# AINS6009: Capstone Project

**Aurnova MSAI track:** Core  
**Credits:** 3  
**Format:** 8-week online graduate course

Guides students through a complete AI project from charter through final defense and handoff.

This course follows the Aurnova/Castalia course-site pattern used by AINS6003: each module includes book prose, an assignment notebook, slide notebook, narration, instructor notes, and an executable lab.

## Course Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

- explain the major concepts and tradeoffs in Capstone Project;
- build or evaluate applied AI artifacts aligned with the course domain;
- document assumptions, evidence, limitations, and operational risks;
- connect technical work to governance, stakeholder needs, and deployment readiness.

## Module Map

1. **Problem definition and project charter** — What problem will the capstone solve, and for whom?
2. **Literature, market, and domain review** — What prior work and constraints shape the solution?
3. **Architecture and data plan** — What system design can satisfy the charter?
4. **Prototype implementation** — What is the smallest useful working system?
5. **Evaluation and iteration** — What evidence shows progress or exposes failure?
6. **Deployment and operational readiness** — What must be true before real-world use?
7. **Thesis, documentation, and defense** — How will the work be defended to technical and nontechnical audiences?
8. **Final demonstration and handoff** — What does the completed project prove?