Operations Research Capstone Courses for Business Majors with Analytical Backgrounds

Abstract

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).