One of the most memorable parts of the QUEST Capstone course is getting to step into the real world and see how clients actually operate. As Cohort 42 gears up for the QUEST Conference, two teams shared their experiences on visiting their client, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and BAE Systems, and how those visits helped bring their projects to life.

The team partnering with Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Mission Technologies division is working to improve the development workflow for Minotaur, a legacy system used to unify sensor data from military vehicles. During their visit to HII’s Hanover, MD office, the team got a full tour of testing benches, developer spaces, and Minotaur-themed work areas. They also held stakeholder interviews with tech leads, software developers, testers, and their project champion.

QUEST Cohort 42 student Daniel Samuel shared, “We gained a lot of insight about the causes of different bottlenecks in their system and even came up with new solutions that better impact everyone at the company.” The visit helped the team better visualize the workflow and gather qualitative data directly from those affected by the bottlenecks. Samuel added, “It was a very fun and welcoming experience that motivated us even more to produce quality deliverables.”

For the team working with BAE Systems’ Weapon Systems division, which assembles boxed parts kits used in submarine missile tubes, their project focuses on improving the supplier documentation process to make it more accurate and efficient. BAE Systems flew the team to Louisville, KY for their site visit, which began with a tour of the facility, where they saw raw materials, tube components moving through testing, and even parts for naval guns. Afterward, they examined real supplier documentation and spoke to the employee in charge of managing it. The team finished the day by presenting their demo to the engineers who would actually use the tool.

QUEST Cohort 42 student Margarita Zeleniy noted, “There are so many intricacies you can only understand by seeing the process in person.” The team was able to get feedback directly from the engineers, which helped validate their approach and glean key insights.

Both teams emphasized how valuable their site visits were, not only for strengthening their recommendations, but also for helping them feel more connected to their clients and their impact. You can hear the rest of their stories (and see their final deliverables) at the QUEST Conference on December 11th! RSVP here!