Brendon Jensen, a senior in the Computer Engineering program, recently completed a Capstone project alongside his team that enabled tech company L3Harris Technologies to perform more targeted network testing in a shorter amount of time: a cheaper, smaller, and more portable network traffic generator and analyzer than they had been using before. Here’s what he learned from the two-semester process.
- It was actually fun. “I had a lot of fun working on the project, and I think my team members would agree,” Jensen said, adding that they got to apply many of the principles they had learned in their classes, like logic design for FPGA’s and writing embedded software. Jensen described the project overall as a “great experience.”
- Working with a team takes effort... Jensen said that working on a large project that involved working with team members and coordinating effort was more difficult than he expected. Everyone on the team had unique ideas on how to design the product, and they needed to deliberate as a team how to come up with the best solution.
- ...but it’s all worth it in the end. “I really enjoyed working with my team to build a working product,” he said. “I found great satisfaction in solving a difficult problem by combining the many great ideas from team members. There is something exhilarating about combining everyone’s efforts into a working solution!”
- Coaches are a wonderful resource. Jensen described Capstone as a unique opportunity to work with an experienced engineer on a project every day. “I learned a great deal from our team coach on both technical and practical skills,” he said.
- The paperwork isn’t that bad. Jensen had heard previous Capstone students say there would be a lot of paperwork involved in Capstone. While he admitted there was in fact a lot of paperwork during the fall, he found that the documents were necessary for them to develop a better product design. He also said it enabled them to focus more on the project during Winter semester.
- Capstone projects can translate directly into a career… Two members of Jensen’s team were hired for full-time positions by L3Harris. Jensen said that for them, BYU Capstone helped them graduate, build their resume, and start their career - simultaneously.
- … or open participants’ eyes to new career possibilities. “Before Capstone, I had a certain career path in mind,” Jensen said. “But after working on our project, I learned that my career opportunities were wider than I originally imagined.”