Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

R. Keith Stanfill, University of Florida; Thuriya Rajkumar, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Supply Management and Distribution. Page 14.1233.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 The Liaison Engineer’s Guide: A Resource for Capstone Design Project Industrial Sponsors and Faculty MentorsAbstractIndustrially sponsored capstone design projects are rarely successful unless the sponsor companyprovides an engineering resource to support the project team. This liaison engineer serves as theprimary advocate for the sponsor company’s needs and helps to focus the development team’sefforts on achieving the goals for the design project. These engineers play a crucial role in thesuccessful

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Todd, Brigham Young University; Christopher Mattson, Brigham Young University; Gregg Warnick, Brigham Young University; Ryan Dymock, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2009-2243: A STUDENT BIDDING PROCESS APPLIED TO INDUSTRIALLYSPONSORED SENIOR CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTSRobert Todd, Brigham Young University Robert H. Todd is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University and the founding director of BYU’s Capstone program. During the 2008-2009 academic year BYU completed its 515th industrially sponsored project with cross-functional teams of Sr. engineering and technology students through the Capstone course. Dr. Todd received his PhD from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering Design, taught engineering courses and served in department and college administration at BYU-Idaho (then Ricks College) before spending 10 years

Conference Session

Capstone Design III

Collection

2007 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

development course, asenior capstone design course sequence, and a graduate level course in product development. Inall cases, the students started the task of setting functional requirements and target specificationsfor the product after following a structured methodology to identify the customer needs. In thispaper, the process followed, an assessment of the results obtained and suggestions for futureimprovement are discussed presenting examples taken from different projects carried out bystudents.IntroductionAt the present time many undergraduate engineering programs in the US include one or moredesign courses aimed at better preparing students for the “real world” practice of the profession.In addition to the traditional Senior Design Project or

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patrick Walter, Texas Christian University; Robert Bittle, Texas Christian University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2008-375: EVOLUTION AND ASSESSMENT OF AN INDUSTRY-BASEDSINGLE LARGE PROJECT CAPSTONE DESIGN COURSEPatrick Walter, Texas Christian UniversityRobert Bittle, Texas Christian University Page 13.582.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Evolution and Assessment of an Industry-Based Single-Large-Project Capstone Design CourseAbstractThis paper describes 12 years of growth and evolution of an industry-supported single-large-project capstone design course within the engineering program at Texas ChristianUniversity. This relatively new program has graduated only 12 senior classes since 1996,and currently

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Plumley, US Coast Guard Academy; William Palm, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; William Simpson, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

solving and basic CAD and manufacturing skills. Sophomoreand junior years are focused on analysis based courses, such as Mechanics of Materials andThermodynamics, in preparation for those requiring integrated knowledge in their senior year,such as Experimental Methods, Machine Design, and Controls.Lab periods in the senior Machine Design course are dedicated to preparing students for theirfinal capstone design project through participation in a common design, build, and test exercise.Machine Design projects focused on only the course at hand may help enforce a notion thatclasses are not integrated. Many projects at the Coast Guard Academy included need statementsrequiring design of small table top models using basic machine components such as

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paris von Lockette, Rowan University; Eric Constans, Rowan University; Jennifer Courtney, Rowan University; Kevin Dahm, Rowan University; William Riddell, Rowan University; Roberta Harvey, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

students progress from basic data collection and reverse engineering projects throughmore open-ended, industry-sponsored capstone design experiences. The team ofmultidisciplinary faculty from Engineering and Communications who teach the sophomore levelcourses have observed the difficulty students have tackling the fundamental open-ended natureof true design problems and have subsequently revised the sequence. For the Fall of 2005 theSophomore Clinic sequence was revised to introduce Dym et al.’s converging-divergingframework for design by incorporating a series of three projects of increasing complexity withaccompany activities designed to reinforce the converging-diverging concepts. For the thirdproject in the series, roughly sixty students

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregg M. Warnick, Brigham Young University; Robert H. Todd, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2011-446: LESSONS LEARNED FROM PROVIDING INTELLECTUALPROPERTY TO SPONSORING COMPANIES WHEN RECRUITING CAP-STONE PROJECTSGregg M. Warnick, Brigham Young University Gregg M. Warnick is the External Relations and Intern Coordinator for the Mechanical Engineering de- partment in the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology at BYU. He works directly with industry each year to recruit more than 30 funded Capstone projects and provides project management, team development, and coaching support to each of these project teams and faculty coaches. In ad- dition, he continues to focus on increasing international project opportunities for students and faculty. His research and teaching interests include

