Virtual Capstone Design Teams: Preparing for Global Innovation (Conference proceeding)

Global innovation requires collaboration between groups of people located in different parts of the world, and is a growing trend in industry. Virtual teams are often used to manage new product development projects. These teams are similar to traditional teams but are geographically separated and rely heavily on virtual methods of communication (email, Skype, teleconferencing, etc.) instead of regular face-to-face meetings. Experience working as a member of a virtual capstone design team can help prepare students for this growing trend. To begin preparing students for work on virtual teams in industry, we co-advised two virtual capstone design projects with students from Marquette University and Smith College. This paper describes our experience with managing two virtual capstone design project teams across institutions. Presented here are the challenges we encountered, the lessons we learned as a result of this experience, as well our recommendations for others who might want to include virtual project teams in their capstone design courses. We also include retrospective feedback from the students on these teams regarding their perceived value of their virtual team experience to their careers in engineering

Virtual Capstone Design Teams: Preparing for Global Innovation (Journal article)

Global innovation requires collaboration between groups of people located in different parts of the world, and is a growing trend in industry. Virtual teams are often used to manage new product development projects. These teams are similar to traditional teams but are geographically separated and rely heavily on virtual methods of communication (email, Skype, teleconferencing, etc.) instead of regular face-to-face meetings. Experience working as a member of a virtual capstone design team can help prepare students for this growing trend. To begin preparing students for work on virtual teams in industry, we co-advised two virtual capstone design projects with students from Marquette University and Smith College. This paper describes our experience with managing two virtual capstone design project teams across institutions. Presented here are the challenges we encountered, the lessons we learned as a result of this experience, as well our recommendations for others who might want to include virtual project teams in their capstone design courses. We also include retrospective feedback from the students on these teams regarding their perceived value of their virtual team experience to their careers in engineering

Episode 10: Zipline DC2122

Episode 10: This episode features four alums from the Class of 2022: Kirsten Appell, Kalyani Weiss, Harriet Wright, and Sophie Yates. Their Design Clinic project with Zipline was on the design of an anti-icing solution for Zipline\u27s unmanned aircraft

Episode 9: Dresser-Rand DC1213

Episode 9: This episode features three alums from the Class of 2013: Zin Min Aye, Phoebe DeGroot, and Celeste To. Their Design Clinic project with Dresser-Rand was on the design of an impeller labyrinth seal for centrifugal compressors

Episode 13: NRCS DC0910

This episode features three alums from the Class of 2010: Taylor Buono, Katy Kaproth-Gerecht, and Katie Wood. Along with their fourth teammate, Etta Grover-Silva, they collaborated with NRCS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, on the design of a solar-powered microirrigation system for a two-acre farm. They also developed a design calculator to size solar arrays for similar farms

Episode 1: Honda DC1920

Episode 1 This episode features three alums from the class of 2020: Elana Helou, Annie Kary, and Alina Siminiouk. Their Design Clinic project with Honda was on the design of a long-range heavy payload drone

Episode 2: Schneider Electric DC1415

Episode 2 This episode features four alums from the class of 2015: Nicole DeChello, Emily Dixon, Emily Lane, and Melinda Pontes. Their Design Clinic project with Schneider Electric was on the design of a low-flow measurement device for integration with a vortex flowmeter

Episode 4: NNE DC1718

Episode 4 This episode features three alums from the class of 2018: Leen Ajlouni, Jenny Banh, and Catherine Ding. Their Design Clinic project with NNE was on the design of a simulation to analyze and improve a pharmaceutical process

Focused Follow-Up to 2005 National Capstone Survey

This work details a survey of engineering capstone design courses focused on faculty teaching load and capstone funding levels. The survey was distributed to the attendees of the inaugural National Capstone Design Course Conference in June 2007. The survey yielded responses from 59 participants, representing 45 institutions. The results of the survey provide valuable insight into number and duration of design projects, team size, capstone teaching credit, faculty involvement, direct project costs, and external funding levels