The Build Fellowship Hub: Newsletter

Given that the crypto space is still an emerging industry, there are no data standards in how to best analyze the success of crypto project. In this Build project, you'll wear the hat of a Financial Analyst and conduct due diligence on several blockchain startups. Under the supervision of an experienced Build Fellows, you'll build out financial models and write up an investment report. You'll become familiar with the blockchain industry and use tools like Excel and Messari Research. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real Finance team.

computing-data-science

mobile-application-development, augmented-reality, machine-learning, image-processing

Next-generation Augmented Reality Mobile Apps

Milad Mazi

and 1 more

Develop a mobile application for marketing and entertainment to integrate media content that is world-locked within a three-dimensional environment, utilizing real-time object detection, image processing and spatial augmented reality algorithms.

Computer Science Fellow

In the rapidly evolving field of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), the demand for professionals who can navigate the unique software development models and methods is high. In this Build Project, you will step into the role of an AR/VR Software Developer and develop an application that can overlay augmented content on device camera frames. Under the guidance of an industry expert, you will explore and evaluate the specifications and performance of various mobile phones in the market that can be used for real-time object inference and world-locked rendering.

You will delve into the intricacies of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms, which are crucial for world-locked rendering of overlay media content. Furthermore, you will identify the best methods and algorithms suited for real-time object inference and augmentation rendering to camera frames.

You will become familiar with AR/VR technologies and their unique software development cycles, using tools and methodologies like Unity, C#, and ARCore. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real AR/VR development team. By the end of the project, you will have a functional application that can be further expanded and improved by adding other metadata as an augmentation layer on top of camera frames.

business

commercial-real-estate, asset-management, finance, economics, investments

Evaluate Financial Performance of Office Assets for a Commercial Real Estate Portfolio 

Nikhita Vivek

and 1 more

Analyze current financial performance of an investment as compared to underwriting/budget and prepare materials to update senior leadership on the asset and its market performance.  

Finance Fellow

If you want to work in Commercial Real Estate, it’s beneficial for your portfolio to acquire some industry-specific experiences. In this Build Project, you'll wear the hat of an Asset Management Analyst and monitor the financial performance of an office asset within a commercial real estate portfolio in Los Angeles. The investment committee that approved the acquisition of said asset has requested a meeting to provide them with an update on market and asset performance a year into acquisition. Under the supervision of an experienced Build Fellow, you'll work on valuation and investment metrics, returns, variances in financial statements, and market fundamentals. You'll also become familiar with industry tools such as Excel, PowerPoint, Costar, and Cushman & Wakefield. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real CRE (Commercial Real Estate) Asset Management team.

engineering

bottling-industry, blower-simulator, pet-blowing-process, prototyping, blower

Bottling Industry: Creating a Simulator Prototype for a PET Blower Machine

Omar Diaz

and 1 more

The goal of this project is to create a simulator prototype that will be used extensively as a tool for helping operators, production and maintenance personnel better understand the way the process works and be able to troubleshoot it more efficiently.

Manufacturing Fellow

business

financial-modeling, microsoft-excel, financial-reports-analysis

Develop a Teaser of a Corporate Development Opportunity

Roi Bejerano

and 1 more

Research the market, analyze financial reports, perform an indicative valuation and prepare a slide deck to present a target company for a potential investment/divestment.

Finance Fellow

To stay relevant and profitable, companies need to constantly review their growth strategy and identify new market opportunities. Specialists who can do this work effectively are always in demand, so it's a valuable skillset to acquire. In this Build Project, you'll wear the hat of a Corporate Development Analyst and come up with a potential acquisition target (company) to analyze and present. Under the supervision of an experienced Build Fellow, you'll perform market research, financial analysis and build a dynamic valuation model in Excel. You'll become familiar with valuation methodologies like DCF, NPV and WACC. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real Corporate Development team.

computing-data-science

data-engineering, e-commerce-analytics, social-media, python

Social Signals: Unlocking E-commerce Trends

Shubham Dubey

and 1 more

Build a data pipeline that aggregates and analyzes e-commerce and social media data to provide actionable insights for AI startups, empowering them to enhance customer engagement and drive strategic growth.

