In the fall of 1996, 10 students from the Electrical Engineering capstone design course at Texas A&M University became mentors to high school teams that were entered in a statewide robotics competition. In addition to attending the course lectures and performing the design process themselves, the capstone students became active participants in an intense 5 week experience in design by providing their skills and leadership as mentors to teams of students from near by high schools. Two engineers at Texas Instruments began the Texas Best competition in an effort to Boost Engineering Science and Technology (BEST). Last year, Texas A&M became the host of the statewide final competition. Preliminary competitions that matched 123 teams against each other were held in 6 locations around the state. 26 teams proceeded to the state finals. The growth rate of participation of these kinds of competitions indicates their popularity among the students, parents, sponsors and schools. This paper discusses the value to the student of using the mentoring experience as part of the capstone experience. An outline of the capstone course is also discussed.

Using a state-wide high school robotics competition as the basis for a capstone design experience in electrical engineering

We discuss the program-level model used in the administration of undergraduate Capstone (senior design) projects in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering at University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science in this paper. A unique model at the time of its inception in 1988, its adoption by other institutions and its longevity are measures of its effectiveness and robustness. We provide an overview of the tasks performed by the various personnel involved in the administration of the undergraduate Capstone projects in chronological order, starting with activities performed during the summer recess, after a brief introduction to our Department’s Capstone Program. The goal of providing this “cookbook” review of the model is to provide sufficient information to allow other departments to adopt similar practices.

An Innovative Model For The Administration Of Undergraduate Capstone Projects

In 1992, an individual with industry experience was hired to coordinate the capstone design course in the Electrical Engineering Department at Texas AM entry in national design competitions; community service projects; joint projects between departments and colleges; undergraduate research; industry projects; mentoring high school design competitions; and the evaluation of matrix management techniques as applied to the capstone course. An outline of the course content and some analysis of the critical factors in implementing the various alternative design project environments are discussed.

T.J. Talley

Papers

Consolidating the capstone design course responsibility in electrical engineering at Texas A&M University