(538a) Ten Years of Industrially Sponsored Capstone Design Projects

Capstone design projects sponsored by industry have been used at the University of Colorado for the past ten years. In 2006 alone, 16 different projects were supplied by companies and supported by industrial liaisons. Although most of these projects are process oriented, an increasing fraction has been product design oriented. Feedback from both the students and the liaisons has been positive. Design projects span a range of interests including biotechnology, pharmaceutical processing, oil and natural gas processing, renewable energy, food manufacturing, nanomaterials, polymer processing, and environmental remediation among others. Student teams select their projects during the first two weeks of class. They are then required to carry out a literature review, to determine battery limits, and to provide a preliminary process/product design approach as part of a written and oral project proposal. The industry liaison provides feedback regarding the direction of the project. The oral proposal presentation is evaluated by both the students in the class and a panel of industrial liaisons. The oral presentations are recorded using a digital video recorder and feedback is provided to the students, including a DVD copy of their presentation. The students are required to prepare a written critique of their presentations based on the feedback from their peers and industry liaisons and their own viewing of their presentation. Near the completion of the project, student teams make a second presentation which is also recorded and evaluated. They present a poster at a college-wide Engineering Design Day and must submit a final bound report to both the instructor and the industrial liaison who both grade the project. A confidential peer evaluation among team members is also part of individual final grades.