Selecting appropriate industrial projects for capstone design programs

Abstract

Clearly industry projects can provide great benefits in an academic design program, but can alsobecome problematic to manage, and can overshadow the educational goals of the Program. In orderto have successful experiences with industry sponsored projects, there must be careful definition,management and monitoring. Projects tend to fall into three categories: 1) new product develop-ment projects, 2) manufacturing process equipment, and 3) projects that involve systems integra-tion. There are a number of different sponsor situations that affect project management andoutcomes. An outline and discussion on the guidelines to be used in recruiting and selecting ofindustry-sponsored design projects follows.. Leaning too far to either the academic or the industrialside in selection of projects can prove to be problematic.