Conference Session

Venturing Out: Service Learning, Study Abroad, and Criterion H

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Duffy, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Carol Barry, University Massachusetts Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; William Moeller, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Cheryl West, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

museum to help it beginupdating its displays on recent developments in materials; junior fluids, junior circuits, seniormicroprocessor, senior design of machine elements, and senior capstone design are havingstudents design and build various parts of an automated canal lock opener for a local nationalpark. Many of the projects are low-cost and can be implemented by individual faculty memberswithout the requirement of a formal institutional program. These S-L projects are integrated intoa wide variety of core courses (and not just design courses) and represent typically from 10 to20% of the grade.IntroductionWe define service-learning as a hands-on learning approach in which students achieve academicobjectives in a credit-bearing course by

Conference Session

Preparing Engineering Students for International Practice

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Aidoo, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Shannon Sexton, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology; James Hanson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Kevin Sutterer, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Robert Houghtalen, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

International

its 18 year old capstone senior designprojects. The advantages of international experiences for engineering students are welldocumented: • Students have the opportunity to partner with local or international organizations. • Students get exposed to international design codes and standards. • Students get to experience the global working environment.These are just a few of the benefits associated with international projects. However gettinginvolved in foreign projects is not without its problems: • Students face challenges associated with distance (e.g., site visits). • Students have to deal with the different cultural and educational environments. • Students experience difficulty obtaining

Conference Session

Design in the BME Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Judy Cezeaux, Western New England College; Thomas Keyser, Western New England College; Eric Haffner, Western New England College; Anne Kaboray, Goodwill Industries of the Springfield/Hartford Area, Inc.; Carol Hasenjager, Goodwill Industries of the Springfield/Hartford Area, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

the design process. Such design experiences commonlyoccur in first year introduction to design courses 1, 2 and capstone design courses. 3, 4, 5 Facultymembers in biomedical engineering and industrial engineering at Western New England Collegehave previously described a 5-week design experience,6 based on the NISH National ScholarAward for Workplace Innovation & Design,7 that provided an opportunity for students to designassistive technologies for workers with disabilities at Goodwill Industries of theSpringfield/Hartford Area, Inc., a local nonprofit agency performing light manufacturing work.These projects were completed in interdisciplinary teams as requirements in senior biomedicalengineering and industrial engineering laboratory

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jin-Hwan Lee, University of Cincinnati; Ali Asgar Bhagat, University of Cincinnati; Karen Davis, University of Cincinnati; Ian Papautsky, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Computer Engineering. It now includes students from mechanicalengineering, environmental engineering, biomedical engineering, and chemistry.Figure 1. MEMS and BioMEMS courses offered at the University of Cincinnati.Fifth-year undergraduate students (seniors) in the Electrical and Computer EngineeringDepartment take a sequence of 3 senior capstone courses for a total of 9 credit hours in theirsenior year.4 Typically, students self-organize into teams and select a project of interest. Theymay choose a variety of projects proposed by industry, community organizations, professors, co-op employers, or themselves. All teams meet with the course instructor and complete a series ofdeliverables to specify and document their projects. Each team has a

Conference Session

Teams and Teamwork in Design II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Watkins, California State University, Chico

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2008-2381: GROUP SELECTION TECHNIQUES FOR A MECHANICALENGINEERING SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT COURSEGregory Watkins, California State University, Chico Page 13.656.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Group Selection Techniques for a Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Project CourseAbstractThe mechanical engineering program at California State University Chico utilizes a two-semester capstone course in senior design project. It is required that students perform the projectwork in groups, as that is a measured outcome in the course. Assigning students to groups haslong been problematic, with no satisfactory solution despite numerous

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vicky Fang, Cedarville University; Clinton Kohl, Cedarville University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

4) run the test program ontheir hardware. Cedarlogic is a unique real-time digital logic simulator designed by six of oursenior engineering and computer science students for their capstone project over two successiveyears. In Cedarlogic, a logic high signal is shown in red, a logic low signal is shown in black,while high impedance is shown in green. As a result, when a project is working correctlystudents can actually watch all the internal signals within the computer “dancing” with the clock.Students can watch how the address buses change, how the data is latched, and how the ALUcalculates... It is a real-time simulation, an experience which uncovers the mysterious veil of thecomputer. The students are excited to watch their computer

