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Capstone Design

Planning to Enroll in MECE 4340 Next Semester?

MECE 4340 Prerequisites

  • MECE 3245 - Materials Science Laboratory
  • MECE 3338 - Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems
  • MECE 3345 - Material Science
  • MECE 3360 - Experimental Methods Laboratory
  • MECE 3381 - Introduction to Finite Element Methods

 

MECE 4340 Corequisites

  • MECE 4331 - Design of Machine Elements
  • MECE 4364 - Heat Transfer

 

Enrolling in Capstone I

MECE 4340 requires a two-part process:

  1. Students must complete a Senior Advising Audit with an MECE advisor to check for Capstone I pre-requisites and for any items missing on your transcript that may be a barrier to graduation. Appointments specifically for senior capstone advising are available.
  2. Students must attend a 1-hour Capstone orientation presentation to learn about the Capstone course and what you can do to prepare for the course. A limited number of presentations will be held, so make sure you can attend. Attendance of only 1 session is required.
    • Due to limited seating in our reserved rooms, we are asking students to RSVP through this linked form to help us anticipate attendance and to confirm seating availability.
    • RSVP forms should be completed at least 24 hours ahead of your TOP CHOICE orientation date.
    • Orientations will NOT be given to individual students who miss the orientation window. Please make sure you make the time to attend one of the orientation sessions.

 

Helpful Links

 

Project Criteria

  • Clear motivation, constraints, and success criteria
  • Project solution should include significant engineering analysis and formal technical testing
    • analytical calculations with clear impact on quality of design
      e.g., force, energy, speed, power, center of gravity, etc.
    • computer simulation used to virtually iterate and improve design
      e.g., FEA for stress, heat transfer, CFD., etc.
    • structured proof of concept and data collection testing
    • experimental validation targeting technical parameters
  • Sophistication of analysis appropriate for senior ME student

INADEQUATE CRITERIA

  • “Technical” work largely based on CAD of design, basic calculations
  • Design decisions based largely on intuition or assumption
  • Function of proposed solution has connection to engineering industry
  • Project plan hinges on vaguely defined analysis “check” tasks
    • “conduct analysis to check structural integrity”
    • “check that operation is satisfactory”

 

PROJECT PLAN

SEMESTER #1

  • Conceptualize & Formalize Problem Statement
  • Synthesize and Develop Solution Concepts
  • Select, Develop, and Plan “Best” Design Solution
  • Finalize Selected Design Solution’s Execution and Validation Plans
  • DESIGN REVIEW

SEMESTER #2

  • Update Project Plan
  • Execute Creation of Project Solution
  • Validate, Iterate and Update Design
  • Conduct Final Design Analysis 
  • TECHNICAL REPORT