Engineering capstone design course adaptation after a catastrophic event : from industrial scope to community impact

Abstract

In spring of 2017, the chemical engineering design conrse at onr institntion was offered as a capstone course in collaboration with indnstry. Indnstrial projects were to be solved by teams of students with both academic and indnstrial mentors. Teams were bnilt according to learning styles preferences and other attribntes of the students, according to the topics involved in each project. Students often visited the industrial site, observed the processes and interacted with different personnel that provided information towards project solution. During the fall 2017 semester, the capstone course started as described above, but a catastrophic event prevented the industry-academic collaboration to continue after classes were resumed. The scope of the capstone course was adapted to incorporate new projects aligned to the needs of the society brought forth by the emergency situation caused by the eventThe description and assessments of both capstone design course experiences will be presented and contrasted. Under both modalities the team building strategy was a common feature. Teamwork is a soft skill required in both industrial- and community impact-scoped projects. Successful peace engineering projects must rely in efficient team building strategies in order to effectively impact society.