Tier 2 · Elite Diploma
Full-Stack Software Engineering
A senior-track elite diploma engineered to produce software engineers who ship code they understand — and can defend.
- Code
- SWE 200
- Tier
- Elite Diploma
- Duration
- 21 months · 84 weeks
- Cohort 01
- 02 November 2026
- Delivery
- On-Campus · Waterloo
- Credential
- WIATech Elite Diploma in Full-Stack Software Engineering
There is no shortage of people who can write code in 2026. The shortage is of engineers who understand what they ship, can defend it under scrutiny, and can be relied on when the system is on fire at 2 AM. SWE 200 admits engineers who have already cleared the foundation gate and builds, from day one, toward senior-track engineering capability — applied weekly, defended orally, measured in shipped work.
What you'll become
- Senior-Track Full-Stack Engineer
- Backend Engineer
- Frontend Engineer
- Distributed Systems Engineer
- AI Engineer
- Mobile Engineer
- Platform Engineer
- Solutions Engineer
- Engineering Founder
- Open Source Maintainer
- Technical Lead
- Founding Engineer
§ 01 · The difference
What sets this programme apart.
No Vibe Coding
Every line of code a WIATech graduate ships, they can defend — every query, every component, every API contract, understood from first principles. AI assistants are leverage to multiply with, not crutches to lean on. If you cannot explain it to a panel without your editor open, you cannot ship it as your work.
Shipped, Every Week
Theoretical weeks do not exist. Every single week of 84 weeks ships something — code, infrastructure, or a written design document. By graduation, every engineer has a public portfolio of eighty-four dated artefacts. Recruiters see proof, not promises.
The Oral Defence
Fourteen oral defences across the programme — one every six weeks. Each requires the engineer to walk through their own code, in front of faculty and external industry evaluators, without AI assistance. The unforgeable test of No Vibe Coding.
AI-Leveraged, Not AI-Replaced
Our engineers integrate AI deeply — RAG pipelines, agents with tool use, eval-driven development. But they also know exactly when AI is wrong, where it hallucinates, and why their engineering judgement is the irreplaceable asset.
West African Problems, Global Standards
Engineering exercises solve real Sierra Leonean, West African, and ECOWAS-region problems — mobile money interoperability, election transparency, agricultural supply chains. The data is messy, the constraints are real, and the standard of rigour is global. No 'local discount' on quality.
A Public Engineering Identity
By graduation, every engineer has shipped under their own name — production applications, open-source contributions, technical writing, public talks. Their GitHub is a working engineering record, not a homework folder.
§ 02 · Who this is for
Built for engineers ready to operate at depth.
◆ The Self-Taught Builder Who Has Cleared the Floor
You have been shipping side projects and have built genuine command of programming fundamentals. You either pass the technical assessment directly or complete the Tier 1 foundations to fill the gaps. You need senior-grade structure, peer calibration, and the credential to turn substance into a career.
◆ The Computer Science Graduate Ready for the Production Gap
You completed a CS degree and discovered that classroom learning ends where engineering begins. Your fundamentals are solid; the production-grade craft is what no university teaches. This diploma is engineered for exactly that gap.
◆ The Tier 1 Graduate Stepping Up
You completed the relevant Tier 1 foundations with strong assessment results. You have demonstrated the technical floor. The engineering interview confirms readiness, and you enter SWE 200 on the same footing as direct-assessment entrants.
◆ The West African Engineer Going Global
You want to compete and contribute at the global frontier without leaving the region first — and the credential that lets recruiters at international engineering organisations evaluate you as senior-track on day one.
§ 03 · The Tier 1 floor
What you need before you start.
This is an advanced programme that begins above the foundation floor. Clear it by passing the WIATech technical assessment — or by completing the matching Tier 1 Foundations courses. The assessment is a placement instrument, never a rejection.
Required foundations
Every weekly deliverable is shipped via Git. Branching, PRs, and code review are assumed.
How software actually runs — memory, processes, the network. The mental model every production engineer leans on.
Literacy level — interview-grade depth is re-taught inside Semester 01.
PostgreSQL schema design, query depth, and indexing are load-bearing from Semester 01 onward.
The engineer's working environment from day one. No bootstrap teaching inside the diploma.
Python is one of the two languages of this diploma. Fluency is assumed at entry.
