(2023, April), Work in Progress: Restructuring a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Sequence  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE PNW Section Conference, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--44773

\bibitem{asee_peer_44773}
   (2023, April), \emph{Work in Progress: Restructuring a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Sequence}
  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE PNW Section Conference, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington.
  10.18260/1-2--44773

.  "Work in Progress: Restructuring a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Sequence".  2023 ASEE PNW Section Conference, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, 2023, April.  ASEE Conferences, 2023.  https://peer.asee.org/44773 Internet.  14 May, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_44773}
  .
  "Work in Progress: Restructuring a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Sequence".
  \emph{2023 ASEE PNW Section Conference, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, 2023, April}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2023.
  https://peer.asee.org/44773 Internet.  14 May, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_44773
author = ""
title = "Work in Progress: Restructuring a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Sequence"
booktitle = "2023 ASEE PNW Section Conference"
year = "2023"
month = "April"
address = "Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/44773}
number = {10.18260/1-2--44773}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Abstract Reviewed Presentation

Capstone design projects are very common in undergraduate engineering programs in the US but their implementation varies greatly across institutions and changes regularly over time [Howe 2017]. Recently, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, implemented a substantial restructuring of their capstone design sequence, which graduates around 170 students every year. Prior to the change, most students completed a design theory course and a one-quarter, team-based design project course. Feedback from faculty assessments of achieved student learning outcomes and surveys of graduating undergraduates suggested that students were often not adequately prepared for their capstones and that there was a strong design for more prototyping, testing, and iteration. The restructure extended the design project over two quarters, adjusted the credits (net +1 over the full sequence), and centralized most of the organization and coordination with a new teaching professor focused on the capstone program. The number of capstone projects sponsored from industry has increased, although projects from student clubs, faculty labs, non-profits, and student proposals continue. The restructure included the addition of a new student workspace for capstone projects, a skills-building and peer-design-review workshop series, and a final exposition. A soft roll-out took place in the 2021-2022 academic year and the first year of the full new structure is currently underway (2022-2023). This poster will describe the various aspects of the new structure and reasons it was selected, summarize early anecdotal feedback and observations, and discuss ongoing challenges and planned adjustments. 
CY  - Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington
DA  - 2023/04/06
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress: Restructuring a Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Sequence
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/44773
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--44773
ER  -