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Semester project

CS 551 is an advanced, project-based course, where you will work in teams of 3-5 students to design, implement, and evaluate a new feature in a stream processing system. For example, a semester project may include the development of a new task scheduling strategy to be integrated in the system runtime, the evaluation of an adaptive reconfiguration mechanism, or the implementation and evaluation of a fault-tolerance mechanism. In Spring’26, all projects will be developed on top of HoloStream, a prototype data stream processing system developed in Go.

Project Expectations

Semester projects require a significant time commitment. We urge you to start working on your projects immediately after they are assigned. The expected work per student is substantial and cannot be completed within a few weeks. To be successful, it is essential to begin working on the project promptly and request feedback early. Successful teams will follow these guidelines:

• Regular team meetings: Schedule 2-3 meetings per week with your teammates (e.g., during discussions, before/after class) to discuss progress, assign tasks, and address challenges.
• Project management: Work together to complete tasks and clearly share responsibilities. Use github classroom to review each other’s code, keep track of open issues, and discuss design options. Agree on a system to track progress, set deadlines, and manage tasks.
• Meeting minutes: Keep detailed meeting minutes, including action items, decisions, and next steps.
• Request feedback: Attend OH sessions and ask for feedback to improve the project.

Midterm and Final Demos

Your progress will be assessed via the midetrm and a final demo presentations. See the course schedule for presentation dates.

Mid-term Demo

Students should present a working prototype ~1 month before the semester end. This demo should (i) demonstrate a functional solution that addresses the project problem statement and (ii) outline clear goals and a timeline for project completion.

Final Demo

Students should present a complete solution to the project problem on the last day of class. A successful final demo will:

• Present a working prototype that implements the solution outlined in the project design document.
• Include experimental evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of the solution.
• Be accompanied by well-documented repositories and comprehensive test suites.
• Provide a complete README with detailed instructions that allow the course staff to reproduce the results and run the demo independently.