Capstone Design Course Research Articles

Impact of senior design project for the development of leadership and management skills in construction management

Senior design courses are a core part of curricula across engineering and technology disciplines. Such courses offer Construction Management (CMG) students the opportunity to bring together, assimilate and apply the knowledge they have acquired over their entire undergraduate academic programme to an applied technical project. Senior or Capstone design course engages students in a real-world project, enhance leadership development, and prepare to manage and lead project teams. The CMG programme's multidisciplinary approach at Alabama A&M University, combines essential components of construction techniques with concepts of business management to develop technically qualified individuals for responsible management roles in the design, construction and operation of major construction projects. This paper analyses the performance of the students and improvement due to the interaction with the faculty advisors and industrial panel during the two semester Capstone project. The results of this Capstone sequence have shown a continuous improvement of student performance.

How Student Reflections Have Guided the Evolution of a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Course

To provide for professional growth of students and to gain deeper insight into student engagement in the University of British Columbia MECH Capstone Design Project Course, the teaching team has deployed an open-ended reflection opportunity over the past 6 years as an adjunct to the required teaching evaluations. Three years of year-end questionnaires and three years of bi-monthly instructor-led reflection sessions form the datasets. Although the two formats are fundamentally different, the quality of the responses provides evidence of high student awareness of their own learning process and a desire to be a meaningful contributor in the conversation on course improvement.

Analysis of Teaching and Learning Results in Capstone Design Courses

Analysis of Teaching and Learning Results in Capstone Design Courses

Investigating the use of design methods by capstone design students at Clemson University

The authors describe a preliminary study to understand the attitude of engineering students regarding the use of design methods in projects to identify the factors either affecting or influencing the use of these methods by novice engineers. A senior undergraduate capstone design course at Clemson University, consisting of approximately fifty students and nine graduate design coaches, was chosen as the unit of analysis. Results from a survey of the class suggest that, though these novice engineers were convinced that design methods they were eager to learn were of use in helping them make better products, they tended not to use them. The stated reasons for not using them were the effort required to implement the methods, to understand how and when to use the methods, and the pressure to deliver results in a short duration. Recommendations from this study can be useful in designing effective design education programs and to develop more designer-friendly design methods.

International Partnership Helping to Bring Appropriate Biofuel Technology to Rural Cameroon

In May 2012, a group of chemical and mechanical engineering students from the newly established [University Name] Appropriate Technology and Sustainability [Identifying Acronym] undergraduate research group embarked on a 10 day visit to Bangang Village, Cameroon in West Africa to implement a multidisciplinary engineering service-based project to develop appropriate, sustainable biodiesel and biochar technology for use by local villagers. The participating students had worked on this design project both as part of their capstone design course in both Chemical and Mechanical Engineering and as part of a special elective that included an embedded study abroad component. Poverty and rapid population growth have led to the accelerated destruction of natural resources throughout the developing world, particularly West Africa. The purpose of this project was not only to introduce students to the concepts of sustainability, service based learning and appropriate technology, but to get them beyond the textbooks and laboratories and solve real problems that impact real people around the world.

A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of a Multidisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design Course

BACKGROUND Capstone design courses seek to prepare engineering students for industry by challenging student teams to solve real-world problems. To improve this preparation, university programs have recently focused on creating multidisciplinary teams. However, there is limited quantitative evidence showing that multidisciplinary student engineering teams develop higher quality projects or are better prepared for the work force.

Capstone Design Courses, Part II: Preparing Biomedical Engineers for the Real World

The biomedical engineering senior capstone design course is probably the most important course taken by undergraduate biomedical engineering students. It provides them with the opportunity to apply wh

Operations Research Capstone Courses for Business Majors with Analytical Backgrounds

Clarkson University provides a one-semester capstone design course required for undergraduate seniors majoring in Engineering and Management. In this paper, we discuss how the capstone experience has been facilitated when the projects are operations research (OR) based. Key aspects include multiple student teams working on a single client's problem, student experience customized to the project, a client focused approach, and coaching of students whose academic background includes a single course dedicated to OR as well as other courses in engineering and management. We suggest why our practices may be applied at other universities with analytically talented business students. Many of our recommended practices apply to industry projects for students from any major (e.g., finding projects with appropriate scope).

Standards in Capstone Design Courses and the Engineering Curriculum [Senior Design

In 1990, I was the group leader of Research and Development for Surgitek, a urological device manufacturer in Racine, Wisconsin, which was the market leader in ureteral stents. I recognized the need for an industry standard for ureteral stents, felt that taking a leadership role in the development of a new standard would be a good professional development activity, and volunteered to serve as the chair of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM, now known as ASTM International) Task Group on Ureteral Stents. After several years, the standard was approved, and I continue to serve as the chair of the ASTM Subcommittee on Urological Materials and Devices. This experience helped me understand the value of industry standards, expanded my professional network and visibility within the medical device industry, and helped develop my leadership skills.

