My.NewmanU

Discover Newman

Jet Community

Student Quicklinks

AI Assisted Software Engineering - Online Bootcamp

IN-PERSON: Tuesday's, March 24 - April 28, 4:30PM TO 6:00PM on the Newman University Campus

Delivered in 6 Modules with Video Instruction and Online Discussions via our Canvas Learning Management System

$495

This 6-week experience is designed for current professionals and students who want to develop or strengthen their skills in AI-assisted software engineering. Far beyond "vibe coding," this bootcamp provides instruction in generating professional-quality specifications with supporting context and guidance to enable AI agents to compose professional-grade code.

Led by experienced facilitators at Newman University, the bootcamp blends hands-on training with critical reflection. You’ll learn to interact skillfully with AI assistants, design custom tools for your own work, analyze data with clarity, and explore the ethical dimensions of AI’s growing role in society.

Register Today Contact Us

Meet Your Instructors

Jen Person

Ian Thomas
Lead Software Engineer
Spectrumware
LinkedIn Profile

Tanner Norris profile photo cropped

Kelly Lotsu-Morgan
Newman University Student
Software Developer, McCurdy Real Estate & Auction
LinkedIn Profile

The Experience

Learning Objectives

Our course will equip software engineers with industry-essential skills and trustworthy knowledge for consistently delivering stable, high-quality software solutions using AI.

  1. Learn industry-essential AI skills
  2. Become a trustworthy and credible resource on AI
  3. Deliver stable, high-quality software solutions with AI
  4. Engage in a supportive learning community of professionals

Technology Requirements

Bring your own laptop with the ability to install software of your choosing. 

OpenCode is a service that provides free access to agentic coding resources.

You may want a subscription to one or more of:

  • Cursor
  • Claude Code
  • OpenAI Codex
  • Gemini

Prior Knowledge Needed

  • Experience with at least one programming language, through loops, functions, methods, and ideally object-oriented programming.
  • Basic familiarity with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) such as Cursor, Virtual Studio Code, etc.
  • Basic command line experience is a plus.
  • To gear up on programming fundamentals, you might follow tutorials to learn programming fundamentals in Python, Javascript, Typescript, Java, C#, or another language.

The 6-Meeting Agenda

Meeting 1: Foundation & Setup

  • Install and configure Cursor + Opencode (or BYO setup)
  • Understand the distinction between Vibe Coding vs AI-Assisted Development
  • Establish the agentic mindset: developer as architect/in-the-loop (not spectator)
  • Complete first prompt delegation exercise with review loop

Meeting 2: Dynamic Prompting & Model Selection

  • Master dynamic prompting strategies for different task types
  • Learn to select appropriate models (planning vs execution phases)
  • Practice the prompt → plan → implement workflow
  • Build first agent rules file for personal workflow

Meeting 3: Plan-First Development & Investigation

  • Implement plan-first philosophy (spec → plan → implement)
  • Use agents to investigate and map unknown codebases
  • Practice breaking complex tasks into trackable sub-tasks
  • Build and review implementation plans before execution

Meeting 4: Development Loop & Debugging

  • Execute the full development loop: define scope → review plan → implement → test → commit
  • Use agents for bug fixing and debugging workflows
  • Test incrementally with agent-assisted testing strategies
  • Practice code review with agent assistance

Meeting 5: Documentation, Rules & Tooling

  • Create LLM-optimized documentation and specs
  • Design and implement agent rules (AGENTS.md, project conventions)
  • Build reusable commands and prompt libraries
  • Structure codebase for optimal agent context

Meeting 6: Team Dynamics + Capstone

  • Design code review workflows optimized for AI-assisted development
  • Implement eval gates for agent-generated code
  • Establish progressive delivery strategies with CI/CD integration
  • Create documentation and spec standards for agentic teams

Capstone Project: Legacy Modernization

  • Analyze and diagram legacy web application architecture
  • Diagram target modernized architecture
  • Plan modernization approach (context preparation -repo structure, rules)
  • Implement modernization Phase 1 (validate approach works)