Schedule

Wk Mon Date Monday Wednesday Due
1 Aug 31 Intro: Code 1.0/2.0/3.0
🏗️ Course intro; dev tools setup; shell & Git
Neural Networks & Training
📖 Intro to neural nets video
🏗️ Lab 1 kickoff: Programming refresh + train a neural net with PyTorch
2 Sep 07 Labor Day — No Class Catch-up & Review
🏗️ Lab 1 work session; CLI & Git deepening
Lab 0
3 Sep 14 How Large Language Models (LLMs) Work
📖 Karpathy neural net video
🏗️ How LLMs work from first principles
Building a Language Model
📖 Tokenization & embeddings reading
🏗️ Lab 2 kickoff: Build a small language model
Lab 1
4 Sep 21 Web Fundamentals
📖 How the web works (DNS, HTTP) video
🏗️ HTML, CSS & JavaScript from scratch
Frontend Development
📖 Frontend frameworks intro
🏗️ Lab 3 kickoff: Interactive Web App
Lab 2
5 Sep 28 Backend & APIs
📖 REST API explainer
🏗️ Build a backend + database
Full-Stack Integration
📖 Full-stack architecture reading
🏗️ Lab 4 kickoff: Full-Stack App
Lab 3
6 Oct 05 Sensors & Arduino
📖 Arduino/sensors intro video
🏗️ Connecting physical to digital (live demo)
Hardware-Software Integration
📖 Internet of Things (IoT) architecture reading
🏗️ Lab 5 kickoff: Sensor-to-Cloud Prototype
Lab 4
7 Oct 12 Agentic AI Coding
📖 Agentic coding tools overview
🏗️ Agentic AI coding workshop
Systems Integration
📖 Systems integration reading
🏗️ Lab 6 kickoff: Agentic AI Build
Lab 5
8 Oct 19 Fall Break — No Class Pre/Post Assessment & Project Kickoff
📖 Review your P0 submission
🏗️ Redo P0; final project kickoff & brainstorming
Lab 6
9 Oct 26 User Research
📖 User interview techniques video
🏗️ User research workshop
Personas & Interviews
📖 Persona creation reading
🏗️ Conduct user interviews; build personas
10 Nov 02 Product Requirements Document (PRD)
📖 PRD examples
🏗️ PRD & specifications workshop
Design Review
🏗️ Design review with peers
User research
11 Nov 09 Build Sprint 1
🏗️ Build sprint
Board Check-in
🏗️ Board of directors check-in
PRD
12 Nov 16 Build Sprint 2
🏗️ Build sprint
Technical Deep-Dive
🏗️ Technical deep-dive (student-led)
Prototype v1
13 Nov 23 Build Sprint 3
🏗️ Build sprint
Thanksgiving — No Class Prototype v2
14 Nov 30 Polish & Testing
📖 Technical writing guide
🏗️ Polish & testing
Documentation & Blog
📖 Blog post examples
🏗️ Documentation & blog post writing
15 Dec 07 Demo Prep
📖 Presentation tips video
🏗️ Demo day prep & rehearsal
Demo Day
🏗️ Final Presentations / Demo Day
Final build + blog post