Partner-led capstones happens when a project uses exclusively (or almost entirely) corporate resources and intellectual property versus university resources and intellectual property. This capstone model has a faculty liaison. At the discretion of the industry sponsor, students may work from the company’s physical location or remotely but the industry point person will be expected to communicate with the team on a regular basis.

No fees are required of Capstone industry partners to participate in the 2024-25 program.

Students work in a two-semester course integrating technical and leadership skills on innovative faculty or industry projects with a team of fellow students. Teams engineer solutions using cutting-edge technology and methods to address crucial industry, market, or societal needs.

See our Intellectual Property (IP) Guidelines. In addition, at the company’s request, students may sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Each student on a faculty or industry team is expected to spend approximately six hours a week on the project in the fall and nine hours a week in the spring semester.

In a partner-led capstone, industry advisors take the lead in driving project direction. At a minimum, industry advisors provide students with real-world business and technical challenges to help them apply what they are learning in the classroom: technology, communication, business and leadership skills.

Specific commitments will be established and agreed upon among students, faculty, and industry advisor(s) at the beginning of each project. Industry advisors are not responsible for grades and will have a faculty contact who will manage academic affairs.

General Capstone Advising Timeline:

• March – May: Draft the capstone proposal
• June: Finalize proposal and resources
• August: Team selection
• September-December: Weekly advising
• December: Interim assessment
• January-April: Weekly advising
• Late April:/early May: Projects due and Showcase Event

Team size ranges from three to five students, chosen from seven engineering departments:

• Bioengineering (BioE)
• Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE)
• Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS)
• Industrial Engineering & Operations Research (IEOR)
• Materials Science & Engineering (MSE)
• Mechanical Engineering (ME)
• Nuclear Engineering (NE)

In a partner-led capstones, industry sponsors should expect to provide all of the necessary resources (laboratory equipment and software) required for the students to work on the capstone project.

We discuss project ideas and begin accepting proposals in March for the following academic year.  Formal capstone proposals are due in June. Teams will start work on the projects in early September through the following May.