Data Science Fellow

As e-commerce and social media become increasingly intertwined, startups face the challenge of extracting meaningful insights from vast amounts of data to inform their strategies. In this Build Project, you'll step into the role of a Data Engineer, tasked with building a comprehensive data pipeline that aggregates and analyzes customer behavior and market trends. Under the guidance of an experienced industry expert, you’ll develop Python scripts for data extraction, transform data for analysis, and load it into a structured database. You’ll become familiar with essential industry tools and methodologies like SQL and data visualization techniques, all within an environment that simulates the operations of a real data analytics team. This hands-on experience will equip you with valuable skills that are highly sought after in today’s data-driven landscape, making you a standout candidate for future roles in data engineering and analytics.

law

legal-writing, legal-research, oral-arguments, networking

Law School Writing and Advocacy

Mélodie Han

and 1 more

Gain the essential advocacy, analytical and legal writing skills needed for law school success through this preparatory program designed to guide you from admissions to your first year of law school.

Law Fellow

This is a pre-law project designed for college freshmen and sophomores to develop a practical understanding of lawyering and build analytical and advocacy skills. The first weeks of the project will focus on demystifying the law school admissions process. You will then develop an appellate brief that can be used as a writing sample for your future career endeavors. You will also present oral arguments in a simulated courtroom environment. This project emphasizes research, writing, and oral advocacy, providing you with the opportunity to analyze complex legal cases, formulate well-reasoned arguments, and participate in structured debates. More importantly, this project will serve as a preview of what you can expect during your year of law school. You will refine your analytical thinking, writing, and public speaking abilities. By the end of this project, you will have gained critical skills in research, writing, and argumentation, directly applicable to entry-level roles in law, public policy, and various sectors that value clear communication and analytical precision.

business

marketing, crm, emailing, data-analysis, content-creation

Conducting, Crafting and Analyzing Impactful Email Campaigns

Chloé Rudez

and 1 more

Understand the fundamental aspects of digital marketing and CRM, design an email campaign based on a pre-established strategy and evaluate key performance indicators.

Market Research Fellow

Join a hands-on project where you'll explore the exciting world of digital marketing and CRM (Customer Relationship Management). You'll get to practice important CRM skills, like managing customer information and building strong relationships with them. As part of the Build Project, you'll create your own email campaign that matches your marketing goals. You’ll also learn how to use data to understand if your campaign is successful. This means you’ll dive into key performance indicators (KPIs) to see what’s working and what’s not, helping you improve future campaigns.

By learning how to segment (or divide) your audience, personalize your messages, and run A/B tests (comparing two versions of something to see which works better), you’ll develop the ability to create marketing campaigns that really connect with different types of people. These skills are super valuable for entry-level jobs in today’s job market, making you a strong candidate for companies that want to build great relationships with their customers.

business

personnel-organizational-training, change-management, talent-management, employee-development

Create a Strengths-Based Company Culture

Silvia Schweinoester

and 1 more

Explore strategies for identifying employees’ strengths and integrating them into their roles to foster a strengths-based company culture.

Business Management Fellow

By the end of the 8-week project, students will develop a comprehensive 'How-to Guide' for creating and sustaining a strengths-based company culture, based on their experiences with personality tests and talent management practices. A template will be provided to guide them through the process.

Throughout the project, students will engage in various activities including analyzing personality tests, identifying individual strengths, and applying talent management practices. Key deliverables will include a strengths assessment, an implementation plan for fostering a strengths-based culture, and regular reflections on their learning process.

business

learning-and-development, employee-training, compliance

Building Engaging Compliance Training: Developing an Interactive Quiz for Regulatory Awareness

Ruth Purcell

and 1 more

This project focuses on developing a learning material to help employees understand and comply with key workplace regulations, including anti-harassment policies, data protection, and workplace safety.

