Space-Based Capstone: Public-Private-Academic Partnership in the Making

The Electronic Systems Engineering Technology (ESET) Program at Texas A&M University provides a recognized undergraduate program with an emphasis in electronics, communication, embedded systems, testing, instrumentation and control systems. The program combines engineering and industrial knowledge and methods to develop, design, and implement new innovative products through a two-semester long Senior Capstone Project. Capstone is designed to prepare future engineers by bridging the gap between the classroom and industry. Students are required to form teams of two to six members which allows them to develop the skills necessary to succeed in a diverse industry setting. Each team is required to use their knowledge and skills to design, develop, document, and deliver a real-world project equivalent to the assignments they will soon receive as professional engineers. Following NASA’s approval for funding the development of a research facility named Hermes, a Capstone team, named Microgravity Automated Research Systems (MARS), was sponsored by T STAR, a local space commercialization company, to develop the electronics portion of the facility. Hermes will reside on the International Space Station for five years in the hopes of streamlining the development of experiments that require extended periods of time in microgravity environments. The Hermes facility will host and manage up to four experiments at a time while allowing for the downlink of experiment data to an Earth station, and the uplink of commands to change experiment parameters. Experiments will adhere to a power budget and communication standard established by MARS so that experiments can be swapped out during the facility’s lifetime. MARS will work with the Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory (MISL), an undergraduate applied research lab, in order to prepare them to maintain support for Hermes in the future.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Benefits of Industry Involvement in Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Courses

Opportunities for industry involvement in capstone design courses go beyond industry sponsorship of capstone design projects. Representatives from industry can serve as guest lecturers, curriculum advisors, and design project sponsors and team mentors. Since 2000, industry participation has been a core part of the capstone design course at Marquette University. Practicing engineers provide a relevant, practical real-world perspective of their topic, reinforcing its importance to professional engineering practice. Students and faculty benefit from the up-to-date treatment of the topic provided by guest speakers from industry who have expertise in the topic and are willing to share their experiences with students. Students benefit from industry sponsorship of senior design projects through the opportunity to work on realworld problems of importance to industry, exposure to industry and company-specific project management and product development processes, and familiarity with economic, legal, and regulatory design constraints. This paper provides a brief description of the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design course at Marquette University, examples of industry involvement in the course, and the observed benefits of industry involvement to students, the university, and industry participants. It presents examples of current practices used at other schools as well as helpful recommendations for managing industry participation in capstone design courses

Lessons Learned from a 10-Year Collaboration between Engineering and Industrial Design Students in Capstone Design Projects

Engineers and industrial designers have different approaches to problem solving. Both place heavy emphasis on identification of customer needs, manufacturing methods, and prototyping. Industrial designers focus on aesthetics, ergonomics, ease of use, and the user’s experience. They tend to be more visual and more concerned with the interaction between users and products. Engineers focus on functionality, performance requirements, analytical modeling, and design verification and validation. They tend to be more analytical and more concerned with the design of internal components and product performance. Engineers and industrial designers often work together on project teams in industry. Collaboration between the two groups on senior capstone design projects can teach each to respect and value the unique contributions each brings to the project team, result in improved design solutions, and help prepare students for future collaboration in industry. Student feedback and lessons learned by faculty and students from a ten-year collaboration between engineering and industrial design students from Marquette University and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, respectively, are presented. Students learned to communicate with people in other disciplines, appreciate the complementary skills of each discipline, and value different approaches to problem solving

Consumer Purchasing: When Does Corporate Social Responsibility Matter?

Almost all companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, and often times consumers are unaware of this. As societal pressures on companies and organizations to be more responsible increases, so have the practices companies have undertaken. My research will examine the potential impact a company’s CSR information and practices have on a consumer’s purchasing intentions. It will answer the following two questions: Does CSR information have the ability to change a person’s purchase intentions in high and low involvement purchasing scenarios? Will a person’s individual level of social responsibility cause differences in purchase intentions among different purchasing scenarios? Exposure to a variety of different purchasing scenarios will attempt to uncover connections between CSR efforts and purchase intentions. Results from the study show that CSR makes a big difference to consumers in high-involvement purchasing scenarios

Evaluation of team dynamic in Norwegian projects for IT students

The need for teaching realistic software development in project courses has increased in a global scale. It has always been challenges in cooperating fast-changing software technologies, development methodologies and teamwork. Moreover, such project courses need to be designed in the connection to existing theoretical courses. We performed a large-scale research on student performance in Software Engineering projects in Norwegian universities. This paper investigates four aspects of team dynamics, which are team reflection, leadership, decision making and task assignment in order to improve student learning. Data was collected from student projects in 4 years at two universities. We found that some leader's characteristics are perceived differently for female and male leaders, including the perception of leaders as skilful workers or visionaries. Leadership is still a challenging aspect to teach, and assigned leadership is probably not the best way to learn. Students is are performing well in task review, however, needs support while performing task assignment. The result also suggests that task management to be done in more fine-grained levels. It is also important to maintain an open and active discussion to facilitate effective group decision makings

