The Software Development and Systems Design Core (SD2C) is a technology development studio which specializes in website, game, and app prototyping for digital health needs and bioscientific applications.
The SD2C was founded in 2023 to service the University of Utah research community through the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of custom technologies. The core is directed by Andrew K. Moran, PhD, who has experience in managing IT projects and developing full-stack code for use in research environments.
The SD2C offers the following services:
- Automated data collection services
- Custom database creation and deployment
- Data pipeline engineering solutions
- Hardware-software co-design and integration
- Mobile app and video game prototyping
- Dynamic web development
Note: If you are seeking a quote estimate for grant support, please allow for a 1-2 weeks turnaround time for proper scoping of a project and a more accurate quote.
Hourly Rates1
| Service | Description | Internal Rate academic ($/hr) | External Rate academic ($/hr) | External Rate commercial ($/hr) |
| Software Design | The process of designing the architecture and components of the software system with or without hardware implementation. | $100.00 | $154.00 | $160.00 |
| Software Development | The process of writing code for systems with or without hardware implementation. | $100.00 | $154.00 | $160.00 |
| Software Deployment | The process of building, testing, and supporting software with or without hardware implementation. | $100.00 | $154.00 | $160.00 |
Sprint Rates2
| Service | Description | Internal Rate academic ($/hr) | External Rate academic ($/hr) | External Rate commercial ($/hr) |
| 0.5 Sprint PT | 1 week of targeted software development set to well-defined deliverables with 1-2 developers, 1 designer, and a project manager. | $6,500 | $10,010 | $12,000 |
| 0.5 Sprint FT | 1 week of targeted software development set to well-defined deliverables with 3-5 developers, 1 designer, and a project manager. | $13,000 | $20,020 | $22,000 |
| Express Fee | Projects that add this are jumped to the top of the project queue. | $3,000 | $4,620 | $5,000 |
Footnotes
- As of February 2026. Hourly rates are for projects where the final product is not thoroughly defined by deliverables and scope can change throughout. ↩︎
- As of February 2026, pending administrative approval. Sprint rates are for projects where the final product is well defined with end-deliverables set to each sprint cycle. ↩︎
Requesting Services
Existing users may login directly to the Resource Scheduling System to schedule or order services. This system is cores-wide and uses University of Utah uNID authentication.
Hours of Operation
8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Monday - Friday
Citing Our Facility
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank you for acknowledging our facility. This recognition allows us to highlight the impact of your work and demonstrates the important contributions of our facility makes to research across the University of Utah. The recognition our core receives from your acknowledgments also aids in receiving grants and further funding for equipment and services we can provide to our users.
Self-Run Services / Instrumentation Usage:
In published papers that used instruments at our facility and notably involved staff members please use the following format:
We acknowledge the Software Development and System Design Core at the University of Utah for its services.
Assisted Services:
In published papers where a staff member assisted you in addition to the requested services please use the following format:
We acknowledge the Software Development and Systems Design Core at the University of Utah for use of equipment (insert instrument/service details here), and thank (insert staff member-required) for their assistance in (service provided).
Collaboration:
For publications resulting from collaborations that assisted with the methodologies, planning process and execution of your experiment in addition to equipment usage we require Co-author attribution on your publication for our facility and any staff members who provided substantial contributions to the originating project.