ENGINEERS TEACHING ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION: INTEGRATING DISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE INTO THE ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION CURRICULUM

The Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto has recently begun using engineering graduate students as Communication Instructors (CIs) in the Mechanical Engineering portfolio courses and our work in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering capstone design courses. The move was an attempt to bridge the discipline chasm between communication and disciplinary expertise; this paper begins to document the impact of this interdisciplinarity. Through an analysis of narratives of CI experiences using Engeström’s model of activity theory, we narrowed our focus to an exploration of the changing rules and division of labour that occurred over the duration of the courses. We found that while students and CIs bring different understandings of rules and division of labour to the work, these elements can be changed—and that affect plays a key role in the changes.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CAPSTONE DESIGN STREAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

An interdisciplinary design approach is a collaborative effort involving team members from different engineering disciplines to solve a problem. An opportunity for interdisciplinary education exists in the fourth year capstone design project. Interdisciplinary capstone courses are offered at other Canadian universities but, at the University of Waterloo (UW) the co-operative undergraduate engineering program poses a logistical barrier to students interacting with students in other disciplines for capstone design projects. Currently, students can form their own interdisciplinary team but differences in course structure, project deliverables, and design terminology and method between engineering disciplines is challenging for students and instructors. An investigation into the feasibility of a new interdisciplinary capstone design course at UW is undertaken. A possible home for the interdisciplinary capstone course could be under the Chair of Design Engineering. Overall, receptivity among departments is positive but a more comprehensive analysis is required.

CEAB-INSPIRED RUBRICS FOR ASSESSING DESIGN DOSSIERS IN CAPSTONE DESIGN COURSES

In the UBC Mechanical Engineering Department, we have recently shifted from using formal reports as our primary documentation process in our capstone design course to a 'design dossier' approach in which students document their work on a task-by-task basis. While this approach has significant benefits in terms of students learning how to document their design work on a routine basis, it has produced challenges in marking a wide range and volume of submissions from different teams working on different projects. In this paper and presentation, we share our experiences of using marking rubrics inspired by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board's list of graduate attributes.

Project based learning in mechatronics education in close collaboration with industrial: Methodologies, examples and experiences

The paper describes how the philosophy of project based learning (PBL) was integrated into the mechatronics capstone design course “Mechatronics Project Design and Management (MPDM)” at The Chinese–German School of Applied Sciences (Chinesisch–Deutsche Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, CDHAW) of Tongji University, Shanghai, China. The course teaching philosophy, implementation methodologies, examples and experiences were discussed.

Active Learning in Capstone Design Courses [Senior Design

There is a growing trend to encourage students to take a more active role in their own education. Many schools are moving away from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side model where the instructor is a facilitator of learning. In this model, the emphasis is more on learning and less on teaching, and it requires instructors to incorporate more active and student-centered learning methods into their courses. These methods include collaborative, cooperative, problem-based, and project-based learning.

Maintaining a Relevant, Up-­to-­Date Capstone Design Course [Senior Design

Senior capstone design courses can be extremely helpful in preparing biomedical engineering students for careers in engineering and other fields. They allow students to develop communication, teamwork, and other transferable technical and nontechnical skills. They can also make students aware of the (1) legal, regulatory, economic, environmental, and social/political constraints of medical device design, (2) contemporary issues related to biomedical engineering and health care, and (3) the latest trends and tools in new product development and project management.

Service-Learning in Engineering Education and Heritage Preservation

Many communities and nonprofit organizations in the United States grapple with the reuse of publicly owned buildings and infrastructure from the 19th and early 20th centuries that have become landmarks in their communities. Often these communities or organizations do not have adequate resources (technical expertise, funding) for even preliminary engineering services. Engineering programs at universities can assist these communities by providing engineering expertise through service-learning (SL) projects, at the same time providing engineering students exposure to the field of heritage preservation and to important preservation engineering issues. This article presents SL case studies at the University of Vermont (UVM) as examples of this type of collaboration. Benefits, challenges, and SL assessment results are included. For the past 4 years, as part of a National Science Foundation Department Level Reform (NSF DLR) grant, civil and environmental engineering students at UVM have worked on multiple SL projects with local communities throughout their 4-year program. In many cases, these SL projects have involved historic structures. Although not an original emphasis of the DLR grant, heritage preservation is becoming a component of the UVM reform efforts, such that in 2010 this topic began to be formally included in both the first-year introductory engineering course and senior capstone design course. The SL approach was found to be effective in meeting education goals of the civil and environmental engineering programs and their accreditation requirements as well as providing meaningful service to the local communities caring for historic structures and sites. Both students and faculty gained exposure to and understanding of preservation engineering topics, as well as networking with the heritage preservation community in Vermont and elsewhere. Incorporating heritage preservation issues into engineering programs through SL projects may prove beneficial at other institutions.

