Capstone team design projects in engineering curriculum: Content and management

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Victoria offers degree programs in computer, electrical, and software engineering. Students in these programs are required to take a compulsory capstone design project course in their final year of studies. The objective of the design project is to have the students go through the exercise of integrating their knowledge acquired in prior courses and experience gained in cooperative work terms, in a design focused project that satisfies multiple criteria. The issues and problems associated with the design project course are discussed. Past, present, and future initiatives to improve the learning experience and outcome are presented. Focuses of this work are on design content in engineering curriculum, design project team interaction, and design project management.