Capstone projects for engineering technology: Issues, benefits and trade-offs

Abstract

Capstone courses in our engineering technology (ET) programs are structured as open-ended undertakings where students are expected to creatively analyze, synthesize, and apply a wide- variety of learning outcomes from prior coursework. A capstone project may either be industry- sponsored or internally-sourced with student teams advised by faculty and engineers from local companies. The team's goal is to meet the deliverables required by the proposal or statement of work. The semester culminates with a formal presentation of results evaluated by a professional panel of practitioners and a final report substantiating the results and findings. Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) seniors are tasked to solve multi-disciplinary problems based on a statement of work initiated by a sponsoring local company. Electronic Engineering Technology (EET) projects originate internally in the form of proposals developed jointly by students and faculty with the objective being to design, construct and test a prototype system. A quality project requires faculty, sponsors and students to weigh a number of issues. Those that have no practical value or that merely serve the short term needs of an industry sponsor are not suitable. Another challenge is setting the scope of work and level of difficulty to be appropriate for ET seniors. Successful project management among the team members and their relationship to the faculty and external sponsors requires an array of communication and soft skills. Resources must be factored into the planning process: e.g. fabrication capabilities, technical support and/or the cost of purchased components/services. In small teaching institutions, the above issues are especially critical and must be carefully weighed. This paper discusses the structure, approach and evolution of capstone projects within our College. It compares and contrasts the differences between industry-sponsored and internally- sourced projects. The elements of project structure, resource trade-offs and successful execution are addressed as well as the issues and benefits experienced by students, faculty and industry sponsors. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.