Recommended · not required
For applicants without HTML, CSS & JavaScript fluency. Not required and never blocks entry, but Module 01 opens at the frameworks (React, Next.js, Tailwind) and assumes the web platform underneath. A short diagnostic helps you decide.
Universal parallel co-requisite
Runs in parallel with SWE 200 from day one and continues throughout. It develops the fluency required to defend code orally, write technical documentation, and present in front of panels.
Direct entry
Pass every required Tier 1 sub-score on the WIATech technical assessment, clear the engineering interview, and enter SWE 200 in the November cohort.
Routed entry
Sit the technical assessment. For any sub-score you fail, you are routed to the corresponding Tier 1 course. Complete those, earn the per-course certificates, then proceed to the engineering interview and Tier 2 entry. Either route lands you in the same place.
§ 04 · The architecture
4 semesters. One graduating engineer.
Year 01 · Production Foundations · Semester 01
Full-Stack Web & Production Engineering
With foundations cleared via Tier 1, the diploma opens directly at full-stack web engineering. Frontend, backend, database, authentication — all at production depth from week one. By the end, every engineer has shipped a production-grade application solving a real Sierra Leone problem.
Full-Stack Web Engineering — React & Next.js
End-to-end modern web development, opening directly at the frameworks. React fundamentals through advanced patterns, Next.js App Router and Server Components, Tailwind, and TypeScript introduced at depth as the language of the diploma.
React · Next.js · TypeScript · Server Components · Tailwind
Backend Architecture with Node.js & Express
Node.js and Express at production architecture depth — REST and GraphQL APIs, service boundaries, error handling, structured logging, and designing APIs that survive change.
Node.js · Express · GraphQL · REST · Pino
PostgreSQL at Production Depth
PostgreSQL beyond CRUD — schema design at production scale, transactions, indexing strategy, query optimisation, JSONB, and basic replication, with Prisma as the type-safe access layer.
PostgreSQL · Prisma · Indexing · Transactions · Query Plans
Authentication, Authorization & Security
Modern authentication with Auth.js and OAuth 2.0, session management, role- and attribute-based access control, and the OWASP Top 10:2025 treated deeply — security as a first-class concern.
Auth.js · OAuth 2.0 · OWASP · CSRF · Session Security
Testing as a Discipline
Testing that holds up in code review — unit, integration, end-to-end. Coverage standards, test design, and fixture strategy with Vitest and Playwright.
Vitest · Playwright · pytest · Coverage Standards · TDD
Docker, CI/CD & System Design
Containerisation with the WIATech 10-Step Dockerfile pattern at production depth, CI/CD with GitHub Actions, deployment, system design fundamentals, and PWAs for the African market.
Docker · GitHub Actions · Vercel · Sentry · PWA · System Design
Capstone
The First Production Application
Engineers ship a production-grade full-stack application solving a real Sierra Leone problem — authentication, database, API, frontend, tests, Docker, CI/CD — deployed, publicly accessible, and defended orally before faculty and external industry evaluators.
Deliverables: Deployed full-stack application · PostgreSQL schema & auth system · 75%+ test coverage · Docker + CI/CD pipeline · Technical documentation & architecture diagram · Oral engineering defence
Year 01 · Distributed Systems · Semester 02
Production Engineering & Distributed Systems
The semester where engineers stop building and start engineering. Advanced Python and TypeScript at production scale, PostgreSQL at scale, message queues, caching, search, distributed systems, event-driven architecture, observability, and SRE.
Advanced Python & Backend Frameworks
Python as the language actually works — async, concurrency, memory, internals. Django for Professionals, FastAPI with Pydantic v2, and NestJS for typed enterprise Node.js.
Async Python · Django · FastAPI · NestJS · Pydantic v2
Advanced PostgreSQL & Data Engineering
PostgreSQL deeply — replication, partitioning, performance tuning, JSONB, full-text search, vector embeddings, and query planning. Caching with Redis, search with OpenSearch, pipelines with dbt.
PostgreSQL · Redis · OpenSearch · dbt · Replication
Message Queues & Event-Driven Architecture
Kafka as the spine of modern distributed systems, RabbitMQ for traditional queueing, saga patterns, CQRS, event sourcing, background jobs with Celery and Inngest, and realtime systems.