Conference Session

Capstone Design III

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stacy S. Wilson, Western Kentucky University; Mark E. Cambron, Western Kentucky University; Michael L. McIntyre, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2011-432: ASSESSING AND IMPROVING A CAPSTONE DESIGN SE-QUENCE WITH INDUSTRIAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUESStacy S. Wilson, Western Kentucky University Stacy S. Wilson is a professor in the Electrical Engineering Program at Western Kentucky University. Her research interests include controls, system identification, and wavelets. She is actively involved in the assessment process.Mark E Cambron, Western Kentucky UniversityMichael L. McIntyre, Western Kentucky University Page 22.230.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Assessing and Improving a Capstone Design

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin M. Sevilla, Virginia Tech; Maura J. Borrego, Virginia Tech; Alexander Leonessa, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

ProjectAbstractThe typical U.S. engineering curriculum begins with three years of structured courseworkfollowed by a final year of technical electives and the choice of a relevant capstone designproject. In mechanical engineering this project is designed to integrate the concepts from thesecourses towards the production of a working mechanical system. Unaccustomed to makingconnections between this course material and hands on design, students often have difficultyseeing how this type of book knowledge is relevant towards the solution of an authentic designproblem. This issue can best be expressed through the differences in expectations among thestudents and their faculty advisor, and when compared, highlight some of the discrepanciesbetween the two

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division: Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark David Bedillion, Carnegie Mellon University; Marsha Lovett, Carnegie Mellon University; Karim Heinz Muci-Kuchler, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Cassandra M. Degen, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Mechatronics Stakeholder research / customer needs Software architecture Target specifications Communication protocols Concept generation and selection Power Prototyping Measurement systems Design for manufacturing Noise and groundingLike the conventional capstone course, the EMSD course revolves around a semester-longproject. The projects are student initiated and must contain sensing, actuation, and computationelements. While many students in the conventional design course opt for projects that featuresimilar components, EMSD students are required to include those features and are expected todemonstrate superior performance on the

Conference Session

Capstone Design Practices

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Xiuhua April Si, California Baptist University; Ziliang Zhou, California Baptist University; Jinxiang Xi, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

defected design.In order to help them to gain this important skill, our mechanical engineering students wereexposed to two simulation software in two different required courses. These two software isSolidworks and Comsol Multiphysics. While taking the courses, the students did not realize thevalue of this tool until the capstone project.In this following described wind-tunnel design project, the students involved in the projectwitnessed first-hand the values of computational modeling and simulation in gaining insights intothe wind tunnel aerodynamics, performances comparison of various designs, and the optimizationof the design. Students who were required to use computational simulations in this design not onlypracticed their simulation skill

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division: Design Methodology

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa A. Shay PE, U.S. Military Academy; Tanya Thais Estes, United States Military Academy; David Paul Harvie, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

encouraged to work on projects, papers,or other academic exercises that require extended periods of deep and sustained thought.The next section describes our capstone design course, followed by an explanation of eachreflection experience in the context of the design process. We then present a quantitative andqualitative summary of the results of these changes. Our conclusions are offered in the finalsection. Appendices contain rubrics of the reflection exercises.Capstone Design Course StructureThe authors have designed and offered a two-semester multidisciplinary engineering designcourse within the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Department at WestPoint. EECS includes three ABET-accredited majors: Electrical Engineering, Computer

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gene Dixon, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

includes a beta-version of a faculty handbook for ageneral engineering undergraduate program.IntroductionPaliwal and Sepahpour1 suggest that the capstone process causes students to think aboutengineering, technology, society, the world around them and themselves. According to Paretti, etal.2, capstone projects afford engineering students an opportunity to integrate the disparatecomponents of technical knowledge gained in an academic environment where courses arepresented as standalone bodies of knowledge. As a culminating experience, senior capstone is asingular significant experience where students: apply and reinforce the knowledge, skills andabilities (KSAs) learned from course work; enhance communication KSAs; developinterpersonal KSAs

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gene Dixon, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

engineering from Auburn University. He has authored several book chapters and articles on follower component of leadership and is active in research on the leadership processes. Page 25.610.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Capstone Project Problem StatementsFormulating a project problem statement can be a challenge for the capstone student. A reviewof capstone related literature indicates similar-not identical-approach to design that includevarious concepts of what is a problem statement, their development, evaluation and assessment.The literature focus is

Conference Session

Capstone Design III

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Don Dekker, University of South Florida; Stephen Sundarrao, University of South Florida; Rajiv Dubey, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Capstone Design Courses: Content RecognitionIntroduction:The Capstone Design course at The University of South Florida brings realistic designexperiences into the academic environment. The course is completed in each of the two 15 weeksemesters. The students do all of the design phases: define the project, conceptual design,embodiment design and detail design, plus other experiences, such as report writing, makingdrawings, and presentation skills. In addition, the students read and discuss two engineeringethics case studies, are instructed in Pro-Engineer, and have lectures on several pertinent topics,such as patents and licensing, entrepreneurship, professionalism, and safety. The

