Level & Prerequisites

Prerequisites:

• Passed the courses Software Engineering I and II
• Basic knowledge in at least one object oriented programming language (e.g. Java, Swift or Objective-C)
• High motivation and commitment

Course Description

View previous M-Lab 2016/17 iteration here.

In this teaching and innovation laboratory students develop innovative Apps in small teams, under real conditions and tight project deadlines, for real customers from industry, society and the public sector. They experience the latest technologies and development tools, and the theory and methods of software engineering and project management. They also make valuable experience in teamwork and in communication with the “clients”.

Master students only: This winter term we conduct the second global iteration of M-Lab, where students will have the chance to work together in globally distributed teams with students from other partner universities.

M-Lab consists of two parts: a practical part and a theoretical part. In the practical part, the teams will work on a software project and go through all phases of software development, including problem definition, requirements gathering, analysis, design, implementation, integration, testing, software delivery and presentation. A company, an association, or an authority will provide the project goals. In the theoretical part, each project phase of the software life cycle will be discussed and reflected. The topics will be timed to correspond to the expected project progress of the team. The teams will give a presentation on each topic (e.g., requirements analysis) and the theoretical elements (e.g., methods, tools, procedures) that are suited best for the project and why. Their challenges, current and past project decisions, as well as the alternative options they have considered, will be discussed and reflected with the teaching assistants and the other teams.

The students may have different major fields of study, such as computer science, human-machine communication, IT Management and Consulting, or business computer science. Students from other disciplines with computer science as a minor may also participate.

Teaching Staff

Clients

Main Milestones

The project has three main milestones:

• On 02.11.2017: You will deliver the Problem Statement, Click-Dummy, and Hello M-Lab.
• On 07.12.2017: Design Review. You will deliver and present the specification documents and a first prototype in form of a click-dummy.
• On 01.02.2018: Client Acceptance Test: On this day you will present your product to the customers and a public audience. Each team will deliver a poster, a video trailer, a website, and of course the products.

Teams independently schedule their meetings with their costumers and instructors. They have to negotiate and implement the requirements with their customer.

Syllabus

The main subject of each session will be presented in the end of each session by a teaching assistant. The week after, you will present the topic with regard to your current project status. In the weekly meeting, each team will have to prepare and give a 15-minute presentation on each subject of the meeting. Students will learn about important topics of software engineering with special focus on mobile services.

Date	Time	Location	Topic	Deliverable
19.10.2017	14:00 - 20:00	D-220	Tutorials iOS & Android Development
26.10.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-125/129	Introduction, Ice Breaker & Kickoff Presentations by Customers
02.11.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Requirements Engineering Requirements Gathering Methods, Interviews, Surveys, Observation, Requirement Quality, User Study	Problem Statement, Click-Dummy & Hello M-Lab (in GitLab)
09.11.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Prototyping Mockups, Prototypes
16.11.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	System Design Architecture, Object Model, Patterns, Reuse
23.11.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Object Design Frameworks, APIs
30.11.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Usability for Mobile Usability Patterns, Screen Design, Usability Guideline, Usability Testing
07.12.2017	14:30 - 17:30	D-220	Design Review Presentation of System Design	Requirements and System Design Document & Trailer
14.12.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Testing and Quality Management Unit Testing, System Testing, Usability Testing, Code Inspections, Bug Predictions
21.12.2017	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Build and Release Management Continuous Integration, Configuration Management, Build and Release Management
11.01.2018	16:00 - 18:00	D-220	Rollout and Delivery Management How To Package, Publish And Present Apps
18.01.2018		D-220	Scrum Phase Pre Release Sprint
25.01.2018		D-220	Scrum Phase Dryrun
01.02.2018	16:00 - 19:00	D-125/129	Final Exhibition Final Presentations of Projects, Client Acceptance Test	App, Poster & Website

Infrastructure & Projects Poll

Below you find the links to access our infrastructure (GitLab and Moodle) used during the course:

• GitLab
• Moodle

Please make sure to fill out both polls below.

• Preference Poll (The survey will start after the kickoff at 6 pm.)
• General Poll (Please fill out the survey before the kickoff.)

Partner University

NArFU - Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov - one of the leading universities of the Russian Federation is located in the north-west of the country, in the city of Arkhangelsk. Arkhangelsk’s region is the birthplace of the great Russian scientist and a polymath in the Age of Enlightenment - Mikhail Lomonosov. More than 25,000 students from 45 countries are studying here. One of the innovative collaborations in research and teaching is the "Arctic Floating University”. Here young researchers across different universities of nordic countries are taking part in the annual expedition on board of the Russian research vessel "Professor Molchanov”. They gather experience, knowledge and new insights in real conditions of the Nordic Seas.

Funding & Awards

Winning project in Unseren Hochschulen 2015

Winning project in MINTernational

Best Practice in Club MINTernational

Previous Industry Partners

Literature