Collection

2020 Mid-Atlantic Spring Conference

Authors

Claire VerHulst, Johns Hopkins University; Karen Borgsmiller, The Johns Hopkins University

complete lab activities in civil, chemical, electrical, mechanical, and materialsengineering. They also prepare a presentation in response to a request for proposal, learn aboutengineering finance, debate engineering ethics, take weekly quizzes, and complete acomprehensive final exam. They participate in a course that has served 4,651 students since itsinception in 2006 and 1,073 students in the last two years alone. The core project they completeis a competition to build a bridge that can support the largest mid-span load after accounting forweight and size penalties. The bridge must span 50 centimeters, weigh less than 250 grams, andhave a height less than 25 centimeters. The strongest bridges often hold more than 40 kilograms,but teams receive

Collection

2020 Mid-Atlantic Spring Conference

Authors

Rafic Bachnak, Penn State Harrisburg; Anilchandra Attaluri, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, The Capital College; Ma'moun Abu-Ayyad

describe the benefits to them.These benefits include: 1) The ability for Penn State students to work on a problem of value tothe external entity that has been “back-burnered” due to lack of time and/or manpower; 2) Anopportunity for the sponsor to observe the skill levels and work ethic of Penn State studentsengaged in engineering design, much like an internship – this can lead to better hires in thefuture; 3) The ability to build deeper connections with Penn State – capstones have led externalsponsors to begin participating in other ways in the University mission, such as advisory boards,job fairs, and the internship program.Once an external entity has agreed in principal to sponsor a capstone project, a timeline of eventsis set in motion