The schedules and materials for Liftoff 2020 and Mission Control 2020 are now available at

– https://orbital.comp.nus.edu.sg/liftoff-2020/

– https://orbital.comp.nus.edu.sg/mission-control-2020/.

We will be consolidating and releasing the project posters / videos soon!

The briefing slides @ bit.ly/orbital20-briefing have been updated to include a few important notes (partially quoted as below) and more FAQs. Please read the slides again before submitting your application.

– The application process is NOT first-come-first-served. All valid applications will be reviewed.

– Each team should only submit one application. Additional applications from the same team will be ignored.

– Each student should apply under only one team. If a student is found to be applying under multiple teams, all applications involving this student will be ignored.

– Please follow the instructions in the application form closely. Applications with incomplete / missing / inaccurate / improperly formatted information will be ignored.

– Please make use of the Google Form @ bit.ly/orbital20-apply to submit your application.

All the best!

Instead, please refer to the slides @ bit.ly/orbital20-briefing for more details about the programme.

Do take note that the application period is from 11 March, 6pm to 18 March, 6pm, and the link to the application portal will be announced closer to the date.

Orbital is an optional, self-driven, hands-on, summer project course for year 1 students.

The mission of the course is to give you the opportunity to get some practical experience on software development while granting you modular credits (along with other perks such as testimonials and prizes).

You will be working on a software project of your choice in teams of 2.

There are no formal lectures but two mandatory events: Lift-off (introductory workshop + idea presentation, 11 May) and Splashdown (project presentation + award ceremony, 26 Aug). You will also need to submit progress report online on a monthly basis. Otherwise, it’s independent learning and software development, under the guidance of our teaching team.

Tentatively, the application for Orbital 2020 will be open on 11 Mar with an information session on the same day. The application will be closed on 18 Mar and the successful applicants will be notified by email by mid Apr. A sample proposal can be found @ https://bit.ly/orbital20-sample.

[Do note that all the events might be held online instead of physically in view of the recent coronavirus situation.]

Please watch out for our email / Facebook announcements for more updates.

For more information about the programme, please check out the following links:

Official Website: https://orbital.comp.nus.edu.sg

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/nus.orbital/

Have a nice week ahead!

The job scopes of the three positions are as follows:

– Advisers act as peer assessors and cheerleaders for teams taking Orbital. This means that you are to evaluate the progress of a few Orbital teams every month and guide those teams through the project. You don’t need to be tech-savvy — as long as you are willing to give feedback to the teams and help them along, you will have a good time with them.

Busy period: May to Aug (especially close to the monthly milestone evaluations)

Note: If you are experienced and willing to take care of more teams, you could be employed as a “senior” adviser and paid at the part-time TA rate (which is roughly 3 times higher than the student helper rate).

– Tutors act as the instructor for Liftoff and Mission Control workshops. This means you are in charge of teaching a particular subject to the students for 1~3 hours. If you wanted to level up on public speaking and technical tutorials, this is your opportunity. You don’t have to be an expert to teach — anyone can do it if they’re committed, and you can always answer the tough questions offline.

Busy period: May to Jun (especially during the Liftoff and Mission Control workshops)

– Developers are in charge of developing and maintaining Skylab (i.e., the official portal for Orbital). This will be a good chance for you to get firsthand experience on improving a web application for the benefit of all future Orbital students. Experience in ruby on rails and nginx is preferred but not required. You can always pick up the necessary skills as you work on the system.

Busy period: Late Feb to early Jun (especially before the major events / milestones)

If you wish to be interviewed for any of the positions, please visit the Doodle form (https://doodle.com/poll/55ngwarpxn8a3rcx) and sign up for an interview slot. If you are interested but unable to make it for the slots given in the Doodle form, please contact me by email (zhaojin@comp.nus.edu.sg) to arrange for an interview separately. The venue for the interview is COM2-02-10.

Look forward to hearing from you!