HR Business Fellow

With workplace regulations increasingly under scrutiny, organizations are prioritizing compliance to protect both employees and the business. Understanding and adhering to policies around anti-harassment, data privacy, and safety are now essential components of a healthy workplace culture. This Build Project will guide you through the process of designing a compliance training tool, focusing on creating an interactive quiz that reinforces knowledge about critical workplace regulations such as anti-harassment policies, data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR), and safety standards.

Over the course of 8 weeks, you will work on developing content, building quiz questions, and incorporating learning design strategies to ensure the material is engaging and easy to retain. By the end of the project, you’ll gain practical experience in both compliance and training development, equipping you with skills to build effective, engaging learning materials that foster a safer and more compliant workplace.

computing-data-science

devops, amazon-web-services, infrastructure-as-code, cloud-engineering

Learn and Implement a Well-Architected Cloud Infrastructure on Amazon Web Services

Rohit Khattar

and 1 more

Understand and implement fundamental principles associated with software development in the Amazon Web Services cloud using Infrastructure as Code (Iac) and Terraform.

Software Engineering Fellow

Cloud operations and DevOps have become heavily critical to hosting and running any high-performance web applications that can scale as the user demand increases. This Build Project will introduce you to basic cloud principles, explain some of the best practices and walk you through a couple of hands-on exercises to prepare you to dive deeper into the world of cloud engineering.

By the end of the 8-weeks project, you will develop a sound foundation of cloud principles. You will develop architecture diagrams and implement those on the AWS cloud platform for hosting a basic web application. Finally, you will be tasked to develop and present a migration strategy for a company that wants to move their web architecture from On-Prem to the AWS Cloud.

Since most software organizations use some form of the cloud or another, having these foundational principles can help you understand the company's software infrastructure as well as stand out from your competition.

computing-data-science

software-development, personal-finance, full-stack-development, modern-web-technologies

Wallet Wizard: Develop a Personal Finance Tracker

Parug Demircioglu

and 1 more

Create a full-stack web application that empowers users to manage their personal finances by tracking budgets, monitoring expenses, and generating insightful financial reports.

Computer Science Fellow

In today’s fast-paced world, effective personal finance management is more crucial than ever, yet many people lack the tools to monitor their budgets and expenses efficiently. In this Build Project, you’ll wear the hat of a Full-stack Software Developer and develop “Wallet Wizard”, a comprehensive personal finance tracker built from the ground up. Under the supervision of an experienced industry expert, you’ll design and implement a fully functional application that enables users to set budgets, track expenses, and generate insightful financial reports. You’ll become familiar with industry-standard tools and technologies like React, Next.js, Node.js, and PostgreSQL. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real software development team, providing you with practical experience that’s highly valued in the tech industry.

law

criminal-law, judicial-process, case-study, legal-analysis

How Crime Works: Exploring Law in Action

Hetali Sheth

and 1 more

Examine criminal theory, legal principles, defense strategies, and societal impacts through case studies and discussions.

Law Fellow

Ever wondered what it takes to build a criminal case from start to finish? In this Build project, you'll step into the role of a legal analyst to dissect and build a comprehensive case portfolio on a mock criminal case, mirroring the analytical work common in law firms and public defender offices. Under the guidance of an experienced industry professional, you'll analyze key elements of the case, assess possible defenses, map out trial procedures, and craft a verdict and sentencing recommendation based on criminal law principles. You’ll gain hands-on experience with fundamental legal techniques like case classification, evidence assessment, and procedural mapping, all within a simulated judicial process. This project offers a valuable, real-world experience for anyone interested in understanding the building blocks of criminal justice and applying legal concepts in practice.

computing-data-science

data-science, data-visualization, python, business-intelligence

Data Alchemy: Crafting Actionable Insights from Raw Data

Pratyush Kundu

and 1 more

Transform raw data into actionable insights and interactive dashboards, while mastering foundational data science techniques such as exploratory data analysis (EDA) & data visualization.

