisis. Your team will build a chat-style interface where users type what they need ("I got evicted and my kids need lunch") and get ranked resources with maps, hours, and eligibility summaries. Every answer cites the source 211 listing, and safety routing surfaces crisis hotlines when appropriate.
What You'll Need:
AI: Gemini API via Google Vertex AI (provided)
Skills: Web development, API integration, basic understanding of search and retrieval
Client: Work with a local nonprofit (Connecticut civic data)
Team Size: 3 students
Description:
Build a web app that lets anyone ask questions about Connecticut civic data in plain English and get charts, numbers, and narrative answers back. Right now, querying CT's public datasets requires SQL knowledge or CKAN API skills, which locks out the researchers, journalists, and community organizations who most need the data. Your team will build a chat + chart interface over CT's public datasets. The twist: you'll design the LLM layer to be pluggable, so a future team can swap in a self-hosted small language model for private data work without rewriting the app.
What You'll Need:
AI: Gemini API via Google Vertex AI (provided)
Skills: Web development, API integration, data visualization, interface design
Client: SCSU (internal — prep tool for students and advising)
Team Size: 3 students
Description:
Build a web app that helps SCSU students in two ways. Mode 1 helps students with a declared major prepare for advising: enter your major and the courses you've completed, get a personalized prep sheet with prereq gaps, suggested courses, and questions to bring to your advisor. Mode 2 helps students who aren't sure about their major explore SCSU's Create Your Own Major program. Students describe their interests and goals, and the app suggests existing majors that fit, minors to stack, and custom Interdisciplinary Studies concentrations that satisfy SCSU's 18-credit / 6-credit upper-division rules. Every suggestion cites the SCSU catalog.
What You'll Need:
AI: Gemini API via Google Vertex AI (provided)
Skills: Web development, working with structured academic data, user testing
Client: Hilton C. Buley Library (SCSU)
Team Size: 3 students
Description:
Build a chatbot that helps SCSU students navigate Buley's 100+ research databases, find the right subject librarian, and figure out where to start a research paper. The chatbot will be an embeddable widget that can sit on any LibGuide page. Students type their research question in plain language and get answers grounded in the library's own content, with source citations, suggested databases, and a one-click handoff to the right subject librarian when things get complex. The tool is designed to extend library service hours, not replace the reference desk.
What You'll Need:
AI: Gemini API via Google Vertex AI (provided)
Skills: Web development, API integration, embeddable widget design, working with library stakeholders
Client: Work with a local nonprofit
Team Size: 3 students
Description:
Build a mobile-first web app that matches K-12 and early-college students to STEM programs, scholarships, and events based on their interests, grade level, and location. The goal is to close the discovery gap for students from underrepresented communities, whose parents and counselors often don't have time to curate the hundreds of opportunities scattered across university websites and nonprofit pages. Users describe their situation in plain language ("my 10th grader loves robotics and we're in New Haven"), and the app returns ranked, curated matches with deadline countdowns and accessibility tags. An admin CMS lets nonprofit staff maintain the opportunity database.
What You'll Need:
AI: Gemini API via Google Vertex AI (provided)
Skills: Web development, mobile-first UX, accessibility (WCAG AA), content management