Architects of Change: The Challenge of Modernizing a State's Digital Core

By SEU Team • July 19, 2025 • 6-minute lecture

There are projects that just keep the lights on. And then, there are missions.

Missions that take a mainframe system—the bedrock of a critical state service for decades—and transform it into a modern, resilient, and future-ready web platform. This is not a typical web development job. It’s an exercise in digital archeology, systems architecture, and cutting-edge development, all rolled into one.

Clemson University, on behalf of the State of South Carolina, has undertaken this mission to modernize its Medicaid system, and it is searching for the elite engineers who can design and build this future.

The Challenge: A Puzzle of Legacy and Modernity

The real challenge here isn’t just writing clean Java code or building an attractive UI. It’s much deeper. It’s about understanding the business logic embedded in decades of EDI transactions and mainframe systems, and then re-imagining it in a distributed web services environment.
A successful engineer in this role will be a bilingual translator: fluent in the language of legacy systems and a master of modern technologies. They will know how to decouple monolithic functionality using message queues like ActiveMQ, how to expose complex data via REST/SOAP web services, and how to ensure every piece of the new system communicates flawlessly, from the database to the end-user’s browser.
tructure complies with all legal and industry regulations.

The Profile: More Than a Developer, a Problem-Solver

This project is not for a single-technology specialist. It requires a tech “polyglot”—a full-stack engineer who is comfortable navigating the entire ecosystem of an enterprise application.

You are a master of the Java ecosystem, but your expertise doesn’t stop there. You have a deep understanding of how to build and consume Web Services (both REST/JSON and SOAP). You have proven experience creating robust user interfaces using HTML, JavaScript, and JQuery, and you aren’t afraid to work with specific frameworks like Tapestry.

More importantly, you understand the “why” behind the “what.” You have the ability to decipher the business logic embedded in EDI transaction sets and relational databases, then reinvent it in a modern environment. You’ll operate in a Unix environment, write scripts to automate tasks, and use tools like Subversion/GIT and Maven to manage code and builds.

The Impact: A Legacy of Modernization

Few engineers get the chance to work on a project of this scale and societal impact. The code you write and the systems you design will directly affect citizens’ ability to access critical healthcare services.

This is a career-defining project. It’s the opportunity to solve complex problems, work with a diverse technology stack, and leave a tangible legacy of modernization in the public sector.

Are You Ready for the Next Level?

If the thought of this challenge excites you more than it intimidates you, and if you have the expertise and determination to see a project of this magnitude through to completion, then you are exactly who we are looking for.