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Capstone Design Course As A Tool For Assessment And Improvement

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Conference

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Honolulu, Hawaii

Publication Date

June 24, 2007

Start Date

June 24, 2007

End Date

June 27, 2007

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Innovations for the Senior Year of the ME Curriculum

Tagged Division

Mechanical Engineering

Page Count

15

Page Numbers

12.342.1 - 12.342.15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--1984

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/1984

Download Count

404

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Paper Authors

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Showkat Chowdhury Alabama A&M University

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Dr. Showkat Chowdhury is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, AL. Dr. Chowdhury has extensive background in teaching undergraduate and graduate students in Mechanical Engineering, and performing research in the fields of Computational Fluid Dynamics, Combustion, Propulsion, Heat & Mass Transfer and Turbulence. Previously, he worked as a Professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) and at University of Brighton, U.K. He also worked in the Research Division of Corning Inc. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, New York and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from BUET.

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Abdul Jalloh Alabama A&M University

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Dr. Abdul Jalloh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama. Dr. Jalloh has extensive background in teaching undergraduate and graduate students in Mechanical Engineering, and conducting research in composite materials, manufacturing processes, structural dynamics and the finite element method. He also spent many years in industry as a project engineer. He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sierra Leone, and his MS and PhD degrees, also in Mechanical Engineering, from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

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Ruben Rojas-Oviedo Alabama A&M University

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Dr. Ruben Rojas-Oviedo is Chairperson and Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, AL. Dr. Rojas-Oviedo has international engineering experience working both in academy and industry. He has an engineering consulting company and conducts applied research. He earned a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University, he has two Masters degree one in Mechanical Engineering from N.C. State at Raleigh and the other in Applied Mathematics from Auburn. He earned a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute – Escuela Superior de Ingenieria Mecanica y Electrica – in Mexico City, Mexico.

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Mohamed Seif Alabama A&M University

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Dr. Mohamed A. Seif is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at AAMU. He joined AAMU in September 2002. His research experience includes Fatigue and Fracture Analysis, NDE, Health Monitoring of Structures, Quality and Reliability Assessment, Design Optimization, CAD, Robotics, and Laser measurement. He obtained his Ph. D. degree from the University of Central Florida in July 1988. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Alabama. His research funding exceeds $ 1.9 M and has over 80 refereed and non-refereed publications. Dr. Seif has worked as a consultant engineer for several companies such as FMC Corp, Daniels Manufacturing Corp, Inner Millennium Research, and ESA Inc.

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Amir Mobasher Alabama A&M University

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Dr. Amir Mobasher is Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, AL. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Alabama in Huntsville. He has research interest in the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics, Biomechanics, and Control and Automation. His primary area of interest at AAMU is Automation, Control and Fluid Dynamics. After graduating from UAH, he worked at U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Fort Rucker, Alabama. During his employment there, his research focused on aircrew protection and head-supported mass and center of mass placement for the U.S. Army aviation.

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Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Capstone Design Course as a Tool for Assessment and Improvement

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of the Capstone Design course in achieving the goal of the Mechanical Engineering (ME) Program at Alabama A&M University. The course is mapped to the ME Program educational objective and expected outcomes, as well as to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria and some additional ME Program criteria based on the requirements by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The program outcomes should be measurable, and so an assessment tool or Survey has been developed. The survey form is completed by the students at the end of the second semester of the Capstone Design course, along with their final project report. Evaluations by the instructors are also completed. The student survey results and faculty evaluations are compiled and compared with the above mentioned course mapping. The results show that there is considerable matching between the course mapping for the expected educational outcomes done by the faculty, and the survey completed by the graduating students in this respect. This serves as a tool for measuring the accomplishment of ABET requirements. The results also give some feedback for possible improvement in future.

The Capstone Design course also serves to prepare the students to succeed as entry-level engineers in industry, by acquiring technical design experience for appropriate careers. The students are required to make several oral presentations with audio-visual aids (using PowerPoint) about their project in front of the faculty and peers, during the semester. A Project Oral Presentation Evaluation Form has been developed which is completed by the faculty and peers during each presentation. The results are compiled and analyzed. The results show that there is significant (over 20%) improvement in the student performance due to this continuous evaluation by the faculty and peers. The Capstone Design course uses the knowledge learned by the students in various academic courses, and trains them how to complete a project as an engineer utilizing that knowledge. It also teaches the student to work effectively in a team, which is one of the top requirements of Best Practices for new B.S. graduate engineers by industry. By preparing the students to be successful engineers, the Capstone Design course improves student retention and will help to increase the percentage of minority black engineers in future.

1. Background

Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU), a historically black university, reflects the uniqueness of the traditional land-grant institution, which combines professional, vocational and liberal arts pursuits. The University provides baccalaureate and graduate studies that are compatible with the times to all qualified and capable individuals who are

Chowdhury, S., & Jalloh, A., & Rojas-Oviedo, R., & Seif, M., & Mobasher, A. (2007, June), Capstone Design Course As A Tool For Assessment And Improvement Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1984

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