Developing and conducting an industry based capstone design course

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, today´s engineering graduate must be equipped to meet the needs of industry and these needs are not limited to technical competence. They include the ability to: consider alternative solutions and their impact on various operations; work in interdisciplinary teams; manage projects; tie projects to the bottom line profitability of the enterprise; and communicate effectively. In many cases, graduates are ill-prepared to meet these challenges. The Penn State Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, USA, has designed, developed and conducted a senior capstone course to address certain key skill deficiencies of the engineering graduate. The course is conducted in cooperation with parallel sections in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and as a consequence, many of the student teams are composed of students from all three disciplines. The course provides the student with a realistic experience that helps with the transition from theory to the real practice of engineering. This paper identifies those elements in the design and conduct of the course that ensures a good experience for both industrial partners and students. Important concepts such as selecting good industrial sponsors and coaching versus supervising are discussed