Capstone Senior Design Project | Guidelines and Project Submission
View ECST Capstone Senior Design Program Information Sheet
1. Scope
a. The project should solve a specific need for a company.
b. Mechanical and Electrical Engineering projects should involve design, modeling, and analytical prototyping.
c. Computer Science projects may be purely software-oriented; software projects requiring two or more disciplines to successfully execute are encouraged.
d. Civil Engineering projects should involve large-scale civil infrastructure suitable for a large team of students.
Projects should not be classified or highly proprietary. If required, students/faculty will sign a
nondisclosure agreement. Students should be able to publicly present their work with the mutual
agreement of the company.
2. Timeline
A project should be assigned with a development cycle of two semesters (9 months) with the following project planning timeline:
- Project commitment: March-May
- Project definition: May-August
- Project execution: August-May with design reviews end of the first semester
3. Personnel
a. A team of students will be responsible for the success of the project.
b. Each team will be coached by an experienced engineering faculty member.
c. The Executive Sponsor is responsible for ensuring that corporate commitment and funding is delivered on time and that an appropriate Project Technical Liaison is assigned.
d. The Project Technical Liaison provides 1-2 hours per week for weekly updates and meetings/teleconferencing. The liaison should be knowledgeable about the technology and committed to the success of the student team.
4. Funding Arrangement
Funding can be arranged as either a philanthropic grant, a contract, or via an ECST Affiliate agreement.
Please contact Michael Thorburn at capstone@calstatela.edu for additional information.