Title: An innovative industrial-related one semester capstone course in engineering

Authors: Mohamad S. Qatu

Addresses: Mississippi State University, 210 Carpenter Engineering Building, P.O. Box 9552, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA

Abstract: While many universities offer their engineering capstone course as a two-semester one, other universities often require delivering such a course in one semester. This has advantages regarding course offerings and meeting graduation deadlines. This, however, poses a challenge to engineering faculty members delivering the course. They need to deliver the demanding educational requirements of a capstone engineering course during the university's tight one semester calendar (15 weeks). This paper presents an innovative curricular model that compiles the learned experiences and findings in previous research (educational requirements) and delivers the course that meets the requirements in one semester. This paper provides a general description of the educational requirements, a curricular model, specific material (design process, ergonomics, ethics, project management, communication, design for cost and manufacturing as well as other subjects), and possible challenges and opportunities. The proposed model requires the delivery of a senior project that at least mimics an industrial setting.

Keywords: capstone engineering; engineering courses; two semester courses; senior projects; one semester courses; semesters; industrial-related courses; innovative courses; universities; higher education; course offerings; graduation deadlines; faculty members; educational requirements; curricular models; curriculum; learned experiences; design processes; ergonomics; ethics; project management; communication; costs; manufacturing design; industrial settings; interdisciplinary teams; USA; United States; innovation; learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2012.048349

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2012 Vol.12 No.2, pp.109 - 121

Published online: 28 Aug 2014 *

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