If you have travelled anywhere in the world in the past decade, you have probably been caught up in the changes and innovations associated with air travel. Due to efforts to cut costs, provide convenience and safety, as well as keep up with the expectations of the modern day traveller, flying is not the same experience of decades ago. In recent years, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has embraced the parade of options which has become typical of contemporary airlines. The latest upgrade is the Caribbean Airlines Mobile Application that was launched in July 2019 at the UWI St Augustine Campus’ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DECE). The location was a deliberate choice as UWI graduates and faculty have developed a relationship with the airline, and their input has been crucial to the app’s development.
“Our team was tasked with developing several critical services that were made available in-app to provide users with tools to enhance every step of their travel experience,” explain CAL engineers Hannah Abdool (a UWI alumnus) and Vikash Ramkumar in a joint e-mail outlining the work of the software development team.
Dr Akash Pooransingh, lecturer in charge of the programming stream of courses for the undergraduate level of the DECE notes, “Digital transformation in the airline industry is of critical importance. There is a shift from electronic data toward digitised data where all information is live and available to the user in real time.” Android and iOS users can access features like booking Caribbean Vacation tours, flight scheduling and flight status checking. “These services, in conjunction with our booking portal, provide a clean, simple and easy-to-use forum...with customers being supported every step of the way via all- round flight monitoring services and real-time reminders,” explain the engineers.
This app for the Caribbean’s biggest airline benefits from home grown developers. The development team consists of nine engineers, eight of whom are UWI graduates. Many CAL interns from UWI were also able to gain from the experience of working on the app.
“These students, although they did not work directly on the application, were able to work on side projects and benefit from the workflow interaction and were part of the intense environment associated with the development team at CAL,” explains Dr Pooransingh. “The CAL engineers provided and continue to provide mentorship to these students with three of them working on relevant final year projects with the development team.”
This is the second wave of UWI interns working with CAL.
“We have partnered with UWI, specifically the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to provide a summer vacation internship programme,” recounts Randy Ram, Head of Software Engineering at CAL. “These students have all worked on innovative projects that are changing the way Caribbean Airlines operates internally.” ThebenefitsoftheexperiencefortheUWIinternshave been considerable. Abdool and Ramkumar observe, “The students were able to work on projects that go beyond the software development life cycle (of understanding customer needs, design, coding, testing and implementation) to being involved first hand in digital transformation, data mining and business analytics projects.” They see the app as a chance “to showcase the skills and talent that are fostered at the university, and shows how students are able to apply what they have learned in real-world, meaningful ways that serve our country and region.”
Caribbean Airlines not only gains by investing in local talent, but they were able to complete the time sensitive app project more efficiently because of their choice. Ram points out, “Having engineers locally enables us to provide swift turnaround times for feature development, first-line troubleshooting and enables the company to communicate clearly the needs and features required for the application to the developers.”
Surely this contributes to the pride these creators have in the finished product which Ram asserts is “definitely on par, if not better than other international airlines”. The development team echoes his sentiments. “This app is the first of its kind for the company and is iconic in the company’s digital transformation... it reaches a much wider audience and caters to the more dynamic, contemporary lifestyle that makes the mobile app a huge convenience for many of our users. It is compact, attractive, easy to use, and functions great, making it a huge milestone for the company.”
With such an ambitious project under their belts what other sophisticated advancements could appear next from this partnership? The app is going to continue to roll out new features in phases. The airline has expressed its commitment to improving on the internship programme, and the faculty and staff of the DECE are embracing the advantages of working with the airline and indeed many other opportunities to benefit from industry-led mentorship, internships and projects. In the years to come, many engineering innovations in this country will most likely be conceived by the imaginative minds of UWI engineering graduates.
