MSIS Capstone Teams Deliver Tech-Driven Solutions for Real-World Clients

There’s no substitute for real-world experience, and students in the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) program are acquiring it in spades.

The program’s Industry Capstone prepares students to enter a workforce requiring proficiency in producing cutting-edge information technology solutions to pressing business issues. Through the capstone, teams of five to seven students serve as IT consultants to corporate clients seeking technical expertise to meet their strategic goals while receiving guidance and mentorship along the way. 

The collaborative project leverages the program’s foundational coursework and takes place over two courses: Business Process Analysis and the Industry Practicum. During the former, the student teams are paired with their client and collaborate on analyzing the tasked business problem or opportunity, defining the scope of their project and identifying potential solutions.

In the latter semester, teams work toward bringing those solutions to fruition through designs integrating software, hardware or service components. The entire process culminates in a holistic understanding of challenges in the business information technology industry.

The Smith School's Paul Shapiro, associate clinical professor, says the program's format seamlessly translates its foundational technical and management coursework to working with real-world clients and building systems. Students having two full semesters to work with a client "has taken their technical and management skills to another level."

"From working with Large Language Models (LLMs) enabling natural language processing applications, such as a chatbot, to integrating commercial software and legacy data migration, the students have definitely risen to the occasion," says Shapiro. "I am particularly proud to see students get internships between the spring and fall semesters with their capstone clients, and encouraged that this experience will directly contribute to building their IS careers."

The 2024 cohort saw 13 clients with 30 projects from industries such as hospitality, media and entertainment, healthcare, education, government and technology. Many students also continued working with their clients over the summer as interns.

The program’s emphasis on broadening technical backgrounds and enhancing business acumen drove Hetvi Shah, MSIS ’24, to enroll. With professional experience at companies like Accenture and Myma.ai, Shah sought to strengthen her knowledge in artificial intelligence, data analytics and cloud computing while developing her leadership and collaboration skills by working with the program’s cross-functional teams.

Shah’s team partnered with Myma.ai, which focuses on leveraging AI to improve customer interactions in the tourism and hospitality industry, to enhance its chatbot’s functionality with chat history recall, reducing incorrect responses and improving its ability to handle multiple service requests.

She describes the capstone experience as a “pivotal moment” in her technical and leadership journey. 

“This project reinforced the power of clear communication and adaptability in delivering results that matter,” says Shah. “The lessons I learned have sharpened my technical skills and ignited a passion for driving innovation that can create a lasting impact in the tech industry.”

Fellow cohort member Kushal Acharya, MSIS ’24, aspired to join the program to enhance his marketing and analytics background with skills enabling him to work toward a career in data science.

His pursuit of that goal included working with Trace 3, a global technology consultancy company providing IT services, on building a ChatGPT-like interface capable of parsing through the company’s knowledge repository of policy PDFs and delivering relevant query answers.

Through the project, Acharya says he gained invaluable firsthand experience in project management and developed relevant industry skills such as UI/UX, risk management and system design.

“Being involved in the technical side of building the tool provided me with exposure to large language models, utilizing APIs efficiently and in interface design,” says Acharya. “The combination of these skills would be very helpful in searching for emerging data science roles requiring experience with Gen AI.” 

Shah encourages other students interested in the program to dive in and “fully immerse” themselves in the experience. The MSIS Capstone is a unique experiential learning opportunity where students and their clients can learn from each other and showcase the power of collaboration.

“Embrace challenges as opportunities to learn, and don’t be afraid to innovate,” says Shah. “Ultimately, this project is your chance to bridge classroom knowledge with real-world impact, so approach it with curiosity and determination.”