The Use of an Iterative Industry Project in a One Semester Capstone Course

Capstone projects provide students the opportunity to use the combined knowledge and skills gained throughout their educational curriculum to address a relevant (frequently industry sponsored) problem. While capstone courses are often two semesters and allow students significant time to design and advance a project, in some curricula these courses are limited to one semester. In such instances, the scope of prospective projects needs to be refined to meet the sponsor needs while also providing students with a worthwhile, yet tractable capstone experience. This work will describe the process used in one engineering technology program where students work on a certain aspect of a multi-semester industry-sponsored project. This paper will detail the key documentation and scoping procedures that are necessary to facilitate these types of iterative multi-semester industry projects when multiple student groups are involved. An illustrative case is used to highlight how this has been implemented for one industry project that has spanned three semesters. Examples of student work and findings are presented to highlight the key scoping and documentation challenges of an iterative project necessary to meet the sponsor’s expectations over the long term. Lessons that can broadly be applied to capstone projects and key lessons gleaned from these projects are also be presented. Introduction Capstone design courses and projects are a critical component of engineering education. These courses were originally conceived to counteract the trend of engineering education that focused more and more on the “engineering science” aspects of the discipline and less on the practical problem solving aspects . A survey of capstone courses from the mid-1990s found a wide array of ways in which such courses were organized and conducted 1, . That survey found that the plurality of courses covered one semester. However, there are still a wide array of ways in which Capstone courses or course sequences are carried. The length of a Capstone course sequence will certainly have a dramatic effect on its content and what can be accomplished during the course. Some courses include content related to the design process itself while others include information about the engineering profession, legal considerations, or communication related information . Another key aspect that influences what can be accomplished in a Capstone course is the size of each student team. The same survey found that the plurality of teams were between 4 and 6 students. The survey also found that the majority of projects were sourced from industry and internal clients; this is again likely still the case. The importance and role of Capstone courses in engineering, and especially in engineering technology programs that pride themselves on their practical nature, has led to a significant amount of research and experimentation related to various aspects of these courses. Watkins examined a list of best practices related to project advising and was able to significantly reduce the number of negative comments and ratings associated with the course . Others have introduced standardization and increased the focus on professional skills to improve the Capstone course experience . Turner discusses the process of refocussing a Capstone course from project management towards a stronger focus on the design process content and activities . Others have examined the needs and benefits of a multidisciplinary Capstone project or of projects more focused on professional skill building and preparation. One of the other key benefits of Capstone courses is their role in promoting lifelong learning . Various benefits and drawbacks associated with project type (e.g., design or test) and sources (i.e., internal or industry sponsored) have also been investigated . As mentioned previously, the length of any Capstone course sequence will have a dramatic effect on the types of projects that are feasible for the course(s). In some curricula, these course sequences span two years (four semesters) and allow students to go from concept to design and prototype construction with significant depth in various facets of the design process . Multisemester projects provide students with a unique opportunity to create a design portfolio that captures their contribution to the project . The vast majority of Capstone course sequences have been one or two semesters. Evidently, two-semester projects allow for more student involvement in scoping and developing a comprehensive project proposal . While students are able to design, build and test a project-related prototype in one semester in some instances, this requires that the project should be relatively simple or is well scoped and conceived. Those projects that are well scoped and conceived for one-semester are often internally sourced 15 since the appropriate level of advising can be found in-house. Some have investigated breaking up the traditional design, build, test sequence done over two semesters in to a design (in one semester), and design-build-test (in the other semester) sequence where projects may or may not be carried over . Assuming a one-semester Capstone course and a desire to have significant industry sponsored projects, an alternative method of project organization and scoping is needed. This work presents such a method and highlights its use through an illustrative case study. The background of the Capstone course and the project are presented in the next section. This is followed by the results of the project to date. Finally conclusions and future work are detailed. Background and Illustrative Case Study The Capstone course in the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology (MMET) Program at Texas A&M University comes at the end of a design and project management course sequence that includes courses in product design, machine design, and project and people management. The course is one semester in length and enrollment ranges between 25 and 45 students per semester. Historically projects have been sourced through a combination of internal (to the Program) and industry sponsors. Teams range between 4 and 5 students. Projects are typically presented during the first week of the course and students then “apply” to work on a project. The instructor then selects the teams to work on the various projects. Throughout the course of the semester, student must prepare a project proposal, and submit weekly progress memos, a mid-term report, and a final report. There are also design reviews prior to both the mid-term and final reports. Many of the capstone course projects cannot be completed in one semester due to the complexities and requirements set by the industry sponsor. Therefore, each phase of the project should be scoped and planned precisely so the next design team can complete the project satisfactorily in a timely manner. Furthermore, to ensure a seamless project progress over a period of two semesters or more, adequate documentation and graphical communication should be provided by each design team. The documentation is presented in different conventional formats to ensure a smooth flow of information among teams that do not have the opportunity to