Discover Program 2026 Overview and Application
Connect, Create, and Make an Impact
Discover Program Overview
The Discover Program connects student tech developers with local organizations that have software needs. Through this 2-quarter-long program, teams of 5-6 students build an industry-grade web application from start to finish that solves a critical problem for one of our clients. All of the clients we work with are local nonprofits or startups, making this a great opportunity to give back to the community while gaining technical experience.
What you'll get out of the program
š„Find mentorship and companionship: The DISC community includes hundreds of students and alumni that are interested both in building software and helping the community, making it easy to find like-minded individuals. And every step of the way, students will receive coaching and mentorship from experienced upperclassmen.
šMake an impact: All projects solve critical problems for local organizations. Since students build these projects from the ground up, every student has a huge individual impact for the client.
š»Develop technical skills: All of our projects are built using the most popular programming languages, frameworks, and libraries in modern web development. Students in the program will become highly-skilled in these technologies.
š¤Develop soft skills: All students will gain experience working in teams, and all students will be closely interfacing with their client. This builds the critical communication and collaboration skills that set great developers apart.
šBoost their resume: One of the most important criteria recruiters look for is impactful and technically complex projects. Students in this program will be able to add an extremely impressive experience to their resume that they can talk up in interviews.
šÆPrepare for jobs: Every aspect of the program simulates what it's like to work in tech as part of a software development team. It's as close to work experience as you can get without working a real job.
Discover Program Technology Stack
This year, we are standardizing the tech stack across all projects. This will ensure we are able to produce high-quality software that can be easily deployed.
šØDesign: All UI/UX design will be done using Figma
āļøFrontend: Built with React and JavaScript, using:
ā¢ Routing: React Router v7
ā¢ Styling: styled components
šļøBackend: PostgresSQL database and APIs built using Node and Express, with:
ā¢ User authentication: Firebase Auth
š ļøDevelopment Tools:
ā¢ Git on GitHub for version control
ā¢ Visual Studio Code as our recommended code editor (+ Neovim if you'd like)
šAdditional Technologies: Some additional technologies (mostly 3rd party APIs), depending on the project
Our Tech Leads (Christian, Brock, Vihaan) are well-versed in all of these technologies and will act as mentors/teachers for the entire duration of the program. However, we do expect participants to have basic familiarity with one or more of these technologies before the program begins (check out our fall workshop series website).
Participant Expectations
Because we are working with REAL clients to build software that will have REAL users, the stakes are high. To ensure that all projects are finished with production-level quality, we enforce strict participation requirements for our program members.
All program members are expected to:
- Prioritize DISC above (almost) all other commitments
- Spend minimum 3, average 5 hours per week on DISC-related meetings and work
- Attend studio every week (this is a 1-hour weekly meeting decided by the beginning of the program)
- Attend the Winter Showcase and Spring Showcase
- Regularly communicate with the rest of their team, and with the client whenever requested
- Be a team player, taking the initiative to help out their teammates in whatever ways they can
- Be vocal about issues, seeking assistance from DISC exec when needed
Important Notice
Team Roles and Responsibilities
On each team, roles are divided as follows:
- Maintain regular communication with the client, including organizing a recurring meeting with the client to provide updates and clarify expectations
- Be a liaison between their team and DISC exec, informing exec about progress and blockers, and informing their team on updates from DISC exec
- Schedule and lead regular team meetings (minimum once a week) outside of studio. In these meetings:
- Set agendas
- Delegate tasks
- Ensure reasonable progress is being made
- Generally, take initiative and sort out all teamwork logistics
- Provide feedback to other team members on their work, taking the initiative to help out others when requested
- Ensure that the project is well organized, well documented, finished, and handed off to the client by the end of the program
- Take ownership of the design of the app:
- Design it from scratch
- Iteratively improve it using client and team feedback
- Ensure the design is high-quality and meets client expectations
- Ensure the actual built interface matches the design
- Regularly communicate design updates to their team, clients, and DISC exec
- Write some frontend code
- Provide feedback to other team members on their work, taking the initiative to help out others when requested
- Write lots of code
- Some engineers might focus on different parts of the stack (frontend engineers and backend engineers). Others will work on all parts of the stack (full stack engineers).
- Take ownership of features:
- Build features from scratch
- Iteratively improve features using client and team feedback
- Produce high-quality code that is bug-free and readable/maintainable
- Learn any and all relevant technologies required for implementation
- Ensure features meet client expectations
- Regularly communicate updates to their team
- Provide feedback to other team members on their work, taking the initiative to help out others when requested
Client Overviews and Project Descriptions
Note: Specialized Technologies listed are project-specific technologies which will be used in addition to DISC's standard tech stack of React/Node/Vercel/Supabase.
Important Notice
Program Timeline
Studios are mandatory, in-person, weekly meetings. They will be held every Monday from 7-8pm in Winter Quarter. The time for Studio during Spring Quarter will be announced later.
First Studio & Client Prep
The first studio will be a fun program kickoff event.
Teams start preparing for their first client meetings.Initial Client Meetings
Teams meet with clients for the first time.
App Development
Teams continuously work on projects.
Winter Showcase
An official midway checkpoint for teams to show off their progress.
Held during extended studio time (normal studio time + one hour after).App Development
Teams continuously work on projects.
Final Project Showcase
Teams present final projects to clients and the broader DISC community.
Held during extended studio time (normal studio time + one hour after).
Application Process
Step 1: Apply
Applications have NOT opened yet, but they will likely be due the first week of Winter Quarter. The form will remain open until midway through the program, but those who apply after January 3 will only be considered for the waitlist.
The application will provide an opportunity to submit your work from the fall workshop series to demonstrate technical competency.
Applications are kind-of rolling. We encourage you to apply earlier for the best shot. However, we also encourage you to apply with assignment submissions for the best shot. So really, do whatever you think is best.
Step 2: Interview
Selected applicants will be invited to do one 30-minute interview with a member of DISC exec.
Interviews are pretty informal. They will focus on determining whether an applicant would work well on a team, and their technical competence. Applicants can expect to be quizzed on anything taught in our fall workshop series, but questions will focus on areas of the applicant's strengths.
Decisions Released
All applicants will be notified of their acceptance/rejection, and their team assignment if accepted.
Please don't be discouraged if you aren't placed into a project team this year! We always have many awesome applicants and not as many projects/clients, so we definitely encourage you to apply again next year! We'll also have more general member events coming soon :)
Frequently Asked Questions
Applications for 2025-2026 will be opening in November
We look forward to seeing you this year!
Questions? Contact us at disc@u.northwestern.edu or join our DISCord