Data Science Fellow

In today's data-driven world, being able to transform raw data into valuable insights is a critical skill. In this Build Project, you’ll wear the hat of a Data Scientist and tackle the challenge of creating interactive dashboards that showcase business insights from raw data. Under the supervision of an experienced industry expert, you will develop essential skills in SQL, Python, machine learning, and data visualization. You’ll become familiar with industry-standard tools like sklearn and git, while applying these skills to a real-world data problem. This project provides a unique opportunity to experience the full data science lifecycle, from raw data to visualization, simulating the operations of a real data science team.

physical-life-science

civil-engineering, material-estimation, plan-reading, excel-automation

From Plans to Quantities: Estimating Essentials in a Construction Project

Margarita Vizcaino

and 1 more

Design a worksheet to estimate materials such as concrete, steel, CMU and brick using real-life projects as a case study.

Civil Engineer Fellow

In the construction industry, accurate estimation of materials like concrete, steel, and brick is essential for project planning and budgeting. By designing a worksheet to estimate these materials, you will tackle a real-world challenge faced by construction companies daily. This project not only will give you practical skills crucial for success in the field but also fosters critical thinking, attention to detail, and problem-solving abilities essential for your professional development. Additionally, mastering estimation techniques enhances your employability and prepares you to contribute meaningfully to construction projects upon entering the workforce. In today's U.S. society, where infrastructure development and construction projects are essential for economic growth and societal well-being, professionals equipped with such skills play a vital role in driving progress and meeting the evolving needs of communities across the nation.

computing-data-science

natural-language-processing, transformers, fine-tuning, large-language-models-llms

Fine-Tune a Job Title Embedding Model using Synthetic Training Data

James Alner

and 1 more

Generate synthetic training data using an LLM API to fine-tune a SBERT-based embedding model to cluster similar job titles, evaluating the improvement in the embedding’s performance for retrieval.

Data Science Fellow

Sentence embedding models have a wide variety of use cases in the Natural Language Processing (NLP) landscape, such as to facilitate vector search of unstructured text for semantically similar entries, or within a larger model to enable tasks such as regression or classification on free-text.

During this project, you will devise a prompt to generate a synthetic dataset to fine-tune a pretrained sentence embedding model to address deficiencies in the domain-specific use-case of embedding job titles. You will then use this dataset to fine-tune your pretrained model and evaluate the improvement in performance for the vector search task. Finally, you will deploy your fine-tuned model within a Streamlit web app, allowing you to easily show your model to anyone.

This project will help build your familiarity with basic prompting techniques, querying LLMs and parsing their outputs through an API, as well as popular Machine Learning and NLP frameworks (such as Hugging Face and Sentence-Transformers) and provide a compact end-to end experience from initial prototyping to dataset gathering, to training and evaluation, and finally deployment, covering the core parts of common workflows for a Data Scientist or ML Engineer.

engineering

aircraft-maintenance, drones, unmanned-aerial-vehicle-uav, structural-inspections, cad

Drone Mounted with 3D Surface Scanner for Aircraft Structural Inspections

Teja Swaroop Reddy Seelam

and 1 more

Integrate a 3D Surface Scanner along with a high-definition camera on a drone to aid in Aircraft structural inspections to improve accuracy, accessibility, safety and aircraft maintenance turnover.

Aerospace Engineering Fellow

For an airline, aircraft structural inspections play a pivotal role in ensuring structural integrity and aerodynamic smoothness, making it critical for its daily operations to be run in a highly safe and efficient manner. Some of these structural inspections include but are not limited to, detailed inspection of aircraft skin waviness for aerodynamic smoothness, dents, lightning & bird strike inspections, corrosion & sealing inspections, loose/damaged fastener inspections along with damage classification and repair limits.

In this build project you will wear the hat of an airline maintenance engineer to explore use cases of integrating a 3D surface scanner to perform aircraft structural inspections. Under the supervision of an experienced industry expert, you’ll start by identifying gaps in traditional structural inspections, develop a solution and carry-out feasibility studies. You’ll become familiar with an airline maintenance program, manuals, 3D CAD modeling software, and FAA’s regulations. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real airline maintenance engineering team.

computing-data-science

python, software-development, apis, large-language-models

Integrating Large Language Model (LLM) Service Using Python

Yuan Sun

and 1 more

In this project we will write Python code that integrates with third-party Large Language Model (LLM) to solve real-life problems, for example automatic email replying.

