Queen’s University and Smith Engineering at Queen’s frequently provide tours of the university campus and engineering-specific buildings throughout the year. However, tour guides are not always available at certain times of the year and some visiting guests may be unable to take tours as a result. The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has requested a self-guided tour system that prospective students and their families could use, without the guidance of a faculty member or tour guide, to complete a tour.

The student team was asked to design a Smartphone application that would allow these groups to complete tours of the campus by themselves. The app needed to focus on engineering landmarks and points of interest, while also providing navigation to the various engineering discipline-specific buildings and providing an explanation of each. The student group conducted research on each engineering building and learned how to code in Java, the language used for Android system development. Throughout the project, the students developed coding skills, as well as effective communication, problem-solving, and analysis skills to create a functional Smartphone app.

The team initially researched three different design solutions to create the app, then created and used a weighted evaluation matrix to choose their final design. Criteria for the app included being original, visually appealing, simple to program and design, and having adequate location accuracy to effectively guide the user. The group chose to create an app using the Google Maps application programming interface, which allowed Google maps to be integrated into the team’s application for ease of use and location accuracy. The students overcame challenges as a team to create a functional app that they were able to implement and test on an Android Smartphone.