Kafka · RabbitMQ · Celery · Inngest · WebSockets · Saga / CQRS
Distributed Systems & Microservices
The hardest material in the semester — CAP theorem, consensus, replication, eventual consistency, microservices done honestly, service mesh, API gateways, mTLS, and Domain-Driven Design.
Microservices · Service Mesh · DDD · CAP · Saga Patterns
Observability, SRE & Performance
Production systems are operated, not just deployed — OpenTelemetry, SLIs/SLOs, error budgets, runbooks, blameless postmortems, performance engineering, and load testing with k6.
OpenTelemetry · Prometheus · Grafana · k6 · SLO Engineering
Advanced Security & Supply Chain
OWASP Top 10:2025 deeply, threat modelling with STRIDE, supply-chain security (SBOM, signed releases, dependency hygiene), DevSecOps with SAST/DAST, and Sierra Leone CCA 2021 compliance.
OWASP 2025 · STRIDE · SAST/DAST · SBOM · Supply Chain
Capstone
The Distributed System
Engineers design, build, and operate a production-grade distributed system that handles realistic load — multiple services, a message backbone, PostgreSQL with replication, Redis caching, a full observability stack, and a pre-launch load test.
Deliverables: Multi-service distributed system · Kafka or message-queue backbone · PostgreSQL with replication · Full observability stack · Verified load test results · Oral engineering defence
Year 02 · Frontier & Cloud-Native · Semester 03
Frontier Engineering — AI, Cloud-Native, Mobile
Production AI engineering with the Anthropic Claude API — RAG architecture, AI agents, eval-driven development, responsible AI. React Server Components, React Native and mobile for African conditions, Kubernetes, GitOps, Terraform, AWS, DevSecOps, MLOps, and Cloud FinOps.
AI Engineering Foundations
LLM foundations from the engineer's perspective — the Anthropic Claude API in depth, prompt engineering as code, token economics, latency and cost engineering, and production AI ops with structured outputs.
Claude API · Prompt Engineering · Token Economics · Structured Outputs
RAG & AI Agents
Retrieval-Augmented Generation deeply — embedding models, vector databases, retrieval evaluation, reranking. AI agents with tool use, multi-step reasoning, human-in-the-loop safeguards, and eval-driven development.
RAG · Vector DBs · AI Agents · Tool Use · Eval-Driven Dev
Modern Frontend & React Server Components
React 19 and the Server Components paradigm, Next.js App Router by default, frontend performance to Core Web Vitals on constrained mobile devices, component design systems, and accessibility as default.
RSC · Next.js App Router · Core Web Vitals · Design Systems · a11y
Mobile Engineering with React Native
Cross-platform mobile with React Native and Expo, native module integration, performance optimisation on real African network and device conditions, offline-first patterns, and USSD integration where it matters.
React Native · Expo · Native Modules · Offline-First · USSD
Kubernetes, GitOps & Cloud Infrastructure
Kubernetes from the operator perspective, Helm packaging, GitOps with ArgoCD, Terraform for multi-region AWS infrastructure, serverless with deliberate trade-off analysis, and container security.
Kubernetes · Helm · ArgoCD · Terraform · AWS · Container Security
DevSecOps, Data & MLOps
DevSecOps in production — SAST, DAST, SBOM, signed releases. The modern data stack, MLOps for both classical ML and LLM-based systems, and Cloud FinOps as a discipline.
DevSecOps · SBOM · Data Stack · MLOps · Cloud FinOps
Capstone
The AI-Powered Cloud-Native Product
Engineers ship a complete AI-integrated, cloud-native, mobile-ready product — a production AI feature with an eval set and telemetry, multi-region cloud deployment, mobile or PWA delivery, full observability, and security hardening.
Deliverables: Production AI feature with eval set · Multi-region cloud deployment · Mobile or PWA delivery · Full observability stack · Security audit deliverable · Oral engineering defence
Year 02 · Senior Residency · Semester 04
Senior Residency & Open-Source Capstone
Twelve weeks of production residency — standups, on-call rotations with injected real incidents, postmortems, performance work, cloud FinOps — then a twelve-week open-source capstone: a substantive contribution to a globally recognised project, defended before an industry panel.
Engineering Communication
What turns engineers into engineering leaders — RFC and ADR mastery, design documents, technical writing under the engineer's own name, and code review as a craft.
