Project: TaskFlow Backend

Building The Backend Alone

Tshegofatso was the sole developer behind the backend powering TaskFlow, a task management app built with Flutter, FastAPI and Firebase. The build ran across six phases: authentication, CRUD operations, a Firestore data layer, Firebase Cloud Messaging push notifications, APScheduler-driven background jobs, and a pytest test suite.

• Exposed the API publicly via ngrok so Neo could integrate the Flutter frontend against it live.
• Delivered a working push-notification pipeline and scheduled task reminders end-to-end.

The experience taught her how to structure a FastAPI backend around Firestore rather than a traditional relational database, and it showed her where the real gap sits between a working dev backend and a production-ready one: deployment, monitoring, docs, security and load testing aren't an afterthought, they're their own phase of the work.

Project: Revive My Neighbourhood (myGTM)

Onboarding From A Blank Slate

On Revive My Neighbourhood (myGTM), a civic engagement app built with React Native and Expo, she started from zero: setting up the Expo environment, configuring Firebase credentials through EXPO_PUBLIC_-prefixed environment variables, and establishing the git branching workflow the rest of the team then followed.

• Got a new mobile codebase running from nothing and unblocked SDK compatibility issues independently.
• Set the git branching convention the team worked from, and implemented multiple frontend screens.

Project: Northern Cape Symphony Orchestra

Frontend Updates On A Live Client Site

Tshegofatso also made frontend changes to the Northern Cape Symphony Orchestra website, one of NexMotion's live client builds, giving her hands-on experience updating a production site outside her usual backend work.

Report: Sprint 2 System Design

Writing The Architecture Down

Together with Neo, she contributed to a formal system design research report for their mentor, covering scalable architecture across Firebase, FCM, Firestore, geofencing and AI-based hotspot detection, a mentor-reviewed document that framed the technical direction for a key sprint, and her first real exercise in reasoning about architecture decisions in writing rather than just in code.

Challenges Overcome

• Diagnosed and resolved Expo SDK compatibility issues when standing up the Revive My Neighbourhood (myGTM) environment from scratch.
• On her own initiative, flagged that TaskFlow's ngrok-based setup was demo-only, and identified the need for proper hosting, CI/CD, API docs, monitoring, security hardening and load testing as the internship moved into its closing phase.

Beyond NexMotion

Alongside her internship work, she independently built and shipped subnetcalc, a personal Python CLI and web tool for IPv4/IPv6 subnetting, complete with VLSM, supernetting, GitHub Actions CI, and GitHub Pages deployment.

"Mr. Kgabale has been an excellent mentor to have on this internship, equally comfortable moving between backend and frontend, quick to unblock issues, and generous with his knowledge whenever something wasn't clicking for me."

What's Next

Closing out remaining production-readiness gaps on TaskFlow's backend (proper hosting, CI/CD via GitHub Actions, Swagger/OpenAPI docs, monitoring and load testing) while pursuing a full-time role in software engineering, network engineering or cybersecurity.

Project: TaskFlow Mobile App

Leading The Frontend, And The Team

TaskFlow is a mobile-first workforce execution platform built for SMEs with non-desk workers (retail, logistics, cleaning, construction, hospitality), replacing fragmented WhatsApp threads and spreadsheets with a structured task-management system. Neo was appointed Project Leader, taking responsibility for the frontend workstream and coordinating a three-person team through planning and delivery.

• Led sprint planning and execution: sprint goals, task allocation and implementation roadmaps.
• Built the full Flutter task lifecycle (creation, editing, deletion, assignment and completion) plus priorities, deadlines and role-based dashboards for employees and employers.
• Implemented Firebase Authentication and Firestore data storage, then integrated the Flutter frontend with a FastAPI/Python backend via REST API, including JWT authentication and secure token storage with flutter_secure_storage.
• Used flutter_bloc for state management, Dio for networking, and go_router for navigation, while also working on offline functionality and data synchronisation.

Leading the project meant learning to work with formal documentation, including a Business Requirements Document, Software Requirements Specification, sprint roadmaps and pitch materials, alongside the end-to-end technical integration between frontend and backend.

Report: Sprint 2 System Design

Contributing To The Architecture Report

Neo was also part of the Sprint 2 system design work, contributing alongside Tshegofatso to a mentor-reviewed report covering scalable architecture across Firebase, FCM, Firestore, geofencing and AI-based hotspot detection that framed the technical direction for a key sprint.

Project: Pampiri Invoice

Disciplined Bug Fixing On A Live Product

On Pampiri Invoice, NexMotion's Flutter invoicing app, Neo focused on frontend development and bug fixing: identifying and resolving invoice-related issues, then validating each fix before it shipped.

• Worked on a dedicated fixes branch rather than committing directly to main, then pushed validated fixes to GitHub.
• Built a practical workflow around flutter pub get, flutter analyze and flutter build apk --debug to test and confirm changes before submission.

Project: NexMotion Alumni Website

Shipping This Very Site

A separate web-development project completed during the internship: this Alumni page itself, refined across several rounds covering SEO, accessibility, brand alignment and animation, including handling its deployment and ongoing maintenance.

Challenges Overcome

• Transitioned into software development from an Electrical Technology/Engineering background, learning new concepts from the ground up.
• Picked up Flutter, Dart, Firebase, Python, FastAPI, REST APIs, Git and GitHub through independent research and consistent practice.
• Took on Project Leader responsibilities for TaskFlow, building stronger leadership, coordination and decision-making skills along the way.
• Balanced university studies with internship responsibilities through disciplined time management.

A word for his mentor, Mr. Bokang Kgabale, whose guidance shaped how Neo approached leading the TaskFlow team and integrating frontend with backend.