The LMU Students App is a student-led initiative developed by students for students. This practicum offers hands-on experience in full-stack mobile app development, enabling participants to build and enhance real-world features for an application actively used by LMU students. Students will work in small teams, addressing real user feedback to improve usability, add new features, and optimize system performance.

The course provides insights into modern development workflows and best practices, offering practical exposure to full-stack engineering in a production setting. Participants contribute to an open-source project and gain valuable experience with mobile frontend and scalable backend technologies.

Topics and Focus Areas

• Full-stack mobile application development (Flutter, FastAPI, PostgreSQL)
• User-centered design based on real feedback from LMU students
• Scalable backend architecture and performance optimization
• Version control, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development

Example Projects

• Improvements: Roomfinder enhancements, cinema module (HM API), backend query optimization (PostgreSQL, Redis), CMS integration, ZHS sports course integration
• New Features: LMU AI Chat (Vector DB, generative UI), push notifications, GPA calculator, news/event aggregator, job board, calendar sync, room booking via Anny API
• Future Goals: Digital student ID integration (Apple/Google Wallet), automated LMU email setup

Recommended Knowledge and Interests

• Basic programming skills (e.g., Python, Dart/Flutter)
• Interest in mobile and web technologies
• Familiarity with version control (Git/GitHub)
• Interest in agile, team-based development processes

Project Structure & Deliverables

• Team-based development cycles with weekly updates
• Regular code reviews and iterative feedback
• Final deliverables include:
  • A functional prototype or deployed feature in the LMU Students App
  • Clean, documented code and technical write-up

Schedule & Registration

• Flexible, self-managed weekly development cycles
• Weekly check-ins (virtual or in-person)
• Milestones aligned with feature timelines
• Interested students should email a short motivation and skills summary to admin ät lmu-dev.org