While learning in the classroom and lab is the foundation of a University of Wisconsin–Madison education, many students also get invaluable experience outside the classroom before graduating.
Through capstone courses, internships and partnerships with employers, students have worked on projects all over the state and nation, from a factory floor to the halls of Wisconsin’s state capitol to wildfire-prone wilderness. Frequently these experiences lead to jobs for the students.
In the Computer Science Department’s capstone course taugh by Amber Field, students work on projects for companies ranging from Epic to Associated Bank of Madison, with the help of mentors from the companies. In the fall 2022 semester, one team built a rewards optimizer program for Capital One, to guide customers through prompts seeking their preferences on annual fees, cash back, miles and more to figure out which credit card best fits their needs. At the final presentation, the team successfully took the audience through a live demonstration of their work.