Conference Session

Educating Graduates in Engineering for a Flat World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder; Bernard Amadei, University of Colorado at Boulder; Robyn Sandekian, University of Colorado at Boulder

Tagged Divisions

International

Environmental Engineering (EVEN). These students take the course duringtheir senior year. The course is also taken by Civil Engineering (CVEN) students who select toemphasize environment and water, either as their capstone design course or as a technicalelective. The course also is co-taught with a graduate section. Graduate students taking thecourse are earning an MS or PhD in Civil Engineering with an environmental emphasis. Most ofthe students either lacked a BS degree in engineering or were enrolled in the Engineering forDeveloping Communities (EDC) emphasis. Demographics of the students enrolled in the courseare summarized in Table 3.In fall 2006, the course included 3 projects. All of the projects served real clients and wereservice-learning

Conference Session

Design for Society and the Environment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mohamed Samir Hefzy, The University of Toledo; Mehdi Pourazady, The University of Toledo; Abdollah Aliakbarkhan Afjeh, The University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

project and can be found atthe following URL address:http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/mime/design_clinic/design_expo/fall00pages/2000-01-06/home.htmlFigure 3 Vertical Wheelchair Platform Lift Figure 4 Isometric Schematic of the Vertical Wheelchair Platform Lift Page 13.521.12Outcomes of the Senior Design Course in the Mechanical Engineering Department:The ME Senior Design course is the capstone event of undergraduate education. Each project isdesigned to address several of the “a-k” ABET evaluation criteria for engineering programs(Table 2). The course outcomes are listed in Table

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Albert Liddicoat, California Polytechnic State University; Jianbiao Pan, California Polytechnic State University; James Harris, California Polytechnic State University; Lynne Slivovsky, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

theAccreditation Board for Engineering and Technology5 (ABET). This educational gap is commonamongst engineering curricula. Figure 1 (a) below illustrates the knowledge and skills gapbetween traditional computer and electrical engineering curricula and those engineering skillsrequired for successful job performance. At Cal Poly, the traditional CPE and EE courses takenbefore systems design and the capstone project sequence include, computer engineeringorientation, fundamentals of computer programming I, II and III, discrete structures, digitaldesign, computer design and assembly language programming, electric circuit analysis I, II andIII, continuous-time signals and systems, semiconductor device electronics, and digitalelectronics and integrated circuits

Conference Session

Projects & Partnerships Result in Student Learning

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda Wanless, Michigan Technological University; Scott Amos, Michigan Technological University; John Irwin, Michigan Technological University; David Wanless, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

BottleBot can be referenced in Appendix A Figure 2. Videos of the robotcan also be seen on YouTube.com and Geekologie.com along with an equally impressive Legobottle opener.Project BackgroundThe concept for this project took a very different angle than these previous very ambitiousexamples. Rather than using this idea as a senior design capstone project, the intent was tointroduce the project into the undergraduate freshman level courses and incorporate it all the way Page 13.1292.5through the senior level courses. The project would bring students’ various levels of knowledge

Conference Session

Undergraduate Space Design and Project Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University; Brian Schratz, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

flight project. This typically occurs for one oftwo reasons: a technology addresses a specific student interest that may benefit future SSPLefforts, or the technology is identified as mission-enabling or mission-enhancing for futureefforts.First, as a student lab, it is important to allow students to explore their own interests. Often theseinterests can be recast in a way that also adds to the capability of SSPL. Similarly, this programallows for the integration of outside student groups, such as senior capstone projects or studentspursing independent studies and theses.Second, previous projects have occasionally struggled with pressures from students trying toprepare mission-critical components on the project timeline. With a dynamic student

Conference Session

Electrical Engineering Technology Design Projects & Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kin Moy, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Process Control Technology Microprocessors 1 & 2 Microprocessors 1 & 2 Microprocessors 3 Electromagnetic fields 1 Electromagnetic fields 2 Energy Conversion Machine Programmable Logic Controllers Fiber Optics Variable Speed Drive Capstone CapstoneA quick review of the above table indicated that the major difference in course topics was thatelectromagnetic field theory was not in the EET curriculum. Since