RFCs · ADRs · Design Docs · Code Review · Technical Writing
Estimation, Planning & Mentorship
Senior engineers estimate, plan, and lift others — story points, planning poker, sprint planning at production cadence, and mentorship of Tier 1 students.
Story Points · Sprint Planning · Mentorship · Lab Leadership
Production Residency I — Incidents & Postmortems
Six weeks of simulated production engineering — standups, on-call rotations with injected real incidents, Incident Commander rotation, and blameless postmortems facilitated and documented.
On-Call Rotation · Incident Response · Postmortems · IC Discipline
Production Residency II — Performance & FinOps
The second half of residency — performance engineering against real bottlenecks, cloud FinOps as a senior discipline, engineering ethics, AI safety in deployed systems, and sustainable engineering.
Performance Eng · Cloud FinOps · Ethics · AI Safety
Open-Source Capstone — Selection & RFC
Selection of a globally recognised project (PostgreSQL, FastAPI, Pydantic, Next.js, the Kubernetes ecosystem, the Anthropic SDK), reading the codebase, forming an accurate mental model, writing the public RFC, and engaging the maintainers.
Open-Source Selection · Codebase Reading · RFC · Maintainer Engagement
Open-Source Capstone — Implementation & Career Launch
Implementation across multiple sprints, code-review iteration with maintainers, a merged PR, a published engineering blog post, portfolio polish, mock interviews, and direct introduction to partner organisations.
PR Merged · Engineering Writing · Mock Interviews · Career Launch
Capstone
The Open-Source Contribution
The graduation requirement that defines a WIATech engineer — a substantive contribution to a globally recognised open-source project: a public RFC, implementation across multiple sprints, code-review iteration with maintainers, a merged PR, and a published engineering blog post, defended in 60 minutes before an industry panel.
Deliverables: Selected globally recognised target project · Public RFC engaging maintainers · Merged substantive PR · Published engineering blog post · Polished public engineering identity · 60-minute industry panel defence
§ 05 · The toolkit
The stack you'll master.
§ 06 · Grading
How the work is measured.
§ 07 · Credentials & career
What you walk out with.
A Tier 2 Elite Diploma in Full-Stack Software Engineering (SWE 200), issued by the Waterloo Institute of Advanced Technology — an academy of Tabempa Engineering Limited. The diploma is marked with the graduate's specialisation and accompanied by the verified portfolio of 84 shipped deliverables and the defended open-source contribution that defines a WIATech engineer.
The portfolio
- 84 weekly deliverables shipped publicly on GitHub
- Four production-grade capstone applications
- One merged open-source contribution to a recognised project
- Published engineering blog posts under the engineer's name
- Engineering log spanning the full 84 weeks
- Fourteen oral defence records on file
- Sierra Leone and West African engineering impact record
Career acceleration
- Mock interviews — coding, system design, behavioural
- Senior-track resume & LinkedIn engineering brand
- GitHub profile polishing & technical brand-building
- Remote work, freelancing & international engagement guidance
- Direct introduction to partner organisations
- Alumni network access for life
§ 08 · Admissions
Who we admit. How we admit them.
Admission is highly selective; WIATech does not run open enrolment. We do not admit on credentials — no WASSCE results, university degree, or formal IT certifications are required. What we require is demonstrated capability, either via the WIATech technical assessment or via completed Tier 1 Foundations certificates.
Application
Online application form, GitHub profile (or equivalent portfolio), and a 300-word statement of intent answering why senior-track training rather than a faster credential.
Aptitude Assessment
A WIATech-administered test in programming, systems thinking, written communication, and problem-decomposition, sub-scored against the Tier 1 prerequisite list.
Routing or Engineering Interview
Applicants who clear every gate proceed to the engineering interview. Applicants with gaps are routed to the relevant Tier 1 courses; upon completion, they return to this stage.
Offer & Enrolment
Successful applicants receive a formal offer, enrolment package, and onboarding schedule.
Starting from the foundations, via the Software Engineering Foundations Pathway: NLe 83,000 total (NLe 18,000 foundations + NLe 65,000 diploma). Tier 2 Elite Diploma tuition is set in advance and paid in monthly instalments after a seat deposit. Full tuition & payment →