Abstract
It is compulsory for final-year undergraduate engineering students to take a senior design class, commonly known as the senior capstone design project. This project is set up to help students deeply understand and apply what they have learned since beginning their quest for a bachelor’s degree in science. Capstone preparation involves many elements including the contribution of faculty members and academic programs that give students the technical and management skills needed to establish a career in engineering. Moreover, the capstone usually requires funding, which often comes from the industry sector. The engineering faculty at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) encourages students to complete this course showing high-quality levels of achievement. The university’s mechanical engineering department led the effort in organizing the senior design project course, which meets the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requirements. This paper presents an overview of a program that promises an outstanding engineering capstone experience for two KAU engineering colleges in Rabigh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This paper delineates the process, leadership skills, ABET involvement and evaluation. The capstone project presented here has provided overall satisfaction from both faculty members and students. Moreover, course management improvements led to a more cost-efficient program.
Highlights
A senior capstone design project (SCDP), sometimes referred to as the capstone design project or “Capstone”, is the pinnacle achievement of any graduating college of engineering senior, who has completed the course
The project is evaluated by three partners, 1) the senior capstone design project advisor (SCDPA), the senior capstone design project committee (SCDPC), and the department-appointed examining committee (ExC)
The ExC consists of a department chair-appointed consultant, a representative from the industry planning team to participate, the adviser, and perhaps a couple of students who are like team captains or a graduate student who is working with the professor
Summary
A senior capstone design project (SCDP), sometimes referred to as the capstone design project or “Capstone”, is the pinnacle achievement of any graduating college of engineering senior, who has completed the course. Hoole [9] stated that engineering colleges should dispense with senior projects and “should concentrate on teaching the theory, leaving the completion of the engineer's education to industry” [9]. He justified this statement by saying: In providing in-house senior design programs, universities have imposed the fiction that they provide true industrial experience and have encroached into what industry can do better. The main objective of this paper is to delineate the process, leadership skills, ABET involvement and evaluation that are needed to manage the SCDP course successfully to achieve the required outcomes from it.
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