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Measurement: Innovative Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Marshall, University of Southern Maine

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

insight into the “laboratory based problem solvinglearning environment” that has been developed with financial and technical assistancefrom local industries. The discussion will also identify how the “need” for this type ofproject based curriculum became obvious. Four prerequisite courses are briefly describedbefore focusing on the project based capstone course. These four courses provide thestudents with the technical skill sets needed to succeed in the senior level capstonecourse. Accomplishments and outcomes from the student perspective, the Universityperspective, and the industry perspective will also be shared.Our advancing world of computer integration, process control, industrial automation, andtelecommunications requires technical problem

Conference Session

Civil Engineering Teaching Part Two

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Burian, University of Utah; William Johnson, University of Utah; Fred Montague, University of Utah; Arrin Holt, Cooper Roberts Simonsen Associates; Jim Nielson, Cooper Roberts Simonsen Associates; Rachel David, Cooper Roberts Simonsen Associates

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

real world use.” ̇ “This course was much like the capstone course in that it was to solve real world problems.” ̇ “The course did not cover several issues addressed in the capstone course, for example: ethics, finance, and drafting.” ̇ “Design courses focus on understanding the mechanics while working on a project requires higher thinking to understand the context those mechanics and their applicability to the project. A good analogy for the differences would be a toolbox. Design classes focus on what is in the toolbox while working on a project focuses on selecting the right tool for the job.” ̇ “The capstone class is required and individual roles are assigned. For many students, it is

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Walsh, California Polytechnic State University; Robert Crockett, California Polytechnic State University; Zahed Sheikholeslami, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

projects at the institution. These include thecapstone design courses that are an integral part of each departmental curriculum, the seniorproject and thesis requirements for students, and the individual interests and efforts of bothstudents and faculty. In the current nascent stage of the PBLI there are a range of activitiesacross the spectrum of departments. Unit requirements for the capstone design experience rangefrom 4 to 9 quarter units, senior projects are occasionally integrated with capstone design, butmany are stand-alone classes or individual study experiences. Single student experiences are thenorm, with a few departments offering “interdisciplinary” experiences. Projects range frominstructor selected activities across an entire course

Conference Session

DEED Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karim Muci-Küchler, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Jonathan Weaver, University of Detroit Mercy; Daniel Dolan, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

good understanding of the design process and, in particular, of how to perform each of thetasks involved in it.A very effective approach to teach product design and development is to use a project basedlearning strategy in which students have to immediately apply the concepts, methodologies andtools presented in the course to a project that has the key elements found in an industrial settingbut that meets the severe time constraints found in an academic environment. At the present timesome Senior Design Project and Capstone-type senior-level courses are following that particularapproach (see for example Dutson et al.1, Catalano et al.2, and Muci-Küchler and Weaver3). Inaddition, some of the freshman, sophomore and/or junior level design

Conference Session

Teams and Teamwork in Design I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rudolph Eggert, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

School Press, Boston, M.A.,1993[4.] Dutson, A., Todd, R., Magleby, S., and Sorenson, C., “A Review of the Literature on Teaching EngineeringDesign Through Project-Oriented Capstone Courses,” Journal of Engineering Education, January 1997, pp. 17-28.[5.] Davis, D., Gentili, K., Trevisan, M., and Calkins, D., “Engineering Design Assessment Processes and ScoringScales for Program Improvement and Accountability,” Journal of Engineering Education, April 2002, pp. 211-221.[6.] Howe, S. and Wilbarger, J., "2005 National Survey of Engineering Capstone Design Courses", Proceedings ofthe 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, ASEE, 2006.[7.] Todd, R., Magleby, S., Sorenson, C., Swan, B., and Anthony, D., “A Survey Of Capstone Engineering CoursesIn

Conference Session

Engineering in High Schools

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Oswald, Oklahoma State University; Charlie Huddleston, Oklahoma State University; Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

