A major capstone project in computer science would be developing a software application from start to finish. The student would come up with an idea for the app, design how it would work, select technologies to use like a programming language, database software, etc. Then they would spend the capstone timeframe writing the code to build out all of the functionality of the app according to the design. Some examples of software apps that could be built include:

A web or mobile app for a small business – Examples could include an app for a restaurant to allow online ordering and reservations, an e-commerce site for a retailer, a scheduling and task management app for a small construction company.

A game application – Students interested in game development could design and program a game like a puzzle, trivia, card, board or video game. This would allow them to showcase skills in areas like graphics, sound, gameplay mechanics, artificial intelligence, networking for multiplayer.

A data analysis or visualization tool – Examples may include an app to analyze customer data for trends and patterns, visualize financial data, map public datasets, or process scientific simulations. This gives opportunity to work with databases, programming algorithms, and data presentation.

An internet of things (IoT) device or system – Examples can be a smart home automation system controlling lights, thermostat, locks, a smart greenhouse environment controlling with sensors for moisture, temperature, a drone with camera and computer vision processing. This provides exposure to hardware, wireless communication protocols, embedded systems.

A resource sharing/marketplace platform – Examples include an on-campus ridesharing/food delivery app, tool/equipment rental marketplace, student tutoring/services marketplace, task crowdsourcing marketplace. Provides experience with payment systems, user accounts/profiles, reviews/ratings.

Another major capstone project type would be a large research study or paper involving:

Conducting a literature review on a topic like machine learning techniques, programming language trends, computer graphics, computer security to analyze the current state and make predictions. This demonstrates research abilities.

Implementing and comparing different algorithms (sorting, searching, modeling, etc.) to evaluate performance on standard benchmark datasets. This shows coding and analytical skills.

Proposing and prototyping a new technology, model, or approach through simulations/prototypes along with a risk analysis. Examples may include blockchain for recordkeeping, computer vision for medical diagnosis, natural language processing for personalized education. This provides innovative thinking experience.

Analyzing usage and privacy policies of major websites/apps by setting up accounts and cataloging data collection methods. This highlights privacy and ethical concerns understanding.

Designing a new computer architecture concept with performance/cost tradeoffs analyzed through simulations before hardware implementation. Shows systems design skills.

A few other examples of major capstone projects include developing:

A large website/web application with complex information architecture and collaborative functionalities.

Advanced computer security tools – Intrusion detection/prevention systems, encryption algorithms, malware analysis sandboxes, etc.

Scientific computing code libraries and parallelizable algorithms for high performance computing.

Low-level system programming projects involving operating systems, network protocols, embedded systems, database internals study.

A natural user interface with technologies like computer vision, speech recognition, haptic feedback, augmented/virtual reality.

Large-scale datasets and cloud-hosted data services/APIs for machine learning use cases.

In all of these capstone project examples, the key aspects demonstrated are independently researching and scoping a problem, designing technical specifications, implementing through programming and testing, documenting work, and presenting findings. The projects provide opportunities for hands-on learning beyond a traditional classroom setting to simulate real-world development experiences. By tackling ambitious yet achievable projects, computer science students can gain valuable skills and portfolio work to showcase their abilities to employers or graduate studies admissions.