Managing Student Expectations of the Real World [Senior Design

As senior capstone design instructors, our job is to help prepare our I students for careers in biomedical engineering. Since the majority of them will someday work for a medical device company, our focus on design is particularly important and relevant. Capstone design courses and biomedical engineering curricula help students develop technical, interpersonal, and communication skills and provide them with the broad knowledge base they will need for successful careers as biomedical engineers. Additionally, accreditation requires pro grams to meet several learning criteria to ensure that the students will be prepared for careers in biomedical engineering after graduation.

캡스톤디자인 교과목의 학습성과 평가체계 개발

본 논문은 공학교육과정에서 사용되는 캡스톤디자인 교과목에 대한 평가체계의 개발 사례를 소개한다. 캡스톤디자인은 대학 과정에서 배운 전문지식을 종합적으로 활용하여, 산업현장의 문제를 분석하고 해결책을 설계하는 교과목이다. 본 논문에서는 캡스톤디자인 교과목과 관련된 기존의 평가 요소, 평가 방법 및 절차를 설명한다. 이를 기반으로 개발된 캡스톤디자인 평가체계를 소개한다. 본 논문에서 제시한 캡스톤디자인 교과목의 학습성과 평가체계는 타대학의 캡스톤디자인 교과목 운영 시 일부 참고될 수 있으며, 산학이 연계된 교육 및 인턴 프로그램 개발 시 평가체계 설계를 위해서도 사용될 수 있다. This paper introduces a case study on the development of the evaluation system for capstone design course which is usually provided at engineering education program. A capstone design is an engineering education course which aims to improve the students' ability on analysis and design of practical industrial problems by use of overall engineering knowledge which has been learned in undergraduate program. Firstly, this paper provides a literature review on evaluation indices and methods related with a capstone design course. Secondly, the evaluation system for learning outcomes of capstone design course is described. The evaluation system for learning outcomes of capstone design course provided in this paper could be referred by other universities opening a capstone design course, and used to design an evaluation system for internship program or education course which is provided as an industry-academic connection program.

DESIGN IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING: WHAT ARE THE PERSPECTIVES

Design in chemical engineering should aim at reaching a balance between theory and practice in engineering education in order to have students better prepared for their future endeavors. As students progress through the curriculum they learn more fundamental engineering science, more design components are introduced into courses and the complexity of the design problems increases. Elements of design are introduced in many courses and culminate in a capstone design course. Current practices in Chemical Engineering at McGill University are described here and general perspectives are discussed.

EXPERIENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY OF A ONE SEMESTER CAPSTONE DESIGN COURSE FOR FINAL YEAR CIVIL ENGINEERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

This paper describes the experience in the organization and delivery of a one-term Capstone design project for students in their final year of the Civil Engineering program at the University of Manitoba. The Capstone design course was first introduced into the Civil Engineering program at the University of Manitoba in the fall semester of 2002. It has now been delivered three times. It is a project-based course involving teamwork and encompassing knowledge in transportation, water resources, environmental, materials, geotechnical and structural engineering. The main objective of the Capstone project is to facilitate the transition from the academic environment to the “real world” (industry) through the participation in a meaningful design project under the general guidance of an industry mentor. Local consulting engineering companies volunteer to mentor the student teams. Design projects have been provided by the City of Winnipeg who agreed to act as the sponsor/client for the first three years of the Capstone program. Sponsorship involves selecting a suitable design project and preparing a request for a proposal (RFP). Projects provided by the City to date have included: (1) the preliminary design of a pedestrian bridge over the LaSalle River, and (2) the preliminary design of a grade separation at a congested intersection in Winnipeg. Project deliverables include a written response to the RFP, a progress report, and final report. Student teams are also required to give an in-class presentation to the client of their response to the RFP and the progress report. The presentation of the final report is open to the public and is held immediately following the last day of classes. The quality of the work has improved over the three years. This is attributed not only to the overall organization of the course but also because, so far, each of the student teams has wanted to “do better” than their predecessors. Industry mentors have also become more comfortable with their role and now have more realistic expectations of the capabilities of the students. Successful completion of the Capstone project is a challenge and depends on teamwork and effective project management. The time commitment is significant, and can impact other courses that the student is taking. Despite the significant workload students who have taken the course have with few exceptions said that they appreciated the opportunity to apply their skills to a real project involving all aspects of civil engineering. A spin-off benefit has been that the students have a first hand opportunity to meet and evaluate perspective employers and industry can evaluate perspective employees.