From first line of code to first product: 22 graduation projects begin at STEP
This term, 28 students from our Software Development Major started their graduation projects. Between now and December they will build 22 working products. Most of the students in her group had never written code before they joined STEP.
What they are building
The projects split evenly: 11 mobile apps and 11 web platforms. Nearly all of them start from a problem the students have seen around them in Cambodia.
Eight are online stores and marketplaces. One student noticed that computer shops in Phnom Penh still sell mostly through Telegram channels and Facebook pages, so he is building a proper store with product comparison, order tracking, live ABA KHQR payment and a back-office for staff. Others are building clothing marketplaces, a tyre shop with service booking, and a mobile app where anyone can buy and sell.
Five are fintech apps, from peer-to-peer transfers to a budget and savings tracker.
Four make everyday services easier. RentGo lets you rent a motorbike, car or bicycle from your phone. FoodNearMe finds cafes and street food near you on a map. JobFinder connects job seekers with employers, and TheabStudio lets event hosts send digital invitations, track RSVPs and pay with Bakong.
Three are education tools. StudyPulse turns a student's notes into quizzes, flashcards and summaries in Khmer and English. A team of two is building a book recommendation engine with machine learning, and another student is building an online course and quiz platform for independent tutors.
The last two are the ones we keep coming back to. REMA plans how emergency medical kits reach families during urban floods: it ranks households by need, picks a delivery route based on water depth, and alerts relief teams in real time. DigiCamfarm gives smallholder farmers current crop prices, a cost and profit calculator, and a guide to local micro-finance.
Real tools, the full cycle
The technology sections of these proposals is like a job adverts: Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, Flutter, React, Next.js, Vue, Laravel, Django, FastAPI, ASP.NET Core, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Firebase, Docker, AWS, AI APIs, and Cambodian payment systems such as ABA PayWay and Bakong.
The tools are only half of it. Every project goes through the process a professional software team follows, from a written proposal and requirements to UI and database design, development, testing, documentation and a final defense in front of a panel.
Each student or team has a mentor from our teaching staff, and eight trainers are supervising this term. They review architecture decisions, sit with students when a payment integration refuses to work, and hold every project to the standard an employer would expect. Projects are graded on originality (40%), technical execution (40%), and presentation and documentation (20%).
Why we give it 3 months
A short course can teach you a framework in a few weeks. It rarely gives you time to build something big enough to break, and then fix it.
University degrees have the time. Many spend it on theory, though, and a syllabus that takes years to change will trail behind what companies use today.
Our Software Development programme follows the international IT STEP Academy curriculum, used across our network in more than 20 countries and updated as the industry moves. Students spend most of their study time writing code. And the programme ends the way a job begins: a real product, a deadline, and a mentor reviewing the work.
That is why the graduation project gets a full 3 months. We want our graduates to leave with a diploma and with proof of what they can do, in the form of a working app, a GitHub repository and a story to tell in a job interview. For a few of them, the project will turn into a startup. A notebook in a grocery shop is a good place for one to begin.
We'll share what they built when students present their finished projects in December. Follow IT Academy STEP Cambodia to see how the notebook story ends.
Interested in studying Software Development at STEP? Contact us at cambodia@itstep.org or visit cambodia.itstep.org.