ENGINEERING FOR HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS," American Society for Engineering Education, (2006).7. T. Waller, and D. B. A. Watford, "ASPIRE – The Academic Summer Program Introducing Resources forEngineers," in American Society for Engineering Education, (2004).8. R. Cano, S. B.-H. N. Koppel, S. Gibbons, and H. Kimmel, "EVALUATION OF SUMMERENRICHMENT PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN STUDENTS," American Society for Engineering Education, (2004).9. H. S. Barrows, and R. M. Tamblyn, Problem-Based Learning: An Approach to Medical Education(Springer, New York, 1980).10. A. J. Dutson, R. H. Todd, S. P. Magelby, and C. D. Sorenson, "A Review of Literature on TeachingEngineering Design Through Project-Oriented Capstone Courses," Journal of Engineering

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wookwon Lee, Gannon University; Fong Mak, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Management for First-Year Graduate Students in Electrical and Computer EngineeringAbstractThe electrical and computer engineering (ECE) department at the University offers a graduatecurriculum that is designed to help students develop skills for system integration and acquireeffective business and technology practices, as well as, fundamental knowledge in the ECE field.As part of the curriculum, a new course on engineering project and management has beenrecently introduced to first-year graduate students. This new course guides students through acomplete design cycle from inception to completion with a pre-defined project of a complexsystem. This paper focuses on the experience and lessons learned from offering the Capstone

Conference Session

Engineering Professional Development for K-12 Teac

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Krause, Arizona State University; Robert Culbertson, Arizona State University; Marilyn Carlson, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

fundamental knowledge of students in introductory materials engineering classes. Most recently, he has been working on Project Pathways, an NSF supported Math Science Partnership, in developing modules for a courses on Connecting Mathematics with Physics and Chemistry and also a course on Engineering Capstone Design.Robert Culbertson, Arizona State University Robert J Culbertson Robert Culbertson is Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Director of the Center for Research in Education on Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (CRESMET) at Arizona State University. He is a member of the Leadership Team in the Math-Science Partnership project, and he

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Technology Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Cook, Montana State University; Robb Larson, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

projects assigned through the senior capstone course sequence (MET 456 andMET 457). Specifically, the course integration model will be outlined, the methodology utilizedto develop this model, as well as benefits of implementation will be presented, and modeleffectiveness will be assessed and reported. Finally, a plan for implementing this model intoother courses in the core MET curriculum, as well as for consideration for use by other programsin the college, will be presented.IntroductionThe Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program at Montana State University (MSU) iscommitted to preparing graduates to immediately contribute to an increasingly diverse employerbase upon graduation, as well as prepare graduates for continued success in their

Conference Session

International Division Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bradley Rogers, Arizona State University; Mark Henderson, Arizona State University; Jerry Gintz, Arizona State University; Scott Danielson, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

International

generated by cooking fires in developing countries. Furthermore, theonce abundant resource is becoming scarce, so that in many cases women must travel largedistances on foot to gather the wood they need, an effort that occupies much of their day. Onesolution is to change fuels and cook with gelled ethanol created from locally available biomass.This is the purpose of the gelled ethanol production unit which was being built by 13 students inthe Capstone design sequence in the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering TechnologyDepartment on the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University, and which will be describedin this paper.For this project, ASU has partnered with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science andTechnology in Kumasi, Ghana and with

Conference Session

Experiments and Laboratories in Mechanical Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Liou, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Society for Engineering Education, 2008 DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERDISCIPLINERY LABORATORY CURRICULUM FOR EMERGING PRODUCT MANUFACTURINGAbstractThis paper summarizes an effort to develop an interdisciplinary capstone design projectcourse and laboratory in manufacturing. As manufacturing laboratories are veryexpensive to develop, this program is designed based on distributed and integratedmanufacturing processes on campus. As students can gain access to various facilities,they will be able to make various products, including some emerging products, such asEDM machines, fuel cells, etc. As this capstone design project provides opportunities forstudents to design, manufacture, it stimulates the students’ interest in real-world productrealization. Both

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Kurtanich, Youngstown State University; William Wood, Youngstown State University; Edward Garchar, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

concurrently by the Civil & Construction Engineering Technology (CCET) and ElectricalEngineering Technology (EET) baccalaureate students during their senior year. MechanicalEngineering Technology (MET) may elect to take one or both courses as well. These coursesserve as a capstone experience that incorporates both individual and team interdisciplinarydesign projects. CCET 4884 – Civil and Structural Facilities Design is an interdisciplinarycapstone course that provides an overview of the requirements and design procedures for civiland structural systems including site development, utilities, foundation, wall systems, framingsystems and floor system design as well as specifications & estimating. This course has a majorinterdisciplinary group

