The course provides hands-on experience in project development under resource and time constraints. Students practice on

• project lifecycle with four phases: initiation, planning, execution, and closure
• iterative and incremental methodologies, with focus on Agile methodologies.

Students carry out project work in groups, where they design and implement a small system. Students regularly reflect on their work throughout development.

After passing the course, the student shall be able to

• identify, describe, discuss, and apply key concepts of project management and development processes
• carry out a project in a group using a structured development process to create a working prototype
• design, develop, test, lead, follow up, and report on project work based on some technical and management roles and responsibilities
• contribute, collaborate, and communicate actively, professionally and inclusively in both Swedish and English
• assess, justify, and reflect on methodological, technical, ethical, and sustainability aspects of working in a project group, the developed product, and its usage.

The course utilizes problem-based learning in project groups. The main task is to design and develop a cloud-based Internet-of-Things (IoT) solution with a product prototype and associated application software. The course goes through the project management lifecycle's four stages: initiation, planning, execution, and closure.

Initiation and planning phases (4 weeks)

Students are randomly assigned to project groups. Each student group initiates the project by identifying the project scope and proposing a cloud-based IoT solution, which must be approved by the teaching team. 

After the student group’s project idea is approved, the project group makes a plan for their project development, for instance, breaking down and scheduling tasks, allocating resources, and assessing and managing risks.

During these two phases, students will learn key concepts in project methods, including planning, management, and development. Students must complete course activities related to these concepts, such as quizzes and seminars, which are used as part of the grade assessment. The course focuses on agile methodology. Seminar attendance is mandatory.

Activities related to English writing support are also provided during these phases.

Execution phase (4 weeks)

Each project group works in iterations with incremental progress toward completion. Each iteration ends with a so-called “presentation,” in which the group reports results achieved/added during the iteration. Each iteration is about one week long, and the project group does four iterations during the execution phase. Presentation attendance is mandatory. After the presentation, there is also a mandatory tutorial session where teachers guide the project group to reflect on their performance during the iteration.

Each group must agree on common timeslots for project work, during which participation is mandatory. Each student must work 20 hours per week during these iterations and contribute their fair share of work. Thus, each student must track and report their time spent on the project every week.

Closure phase (3 weeks)

All project groups present their “working” prototype and reflect on their project work. Moreover, they must submit reports, which include group and individual reports. There is also a mandatory seminar session on project closure in this phase.

• II1300 Engineering Skills, or have equivalent knowledge in basic engineering methods to work in a small IT project in a group.
• IS1200 Computer Hardware Engineering, or have equivalent skills to design, implement, test and debug both software and hardware for an IoT device.

• The Scrum Guide
• Scrum and XP from the Trenches,  2nd Edition, Henrik Kniberg
  You can download the book for free after registration.
• Software Engineering, 10th Edition,  Ian Sommerville
• Additional course materials are in Canvas.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• INL1 - Hand-in assignments, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
• PRO2 - Project work, 3.5 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• UTV1 - Evaluation documents, 1.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Attendance requirement at project work.

Reported working time during the project development phase. Each student must work at least 20 hours per week.

The course uses continuous examination. Students must fulfill the attendance requirements. Students also get points for different course activities. The final grade derives from the percentage of the total points a student scores by the end of the course. The table below shows the minimum percentages for different grades.

A student who scores at least 65% will pass the course and receive a P grade for the PRO2 and UTV1 modules, and the INL1 grade is the same as the final grade.

A student with scores lower than 65% but higher than 63% will receive the Fx grade and must complete complementary work within a given time limit to pass the course with the final grade of E. Otherwise, the student will receive an F grade on all course modules.

A student with scores lower than 63% will fail the course and receive an F grade on all course modules.

After an overall assessment, the examiner can lower or raise the grade one step.

It is not possible to raise an approved grade.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.