Capstone Projects: Sponsor Guide

City of Bogotá
City of New Orleans, LA
City of Paterson, NJ
Moulton Niguel Water District, CA
New York County District Attorney’s Office
New York Police Department
New York State Office of the Attorney General
NYC Dept. of Buildings
NYC Dept. of City Planning
NYC Dept. of Design and Construction
NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection
NYC Dept. of Finance
NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene
NYC Dept. of Information Technology and Telecommunications
NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation
NYC Dept. of Sanitation
NYC Dept. of Small Business Services
NYC Dept. of Transportation
NYC Economic Development Corporation
NYC Mayor's Office of Environmental Coordination
NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment
NYC Mayor’s Office of Operations
NYC Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency
NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability (now the MOCEJ)
NYC Office of Technology and Innovation
NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office
The World Bank

Arcadis
areti SpA
ConEd
Delcon
Dollaride
Expedition Works
GHD
Google
HDR
inCitu
Intersection
Introspective Systems, LLC
Lockheed Martin
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
New Light Technologies, Inc
Socrata
State of Place
Systematica
VibeLab

Academic Institutions
Louisiana State University
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
New York University
Politecnico di Milano
University of California Berkeley
University of Delaware
University of Wisconsin La Crosse

Non-Profit Organizations and Think Tanks
Applied Research in Government Operations (ARGO)
Audubon New York
Brooklyn Defender Services
California Data Collaborative
California Forward
Child Poverty Action Lab
CIV-LAB
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Fondazione Transform Transport ETS
Institute for Development Impact
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
National Community Stabilization Trust
National Resource Network
New York Downtown Alliance
NYCSBUS
QueensLink
Results for America
Schmidt Futures, on behalf of the Reimagine New York Commission
Transform Transport
TransitCenter
US Ignite
Women In Need NYC

The dates below are tentative and subject to change.

There is no cost to sponsor a Capstone Project at this time. However, sponsors are expected to contribute their time either as a sponsor or mentor, if possible.

Yes, each student team will create a 3–5 page Client-Team Agreement, which is signed by the client and students. This ensures alignment and clarity for all parties.



What’s Included in the Agreement?

• Problem statement and objective
• Project scope and boundaries
• Interim deliverables and final product
• Roles and responsibilities of all team members and client sponsors
• Information and research methods specifying additional required data (if applicable) and approach for acquiring it
• Client support and involvement
• Confidentiality agreements (if applicable), data sharing protocols, restrictions on shared data, and any required permissions for accessing or using data
• Timeline and work plan

We’re looking for engaged and enthusiastic sponsors who are passionate about leveraging data science to improve cities. 


Sponsor Responsibilities:

• Appoint a primary Point of Contact to ensure the data-sharing agreement is executed and facilitate communications
• Provide Feedback by participating in regular meetings, reviewing progress reports and presentations, and offering input
• Attend two presentations at the end of the Fall semester (December) and the Spring semester (May)

Time Commitment:
The level of involvement varies by project, but sponsors should commit 1-2 hours every two weeks for meetings and feedback. This engagement helps ensure that student teams deliver valuable, actionable insights relevant to your needs.

The CUSP Research Computing Facility (RCF) is a secure environment that provides student teams and sponsors with expert research support services. We recognize the sensitivity of the data we manage—from streaming sensor data to agency administrative data—and have a Safe Data Environment in place. This framework ensures adherence to data governance standards with:

• Safe people: CUSP students receive training on responsible data use, privacy, and confidentiality.
• Safe projects: RCF adheres to strict standards and protocols for managing datasets and databases at the project level
• Safe settings: RCF is a secure data environment with restricted data ingress and egress
• Safe outputs: Statistical disclosure limitation measures are undertaken before any export of products derived from restricted data

Students, faculty, sponsors, and mentors are encouraged to conduct research related to Capstone Projects within the RCF to ensure secure handling. Dedicated project workspaces are created where designated team members can securely collaborate on data analysis and visualization. These workspaces are isolated, ensuring that no other RCF users have access.

Student teams are assigned based on a combination of factors, including:

• Ranked student preferences
• Diversity of backgrounds, skills, and expertise


Project Sponsor Input
:
While project sponsors can suggest desired skills for their assigned team, they do not directly select the student teams as the final selection is determined by the course instructor. Sponsors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest in advance. If a project does not receive interest in the student selection process, it may not move forward.

A high-impact Capstone Project:

• Aligns with both the sponsor's needs and CUSP’s mission to make cities more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable
• Has a clear, tangible deliverable that provides actionable insights
• Has accessible data at the start of a project
• Uses quantitative data that can be leveraged with a range of data science and informatics methodologies like network analysis, predictive modeling, machine learning, and spatial analytics
• Is supported by an engaged sponsor who connects the team to the necessary information, experts, and stakeholders