Computer Science Fellow

With the rapid rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) in the tech industry, mastering the ability to integrate these models into software solutions has become a key skill for developers. In this Build Project, you'll wear the hat of a Software Developer and build an automated email reply system using Python and third-party LLMs. Under the supervision of an experienced industry expert, you'll write code to integrate LLMs with email systems, enabling the generation of contextually accurate responses in real time. You'll become familiar with API integration, natural language processing, and automation tools. All this will happen in an environment that simulates the operations of a real AI-driven development team, giving you valuable experience in a growing field.

business

equity-research, game-theory, financial-modeling, valuation-techniques

Public Equity Valuation and Investment

Bill Cui

and 1 more

Learn to evaluate a publicly traded company and produce an investment recommendation.

Finance Fellow

Detailed analyses and accurate predictions based on fundamental understanding of a company are key to becoming a successful public equity investing professional. In this Build Project, you will wear the hat of a fundamental analyst and develop investment recommendations about a publicly traded company’s stock. Under the supervision of an experienced industry expert, you will dive deep into understanding the company’s business model, evaluating its business strategies and competitive landscapes, analyzing its financial data, and predicting its future growth potential. You will also become familiar with tools such as Python to conduct statistical analysis on macroeconomic data and apply various valuation methods in Excel to support your investment theses. The analytical and modeling skills gained from this project will help you become more competitive in the recruiting process for a junior equity investment role.

computing-data-science

user-experience-design, user-interface-design, user-research, digital-design, design-prototyping

From Zero to Prototype: Bring Your Software Startup Idea to Life

Arun Ganesan

and 1 more

Develop a software startup idea into a prototype by researching the problem, understanding users, and designing effective solutions iteratively.

Computer Science Fellow

You have a software product idea that you want to develop into a real product. Where do you even start? The truth is that it’s straightforward once you learn the process. It helps if you have Computer Science, Software Engineering, Design or Business or have previously acquired skills in one of these areas.

Every day, talented people work on countless software startup ideas, yet most fail. Using tools like the design process and user research can help teams move quickly and avoid common pitfalls that derail projects. In this Build project, you’ll take on the role of a digital product designer, applying the design process to software development. You’ll start by researching users, move through ideation sessions and ultimately build a prototype to pitch to a wider audience. The outcome will be an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)—not necessarily a finished product, but a foundation to introduce the essential tools and methods needed to build one successfully.

After 8 weeks, you’ll be able to apply this process to develop product ideas in any industry and tackle various problems. If you’re pursuing product manager or product designer roles, this project will also serve as a valuable addition to your portfolio.

engineering

sustainable-materials, materials-processing, polymer-engineering, materials-science

Developing Bio-based (CNSL) Cellular Products

Abdul Al Alawi

and 1 more

Transform cashew nutshell byproducts into sustainable cellular materials that address environmental needs while showcasing innovative uses in various industries.

Materials Engineer Fellow

In the rapidly evolving field of sustainable materials, addressing environmental impact through innovative solutions is crucial. In this Build Project, you'll wear the hat of a Materials Engineer and develop bio-based cellular products using cashew nutshell liquid as a key component.

Under the supervision of an experienced industry expert, you'll prepare and test various sustainable materials, learning to apply cutting-edge analytical methods like FTIR and Karl Fischer. You'll become familiar with industry-standard techniques for material characterization and production, all within an environment that simulates real-world engineering challenges and team dynamics.