Conference Session

Capstone Design

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ben David Lutz, Virginia Tech; Mike Ekoniak, Virginia Tech; Marie C Paretti, Virginia Tech; Courtney S Smith-Orr, Virginia Tech

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Paper ID #11556Student Perspectives on Capstone Design LearningMr. Ben David Lutz, Virginia Tech Ben Lutz is a PhD student in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. His research interests include capstone design teaching and learning, mentoring in design and project work, student experiences of senior design, and the transition from senior design into the workplace. His current work is related to understanding how students describe their own learning in capstone and how that learning supports the transition from engineering school to professional practice.Mr. Mike Ekoniak, Virginia TechDr. Marie C

Conference Session

Capstone Design

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Anders Wahlquist, US Air Force Academy; Daniel D. Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy; Kristin L. Wood P.E., Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD); Kyle Fitle, U.S. Air Force Academy; David Carte, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

of research grants.Dr. Kristin L. Wood, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)Lt. Kyle Fitle, United States Air ForceDavid Carte, United States Air Force Page 23.1327.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2013 Using Mini Design Competitions in Capstone Courses to Teach the Design ProcessAbstractFor many senior undergraduate engineering students, the capstone design project is their firstexperience implementing the design process. As a result many capstone teams do not grasp theimportance of the early stages of the design process. To help

Conference Session

Capstone Design

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gene Dixon, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Award Committee for the Engineering Economy Division of ASEE. He has been active in leading capstone projects, capstone courses and industry-community relations for eight years. Page 24.1178.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Technical Design Reviews in Engineering CapstoneAbstractTechnical design reviews are used throughout industry to assess, question, improve and approvedesign. The review process is a frank exploration of the design efficacy. This paper reports onthe use of the industrial style technical design review or its equivalent in the

Conference Session

Impact of COVID-19 on Design Education 2

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Joanna Tsenn, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Paper ID #32640The Effects of COVID-19 on Mechanical Engineering Senior Capstone De-signStudent Self-efficacy and ProjectsDr. Joanna Tsenn, Texas A&M University Joanna Tsenn is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. She earned her B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. She coordinates the mechanical engineering senior capstone design projects and teaches senior design lectures and studios. Her research interests include engineering education and engineering design methodology

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nirmala Gnanapragasam, Seattle University; Nathan E Canney PE, Seattle University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

civil capstone projectsAbstractProject-based learning pedagogies have been shown to be effective at teaching many of thetechnical and professional skills desired of engineering education programs. They allow studentsto engage in more authentic engineering designs, helping to develop the technical andprofessional skills. This type of approach, however, makes traditional assessment more difficultdue to variability in project content, difficulty, and types of deliverables from team to team.In our engineering program, all seniors engage in year-long, industry sponsored capstoneprojects with the guidance of both faculty mentors and corporate liaisons. These projects aregenerally conceived of and sponsored by local

Conference Session

Assessing Design Coursework II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia Brackin, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; J. Darrell Gibson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2007-2366: CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS WITH INDUSTRY: USINGRUBRICS TO ASSESS STUDENT DESIGN REPORTSPatricia Brackin, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology M. PATRICIA BRACKIN is an Associate Professor of M.E. at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology where she teaches a variety of design courses, and graphics. Her BS and MS are from the University of Tennessee in Nuclear Engineering and her Ph.D. is from Georgia Institute of Technology in ME. She has also been an Associate Professor at Christian Brothers University. Her industrial experience includes Oak Ridge National Laboratories and Chicago Bridge and Iron. She is a registered PE.J. Darrell Gibson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Conference Session

Best In DEED

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert P. Loweth, University of Michigan; Shanna R. Daly, University of Michigan; Kathleen H. Sienko, University of Michigan; Amy Hortop, University of Michigan; Elizabeth Ann Strehl, University of Michigan

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Paper ID #25209Student Designers’ Interactions with Users in Capstone Design Projects: AComparison Across TeamsMr. Robert P. Loweth, University of Michigan Robert P. Loweth is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He earned a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Yale University (2016), with a double major in East Asian Studies. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Chinese and American Studies, jointly awarded by Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University in China. His current research focuses on how undergraduate engineering students approach front-end design

Conference Session

Design Pedagogy

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sudhir Kaul, Western Carolina University; Wesley L. Stone, Western Carolina University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

of Texas at Austin, masters degree from Penn State, and PhD from Georgia Tech, all in Mechanical Engineering. His research interests include manufacturing processes and quality techniques. He also serves as the program director for Engineering Technology at WCU. Page 26.1074.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 LEARNING OUTCOMES OF A JUNIOR-LEVEL PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PBL) COURSE: PREPARATION FOR CAPSTONEAbstractThis paper evaluates the learning outcomes of a junior-level course designed to serve as apreparation for the Capstone project in the senior year

