The goal of the 2016 Capstone Design Conference held in Columbus, OH was to build upon the success of previousconferences (2007 and 2010 in Boulder, CO, 2012 in Champaign, IL, and 2014 in Columbus, OH) and expand thecommunity of educators, students, and industry members engaged in discussing, analyzing, and improving capstonedesign education. Sessions at the 2016 Capstone Design Conference were designed for vibrant sharing of ideas andexperiences across the capstone community via interactive panel sessions, poster session socials, hands-on workshops, andother formal and informal networking activities. This editorial discusses conference planning, structure, and feedback.Technical papers that follow in this issue document scholarship surrounding noteworthy capstone course innovations.Most of these began as four page peer-reviewed papers included in the conference proceedings.