Important Details:

‍No Physical Materials Required: Students will not need to purchase any materials or conduct physical manipulations during the project; everything will be conducted online.
Free Software: All analyses will utilize free, readily available software tools, ensuring no additional costs for participants.
Project Format: The project will include a mix of pre-recorded instructional videos, live webinars for Q&A sessions, and interactive online discussions, alongside access to digital resources to support your learning.

computing-data-science

predictive-modeling, real-estate-analytics, machine-learning, cloud-computing

Design an End-to-End Housing Price Prediction Machine Learning System

Nischal Subedi

and 1 more

Design an end-to-end housing price prediction machine learning system and deploy final model artifact using AWS Sagemaker.

Data Science Fellow

Predictive modeling is a critical skill for data scientists, widely used across various industries. In real estate, predictive analytics and valuation modeling are gaining momentum, with both startups and established companies increasingly adopting data-driven approaches to forecast housing prices.

In this Build Project, you will retrieve, clean, and preprocess real-world housing data, transforming it into a format suitable for machine learning. You will explore and visualize the data to gain insights, then apply supervised learning algorithms to predict the sales price for each house. Throughout the project, you'll focus on optimizing model performance through feature selection and hyperparameter tuning. Additionally, you'll deploy your final model using AWS SageMaker, making it accessible via cloud infrastructure. This hands-on project will not only enhance your predictive modeling skills but also give you practical experience in cloud-based machine learning deployment.

law

legal-writing, legal-analysis, legal-research

Legal Analysis and Writing: Legal Memorandums and Briefs

Nataly Rahmo

and 1 more

Acquire proficiency in legal writing, as well as legal analysis and research to enhance your critical skills.

Law Fellow

You will learn legal writing to organize research, create outlines, and draft legal documents such as memorandums and briefs at the end of the project. In this Build Project, you will understand the basics of legal writing and its importance in the legal field. You will write down a legal paper: a memorandum or brief. This assignment will require you to complete research plans, writing outlines, document summaries, and writing assignments. You will also develop advanced writing, research, and analysis skills and a deep understanding of legal concepts. These skills can be integrated into their professional and academic pursuits, gaining valuable expertise in the process. You will also get acquainted with multiple legal search engines and be able to conduct successful research assignments.

law

law, legal-writing

Law 101: Primer to Practicing Law – Analytical Thinking and Legal Writing

Joo Hee Park

and 1 more

Develop the skills needed to be a successful law student through analyzing case law, preparing a legal memo, and advocating for your client.

Law Fellow

This project is designed for students who aspire to work in the legal industry. Practicing law has its unique features that students cannot know until they get a hands-on experience of what it’s like. How is “legal writing” different from writing any other essays or research papers? How is “legal research” different from any other research? How is reading case law and court decisions different from any other papers? Law Students spend an entire year (or more) to learn these skills. The project allows you to get a head start in gaining these skills, in a more simplified, beginner-friendly way. You will develop a legal memo as a final deliverable, which will include your analysis of cases, and its application to the matter at hand, and your position in advocating for your client. It can be used as a writing sample which will be handy in applying for law schools and/or internships or other law office positions that do not require an attorney license.At the end of the 8-weeks session, you will feel more confident applying for law schools or jobs in the legal industry.

computing-data-science

software-development, python, mathematical-computation, drones

Drone Flight Planner System: Flight Path for Efficient Data Capture

Ayush Baid

and 1 more

Build a flight planner system which computes the trajectory for the drone to fly and capture photos efficiently as per user specification.

Software Development Fellow

Capturing high quality image datasets is a rapidly expanding field with a wide range of applications: mapping, survey, digital 3D models, and datasets for AI. Drones are transforming the industry by providing a safe, cheap, and accessible platform which can navigate difficult terrain and capture datasets with remarkable precision and efficiency. In this project, you will wear the hat of a Roboticist and a Software Developer and develop a path planning system which can capture the image datasets in an efficient manner.

Under the guidance of an industry expert, you’ll develop data models in Python for user requirements and constraints, develop modular APIs to calculate the position and the speed of the drones, and build visualization tools to analyze the computed trajectories. You’ll learn about camera systems and the image capture process, mapping and photogrammetry concepts like overlap, and industry conventions to represent the path of robots. Your project leader will provide the mathematical concepts required for the project and simulate an environment of a real robotics software development team.

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