Twitter: Businesses Increasing Their Revenues 140 Characters at a Time

With the consumer market becoming more competitive by the day, businesses must find innovative yet cost effective means of reaching their target markets and steadily increasing their revenues. While businesses compete with one another to remain the best, they must have a strategic market plan that differentiates their products and/or services from their competitors. In an effort to do this, many businesses have begun using social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn as a means of reaching their target markets. Such sites have opened businesses to a new level of advertising where they reach consumers faster, have the ability to be more innovative, and spend less money than they would with conventional means of advertising. In addition to these social networking sites, Twitter has emerged, gaining interest from businesses looking to get their products and/or services out to consumers through a new medium. With the number of users increasing daily and the ease of passing information along from one user to the next, businesses have begun to see their new found means of advertising on Twitter as the way to increase their revenues 140 characters at a time. This project highlights how the understanding of the benefits of social media marketing is essential to businesses venturing into the use of Twitter. This understanding allows businesses to frame the use of Twitter to successfully fit their business strategies, while the Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) shows the connection between the use of social networking sites by businesses and how it relates to the manner in which consumers are receptive to the information such sites provide. Various studies conducted on the use of Twitter by companies along with a case study on FM Global, a mutual insurance company, highlight how Twitter can be used by businesses as a marketing tool for branding purposes and increasing revenues

The Effect of the Gramm Leach Bliley Act on the Financial Services Industry

The financial services industry has fascinated me since high school when I participated in a University Program focusing on the industry. During this time I became familiar with the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) and other legislation that was reshaping the industry. In this paper I shed light on key events and acts that have transformed the financial services industry with a particular focus on the GLBA. I argue that the GLBA is not revolutionary, but rather evolutionary. Second, I argue that the consumer privacy portion of the GLBA is the most vital part because of the massive amount of personal information available in today’s market. Finally, the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act impacts me directly since I hope to become a Financial Advisor and the provisions of the Act will permit me to sell all types of financial instruments

Coordination, Cooperation, and Collaboration: Defining the C3 Framework

The term C3 refers to the framework of coordinative, cooperative and collaborative relationships within the realm of external supply chain partnerships. Each unique partnership offers both benefits and challenges within a supply chain and must be aligned with company and supply chain strategy in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. This paper aims to fill the current void in supply chain literature concerning C3 by defining each term based upon current supply chain research as well as give the most prevalent characteristics and differences between each “C” in this phase model. This research is then compared to the industry through a case study of a major international retailer. Finally, we propose a set of propositions that organizations can use to assess at what level their external relationships reside within the phase model as well as how companies move and evolve their relationships between the levels and what the trigger mechanisms are in this evolution

Seeking to Understand Subaru’s Turbocharged Appeal: A study of brand communities, product utility, and corporate promotion

This study attempts to analyze Subaru’s significant and unique appeal in the greater automotive market. The primary research findings are presented in a video documentary, while frameworks for existing research on certain facets of brand management and consumer groups are presented in the following paper. Based on analysis of existing data and interviews conducted with people connected to the brand, we can conclude that the phenomenon is a result of an appealing product that offers differentiated utilities at an affordable price, the formation of consumer groups around the various offerings, and insightful promotion on Subaru’s part. The degree to which each of these factors is responsible for cultivating a following varies based on the consumer group; the convergence of these three phenomena is, if not unique in the vehicle marketplace, very distinctive

The Effects of Popular Music in Television Advertisements on Branding

Have you ever found that the music a company chooses helps you understand its brand better, and did you eventually find yourself becoming a loyal customer? The goal of this project is to investigate whether or not connections like these occur and, if so, why they happen and what they mean for advertisers. More specifically, the study examines the influence of music in television advertisements on the last three steps of the brand building process: brand imagery, brand feelings, and brand resonance. The purpose of the research is to discover the extent to which popular songs used in television commercials create the appropriate brand image, spark an emotional connection to the brand, and eventually establish a brand relationship with consumers. In addition to secondary research compiled in a literature review, a survey comprised mainly of Likert scale questions was distributed to Bryant University students. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions in which they were shown commercials for both Nike and Starbucks 1.)with popular music, 2.) without popular music, or 3.) no commercial at all. Participants were then asked questions relating to perceived brand imagery and purchase behavior. Results suggest that the popular music does not have significant effects on consumers’ brand perception and loyalty. Limitations of this study and suggestions for further research are also discussed