Conference Session

Improving Technical Understanding of All Americans

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Kasarda, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Brenda Brand, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Michael Collver, Montgomery County Public Schools; Gabriel Goldman, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

successfully with the high-school population. Kasarda [3,4] described servicelearning and outreach aspects associated with the pilot year of the new capstone design course.Now in its second year, the authors have recognized, and have enhanced, aspects of the capstone Page 13.1282.2design project that facilitate the self-efficacy of both the undergraduates and the high-schoolstudents in technological and STEM literacy.Of all of the ITEA Standards of Technological Literacy [3] Standard 8: Students will develop anunderstanding of the attributes of design; Standard 9: Students will develop an understanding ofengineering design; and Standard 10: Students

Conference Session

Design in the BME Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joe Tranquillo, Bucknell University; Donna Ebenstein, Bucknell University; James Baish, Bucknell University; William King, Bucknell University; Daniel Cavanagh, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

AC 2008-757: INTEGRATING EXTERNAL MENTORS INTO BME SENIORDESIGNJoe Tranquillo, Bucknell UniversityDonna Ebenstein, Bucknell UniversityJames Baish, Bucknell UniversityWilliam King, Bucknell UniversityDaniel Cavanagh, Bucknell University Page 13.764.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Integrating External Mentors into BME Senior DesignIntroductionTo build strong independent design skills, our department exposes students to more andmore open-ended projects through our curriculum. The culminating experience is a two-semester, team-based senior capstone project, mentored by external biomedical expertsand advised by faculty within the department. The single most

Conference Session

Fostering and Assessing Effective Teaming

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University; James Duvall, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

that low performers overestimate theirabilities across multiple contexts 14, 15. In evaluating peers in engineering courses anothervariable is where the teamwork experience falls on the spectrum of team projects. On oneextreme of this spectrum are fully cooperative experiences in which the team works togethertowards a common goal. This extreme is defined by a single shared experience. On the otherextreme are “divide-and-conquer” projects. Here a team assigns each individual separate taskswhich each contribute to a shared team goal. Such approaches—an example is the jigsawteaching technique—are defined by unique experiences for each individual. This approach iscommon to many capstone design courses.This report looks at peer evaluation in a

Conference Session

Successful Outcomes of Student Entrepreneurship

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jay Porter, Texas A&M University; Joseph Morgan, Texas A&M University; Richard Scruggs, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

senior-level students with an opportunity tolearn more about innovation and entrepreneurship. In their final year of undergraduatestudy, groups of three to four students come together as new start up companies thatcomplete the two-semester capstone design requirements by transitioning from an Idea toa fully functional Prototype (I2P). Most of these projects are now externally sponsoredby companies that are trying to increase their design bandwidth, jumpstart a new productidea, or in some cases become more involved with students to develop a better pipelinefor new hires. Intellectual property developed by these student companies is transferredto the Texas A&M System Office of Technology Commercialization that manages thelicensing of the IP to

Conference Session

Design for Society and the Environment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Emily Callaway, CH2M HILL; Sean St. Clair, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

and light gauge steel design and construction. Page 13.1130.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Sustainable Research and Design in a Civil Engineering Senior Design CourseAbstractIn an effort to help students understand the broader impacts of land development, a significantsustainability component was added to a capstone senior design project course in a small civilengineering program. This year-long course traditionally involves students completingstraightforward designs in the areas of structural, transportation, geotechnical, and municipalenvironmental engineering. In a

Conference Session

Manufacturing Engineering Technology Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Akbar Eslami, Elizabeth City State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

while the other sensorprompts the robot to start palletizing.I. IntroductionThe Senior Design Capstone Project has been identified as a valuable instrument of theassessment process. This instrument is now becoming more popular in undergraduate programsfor the assessment of behavioral and cognitive achievement1. Consequently, technology studentsat Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) are required to complete a Capstone Design Project intheir final semester. Simulating real-world robot palletizing is the goal for this Capstone Project.The students, working together as a team, utilize their knowledge, problem solving skills,communication and team work skills, to apply many of the technical competencies they acquiredthroughout their course of