Software Engineering at Centennial College is about more than writing code. For students Aditya Shoor and Milyon Kifleyesus, it’s about building solutions to real-world problems. That approach would go on to help the two School of Information Technology students earn third place in the University of Toronto’s Transit Data Challenge.
Aditya is studying Centennial College's Software Engineering Technology - Artificial Intelligence program, while Milyon is studying Software Engineering Technology. Their programs gave them skills in software engineering, artificial intelligence and application development. Together, the students developed Transit Lens, an app that visualizes and analyzes TTC data. The project was one of three finalists and was presented at the 10th International Transit Data Symposium in Toronto. Here’s how they got there.
Starting a career in software engineering
For Aditya, an early interest in technology led him to software engineering.
"For me, it all started with my small computer when I was 15," he says. "It was all about building small apps and websites, being on small web games, and figuring out how it all works. That made me go into this field."
"I liked that software engineering wasn't just about writing code," Aditya says, "but it was about solving real problems for real people."
"The thing that’s exciting to me in software engineering," Milyon adds, "is that I like building things and solving problems."
Building software engineering skills through hands-on learning
"I chose Centennial College because of its high reputation for hands-on, industry-connected learning, and core opportunities for software engineering," Aditya says. Centennial's Software Engineering programs help students build technical skills through projects, labs and industry experience.
"What makes it the best is that it supports hands-on experiences," Milyon adds. "They also have co-op opportunities, so you get a real-world experience, which I'm really grateful for."
"The Centennial College Software Engineering – Artificial Intelligence program is very project-based," says Aditya. "As we worked on the specific labs or courses, we worked on full-site development projects, like database designs, machine learning models, and agile team projects, and we used multiple languages like Python, SQL, React, Git, and Cloud Platforms."
Aditya also points to WIMTACH, Centennial’s applied research centre, as another way Software Engineering -Artificial Intelligence students can gain hands-on experience.
"WIMTACH really helped us to get the hands-on experience," he says. "You need a lot of experience to get into the industry, so WIMTACH actually provides a real industry experience for the students."
From a Centennial College opportunity to a transit data challenge
An email from professor Mayy Habayeb gave the Centennial College Software Engineering – Artificial Intelligence students a chance to compete in the Transit Data Challenge.
"It all started when my inbox was hit with an e-mail from professor Mayy Habayeb," Aditya says, "and it was for a data challenge. It hit me, because we were already working at our co-ops, which related to new innovations with transit technologies. So, I thought, why not? It was our first time participating in any challenge."
The challenge was part of the Toronto-based Transit Data Symposium, an event focused on transit data, technology and innovation.
"The Transit Data Symposium is an organization that hosts events around the world for transit data innovations, technologies, and sectors moving towards EV transit," Aditya says. "For 2026, they were hosting that event in Toronto." The symposium also gave the students an opportunity to meet people working in the industry.
"It was nice connecting with those guys," he continues, "and getting to know about the hiring process. Connecting with the leads also helped us to get us noticed and recognize if we get a chance in the future to get hired."
Building Transit Lens: A real-world software engineering project
Participants were given open-source TTC data and asked to find new ways to support transit operations. For the students, it became a real-world software engineering project.
"And so, for that, we built Transit Lens, a tool that visualizes Transit delays in real time, predicts bus driver accuracy, flags, gaps in services," Aditya says.
The project also gave the students a chance to solve a technical problem.
"One challenge we solved was around data timing," Aditya says about the app. "For example, we learned that timestamps can get distorted when the data is batched or synced, rather than the captured live. So, we made sure our pipeline captured 2 events rather than just the time received. That attention to accurate time stamps was actually one of the trickier parts of the whole build."
The project came together quickly, requiring the students to apply the technical skills they had developed through their Centennial programs while working under a tight deadline.
Earning third place and building a software engineering portfolio
After putting in long hours, the students were thrilled when Transit Lens earned third place.
"Honestly, it was like a mix of relief and excitement," Aditya says. "We had put in a lot of like late nights, so hearing our name fall on third place felt like validation that the work paid off. Competing with these two, these students from the bigger institutes and still getting that third position is a big, proud moment for me."
"Firstly, I would like to thank my mentor, my professor, Mayy Habayeb, for this," Aditya says. "If she hadn’t messaged my inbox, we wouldn’t be part of this. She mentored us through our project."
Aditya also sees a link between the software engineering and AI skills he developed at Centennial and the team's success.
"Centennial College gave us a technical foundation for software engineering and AI," Aditya continues. "All these courses, labs, and projects have built our knowledge and technical skills, but also the faculty support, giving us feedback during the development."
Milyon also credits Professor Habayeb with helping the team communicate its work effectively.
"I would also like to thank our mentor," Milyon says. "She helped us in a lot of ways. She also helped us structure how we were going to represent everything, like what we would say in the documentation. She guided us to the right way, so I'm really thankful for her."
The project also gave the students a new portfolio piece as they prepare for software engineering careers.
"We built it basically in three weeks, solving a problem under time pressure," Milyon says, "but that's exactly what employers want to see. It also expanded our portfolio with something targeted to real-world data."
Advice for future software engineering students at Centennial College
For Aditya and Milyon, the challenge showed the value of taking on new opportunities, even when you feel unprepared.
"Say yes to all these challenges," Aditya says, "even if you feel underprepared, or nervous. You will learn the most by doing it."
"Don't be afraid to dig into the boring details like data quantity or time stamps," adds Aditya. "That was one of the key points for our project that helped us to win, and that's often where the real problems and the real earnings are."
For students considering a software engineering program, Milyon recommends getting as much practical experience as possible.
"Just build stuff," Milyon adds. "Especially in software engineering, the more that you build, the more that you learn, because it helps your creativity to solve a real-world problem."
For Aditya and Milyon, Transit Lens offered a chance to take the skills they developed through their Centennial College Software Engineering programs beyond the classroom and apply them to a real-world challenge. The third-place finish was an achievement of its own, but the experience also gave them industry exposure, a project for their portfolios and a stronger understanding of what they can build with the skills they are developing at Centennial.
By: Anthony Geremia