CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE
(Required for All Emphases)

The capstone experience is the culminating activity of the MSE program. It provides the student an opportunity to work on a large-scale project over a period of, typically, at least eight months. The project may be any of the following:

• Based on a problem at the student's place of employment or another application setting
  • EGR 692 Masters Project Planning and EGR 693 Masters Project (6 credit hours)
• An academic research problem
  • EGR 696 Masters Thesis Research and EGR 697 Masters Thesis (6 credit hours)
• A group project experience plus additional breadth in course work
  • EGR 690 Capstone Design Project (3 credit hours)

Students should note the following about the capstone experience:

• The professional practice core and at least two emphasis-area courses should be completed before beginning the capstone experience.
• Consultation with the graduate program director is helpful before registration for a capstone experience.
• Guidance will be provided by a faculty advisor, selected with the guidance of the graduate program director.
• The Project/Thesis Guide should be consulted for capstone course requirements.
• The capstone experience courses are available every semester.

The following restrictions apply to the capstone experience:

• Full-time graduate students must complete the EGR 696/697 capstone.
• Students completing the Manufacturing Operations emphasis depth area may NOT use EGR 690 as the capstone experience.
• Students selecting the EGR 690 capstone must complete at least 36 credit hours of graduate course work.

Here are some titles of recently completed capstone activities:

Brackenridge, Chad: Product Architecture and Standardization of Worksurfaces and Support Brackets

Brill, Ryan: Chair Glide Redesign

Kundrat, Mary:  Utilizing Bioceramics in Spinal Lumbar Prosthetics with the Purpose of Alleviating Spinal Dysfunction

Maas, Sara:  Procedure for Multi-Project Scheduling and Inventory Management

Resler, Cory:  Design and Analysis of Winter Athlete Wrist Brace Concepts, Including Parametric Models

Swisher, Ben:  Helium Induced Cooling of Aluminum Castings in a Permanent Mold Process

Wiler, Nathan:  Reducing, Scrap, Downtime, and Production Inefficiency with Overall Equipment Effectiveness Analysis