Here are some notes about the process for forming project teams. Since every project is different, there are many variations but most projects go through the following steps.

If you have any questions about the process please send email to the course team.

Project suggestions

A project suggestion has two parts: a client and a brief summary of the goals of the project. Suggestions come from two sources:

• Projects suggested by CS 5150 students
• Projects suggested by the client

When the course team learns of a possible project, we create a draft web page describing it. The page is placed online, but not made public until the client has reviewed it. Some projects go through several revisions.

When the client approves of the draft, a link is made to the page from the Project Suggestions page on the course web site. Student teams are now encouraged to contact the client.

Forming project teams

Project teams are between 6 and 8 students. A student, or group of students, who are interested in a project can find other people to join the team by:

• Making an announcement in class, describing the project and inviting people to contact them. People often meet after class to form teams.
• By offering to be the student contact for a project. Send email to the course team and we will add the contact information to the project web page.

Students who are having difficulty in finding a project, should contact the course team. We often know of projects that need more people. We may ask a project team to add somebody who has not yet found a team.

Please let us know if you are forming a project team. It enables us to keep the web site up to date.

Contacting the client

The first contact with the client should be made while the team is being formed. It is not necessary to have a full team before contacting the client.

• The client may know of other people who are interested in the project and can put the groups in contact with each other.
• The client may wish to interview the team before committing to the project. Clients should not agree to work with a team if the team does not appear to have the skills necessary to succeed.

Difficulties

• If two separate teams wish to work on a project, the client selects which team will do it. It is not possible to have two teams working on the same project.
• If a team is too small (less than 6 people), contact the course team. We can usually find other people to join a project.
• If a team is too large (more than 8 people), some people will have to move to a different project.

When the team is formed

When you have formed your project team and reached agreement with the client, send email to the course team with the following information:

• Project title
• Client
• Team members with email addresses

This information is important as it allows us to update the project description on the web site to tell other students that this project is no longer available.