Conference Session

Design as a Social Process: Teams and Organizations

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

R. Keith Stanfill, University of Florida; Shari Ann Robinson, University of Florida Counseling and Wellness center

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Paper ID #13763Preparing Capstone Design Instructors and Project Mentors to Deal with Dif-ficult Students and Problem TeamsDr. R. Keith Stanfill, University of Florida Keith Stanfill holds the academic rank of Engineer and serves as the Director of the Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) Program for the University of Florida (UF) College of Engineering. He received his B.S., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from UF in 1985, 1991 and 1995, respectively. He joined the UF Industrial and Systems Engineering faculty in 1999 as the IPPD Associate Director and was promoted to IPPD Director in 2001

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design in the Classroom

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Kim, Bradley University; Martin Morris, Bradley University; Richard Deller, Bradley University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

research interests are in mechanical design and engines. Page 12.132.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 “A Success Story: The SAE Baja Car as a Capstone Senior Design Project”AbstractThe Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) sponsors regional competitions which are intendedto simulate team-based engineering design projects. One such example is the SAE Bajacompetition (formerly known as the Mini-Baja competition), for which student teams mustdesign and build an off-road that can maneuver robustly through rough terrain. At manyuniversities

Conference Session

Design for Manufacture and Industry

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Betsy Aller, Western Michigan University; Alamgir Choudhury, Western Michigan University; James Kamman, Western Michigan University; Jorge Rodriguez, Western Michigan University; Mohammed Elsamawal, Western Michigan University; Michael Desjardins, Western Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Education, 2006Industry-sponsored Design Competition: Opportunities and Challenges for a Capstone Senior Design ProjectAbstract. Industry-sponsored product development competitions pose both opportunities andchallenges for senior design projects in engineering and engineering technology programs.Capstone design faculty recognize the value of industry-sponsored projects for involvingstudents in genuine practice of the design process, and participating in major competitions canresult in substantial resources, supportive sponsors, and enhanced motivation for students.However, such competitions may also impose timing, process, materials, fabrication, andperformance constraints that are not always encountered in a more typical

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Eduaction - Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Darris White, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; J. E. McKisson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; William Barott, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2007-431: ORGANIZATION OF A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY CAPSTONEDESIGN PROJECT FOR THE SAE FORMULA HYBRID COMPETITIONDarris White, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityJ. E. McKisson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityWilliam Barott , Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Page 12.1133.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Organization of a Multi-Disciplinary Capstone Design Project for the SAE Formula Hybrid CompetitionAbstractMany real-world projects require the application and knowledge of multiple disciplinesand most professional engineers are required to regularly interact with co-workers withvarious backgrounds. Since capstone senior design projects

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey T. Huffman P.E. P.E., Marshall University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

engineering materials, and directs the senior capstone design course effort. Page 24.96.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 A Real World Design Project in a One Semester Civil Engineering Capstone Design CourseAbstractAll engineering programs have a senior capstone project requirement with the intent that thestudents demonstrate that they are prepared to work as a staff design engineer upon graduation.Hundreds of papers have been published on engineering capstone projects, dozens specificallyon civil engineering capstone projects, and very few on

Conference Session

Design Potpourri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Charles Cappello, York College of Pennsylvania; Takeshi Jonathan Ei, York College of Pennsylvania; Edward Miller Jr., York College of Pennsylvania; Dan Bosse, Weldon Solutions; Berne S. Edwards, Graham Packaging Company; Kala Meah, York College of Pennsylvania; Stephen N. Kuchnicki, York College of Pennsylvania; Gregory M. Link, York College of Pennsylvania; Wayne Blanding, York College of Pennsylvania; Scott F. Kiefer, York College of Pennsylvania

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

well as becoming a certified Professional Engineer while working for an electrical engineering consulting firm in Pennsylvania.Dan Bosse, Weldon Solutions Dan Bosse graduated from York College of Pennsylvania with a degree in mechanical engineering in the summer of 2011. He now works at Weldon Solutions in York, Penn., designing automation systems and precision grinders. The capstone design project was one of the highlights of his time at York College. Given the opportunity, he would gladly work on another robotics project.Berne S. Edwards, Graham Packaging Company Berne Edwards received his B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from York College of Pennsylvania in 2011 and works as a Project Management Engineer at

Conference Session

Capstone Design Pedagogy I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daria Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado, Boulder; Daniel Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder; Gary Pawlas, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2010-2353: FIRST-YEAR AND CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS: IS THEBOOKEND CURRICULUM APPROACH EFFECTIVE FOR SKILL GAIN?Daria Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado, Boulder DARIA KOTYS-SCHWARTZ is the Faculty Director for the Mesa State College-University of Colorado Mechanical Engineering Partnership Program and an Instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. She received BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Kotys-Schwartz has focused her research in engineering student learning, retention and diversity. She is currently