Capstone Design - Unexpected Challenges and Opportunities due to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic George Mason University (Mason), similar to many institutions, had to suddenly switch to online delivery of all courses in March 2020. As the director of senior projects (first author) for the mechanical engineering program, this forced me into an unexpected situation. As many other engineering professors can attest, teaching laboratory intensive classes and design courses adds additional layers of complexity within the online delivery mode. The co-author who taught two other sections of senior design and the first author had to immediately devise a plan on how to continue to deliver a meaningful design experience to students online in the middle of the semester. While most programs in the country adjusted their capstone programs to face the unexpected pandemic, our program had its own set of challenges to overcome. The first concern for the authors was how to continue to provide a meaningful design experience to the students and the second one was how to complete the projects to meet the sponsors' expectations. That is why we decided to share our experience so we can generate more thoughts and discussions during the conference. Our first effort was to use our extensive engineering experience to challenge the senior students. Access to the machine shop was not allowed beginning halfway through the spring 2020 semester. During a normal academic year, student teams perform much of the fabrication and testing of their prototypes during the spring semester. Since access to the machine shop was not allowed, the focus of the program shifted towards a greater emphasis on analysis and technical writing. Another challenge is due to the model used for capstone projects at Mason in which 100% of the projects are externally sponsored by industry and government partners. In order to prepare the projects for the fall 2019 semester, authors worked side-by-side with the sponsors to agree on deliverables and top-level requirements in the preceding summer. Satisfying the needs of the sponsor, for nearly all projects, requires a significant 'hands on' component in terms of fabrication and subsequent testing. In prior iterations of the capstone course sequence, teams were expected to interface with the sponsors frequently, but the pandemic made sponsor-to-student interaction more difficult. We had to think of creative ways in which the student teams can meet the expectations of the sponsors who provided financial support. With the assistance and approval of the department leadership, we adjusted the course learning outcomes to suit the “unforeseen design conditions” of the capstone projects and provided a real-life learning experience in project management to the 59 senior students enrolled in the class. Although the modality of instruction changed and the access to campus was prohibited after the campus closure, the student teams were remarkable in coordinating the teamwork virtually. Because the students have worked together in teams before pandemic and knew their teammates, the aspect of teamwork progressed smoothly during the crucial early days of online learning in March 2020. Via extensive planning and adjustments to the course content and delivery, we successfully completed the two-semester long capstone program which concluded with a virtual capstone day in May 2020. This paper provides details on how the capstone program adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic at Mason while maintaining a rich learning experience. We share our experiences from the 2020 spring semester, discuss how we continued to adjust and manage the capstone program for the current academic year (AY) 2020-21 with uncertainties and create a stimulating dialogue.