A multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural competition-based capstone design program

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) offers a combined capstone design experience for mechanical, civil, electrical and environmental engineering students. In a recent re-invention of our design curriculum, a new emphasis on design methodologies has been implemented. Many of these design methods have origins in the design of electro-mechanical products, and it is certainly in these areas where the most vibrant design communities seem to reside. Yet in a combined setting, analogous design processes appear to exist in a broader engineering design community. This paper describes the capstone design program at CSM, with a focus on the methods that we are teaching and how they translate between disciplines. The lessons learned in such a translation not only illuminate how engineering design may differ in other disciplines, but also may reveal new perspectives on mechanical design processes.

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Organization and Management of an Industry Sponsored Capstone Senior Design Course

Volume 5: Education and Globalization ◽

10.1115/imece2014-39296 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vito Moreno ◽

Thomas J. Barber

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Academic Community ◽

Management Company ◽

Organization And Management ◽

Senior Design ◽

Legal Implications ◽

Design Program ◽

Key Issues ◽

Capstone Design Courses ◽

Capstone Design

Senior level capstone design courses are run in many different ways in the academic community. A growing number of institutions strive to promote immersion into the real world of engineering through industrially sponsored projects. While this approach offers many immediate benefits to near-graduating seniors, it introduces many unique problems to the academic community. Developing and sustaining an industrially-sponsored capstone design program requires an understanding of the synergies and differences between academia and industry. Key issues discussed in this paper are program management, company sponsorship, diversity of projects, level of oversight required to make a successful project and legal implications of sponsoring a meaningful project.

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Integrating Entrepreneurial Projects Into A Successful Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Program At The University Of Florida

10.18260/1-2--13172 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

William Rossi ◽

Herbert Ingley ◽

Erik Sander ◽

Dow Whitney ◽

Marc Hoit ◽

...

Keyword(s):

University Of Florida ◽

Design Program ◽

The University ◽

Capstone Design

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IMPROVEMENTS TO A UNIVERSITY CAPSTONE DESIGN PROGRAM THROUGH THE USE OF INDUSTRIAL MENTORS AND INCREASED MILESTONE DELIVERABLES

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) ◽

10.24908/pceea.v0i0.3913 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

J. Mikkelsen ◽

I. Yellowley ◽

A. Hodgson ◽

P. Cramond ◽

D. McAdam

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Engineering ◽

Design Practice ◽

Concept Generation ◽

Design Problems ◽

Good Design ◽

New Model ◽

Student Teams ◽

Design Program ◽

Client Needs ◽

Capstone Design

This paper reviews some recent major changes made to the Senior Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Program at UBC. The program now consists of a two-term senior level design sequence where student teams work on open-ended design problems sponsored by outside clients. In order to reinforce relevance and ensure that practices parallel those of industry, the Department recruited local senior engineers to serve as engineering mentors to the students and work in concert with the course instructors. Several milestones were established during the duration of the program year to reinforce good design practice beginning from an agreement on client needs and proceeding through concept generation, selection, analysis and finally ending with prototype construction and evaluation. The paper highlights the improvements made to the program as a result of these changes and presents an example of a student design project developed under the new model.

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Comparison of motivations and perceptions of capstone benefits for industry sponsors: An interview-based study of faculty and industry

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education ◽

10.1177/03064190211005479 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 030641902110054

Author(s):

Varun Rawal ◽

Steven T O’Shields ◽

Joshua D Summers

Keyword(s):

Clemson University ◽

Collection Method ◽

Student Teams ◽

Design Program ◽

Expected Values ◽

Design Projects ◽

Capstone Projects ◽

The University ◽

The Relationship ◽

Capstone Design

The goal of this research is to understand, explore, and align the motivation and value that industry gains from sponsoring senior level mechanical engineering capstone design projects at Clemson University. This research compares the expected values of capstone projects from the perspectives of both the sponsoring companies and university faculty. If faculty understand the expected value from the sponsor, faculty could more effectively solicit and scope sponsor-based projects. Interviewing was used as the data collection method to explore faculty and company sponsor perceptions regarding the capstone design program. Interview results are linked and evaluated to extract thematic patterns in the responses. Conclusions of this work show that faculty anticipate companies continue to sponsor projects if the final products generated by the student teams are beneficial to the company. Companies tend to gain value from sponsoring capstone by providing low priority projects to garner solutions with minimal investment. Further, the realized benefit of the projects for the sponsoring companies depends on the structuring of the program, the proximity of the university, and the relationship between the company and university.

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