Perspectives on Industry-Sponsored Capstone Projects Within Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Western University

Capstone projects that are conducted in final year study within Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Western University, traditionally, have been either student-originated, faculty-originated, or facilities-originated. Capstone projects provide students with an opportunity to apply what they have learned in their studies to an actual problem in a team setting. Recently, the capstone project course had experienced revisions with a desire to increase the number of industry and community-sponsored projects. Industry-sponsored capstone projects can provide value, not only to the sponsoring company, but also to the participants who are afforded the opportunity to work on a relevant industry problem. There are intrinsic benefits for students having worked on a project that can, depending on the outcome, be used by the industry sponsor to add value to their operations. Particularly, where student capstone projects are externally funded, there exists the expectation that the project outcomes will be in a usable form. In recognizing the value of industry-sponsored capstone projects, we have implemented a rigorous method of capstone project oversight based upon the experience of other academic institutions, existing literature, and employing conventional project management strategies and tools. This paper discusses some of the challenges associated with industry-driven capstone projects and some manners in which we have attempted to address them.