Nagarathnam, B., & Nepal, B. P., & Natarajarathinam, M., & Gruner, K. R. (2024, June), Applied Capstone Project for Working Professionals: A Decade of Experiences in Design, Execution, and Creating Value for Employers   Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46588

\bibitem{asee_peer_46588}
  Nagarathnam, B., \& Nepal, B. P., \& Natarajarathinam, M., \& Gruner, K. R. (2024, June), \emph{Applied Capstone Project for Working Professionals: A Decade of Experiences in Design, Execution, and Creating Value for Employers }
  Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
  https://peer.asee.org/46588

Bharani Nagarathnam, Bimal P. Nepal, Malini Natarajarathinam, and Kourtney Rogers Gruner.  "Applied Capstone Project for Working Professionals: A Decade of Experiences in Design, Execution, and Creating Value for Employers ".  2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon, 2024, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2024.  https://peer.asee.org/46588 Internet.  30 Jul, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_46588}
  Bharani Nagarathnam, Bimal P. Nepal, Malini Natarajarathinam, and Kourtney Rogers Gruner.
  "Applied Capstone Project for Working Professionals: A Decade of Experiences in Design, Execution, and Creating Value for Employers ".
  \emph{2024 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Portland, Oregon, 2024, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2024.
  https://peer.asee.org/46588 Internet.  30 Jul, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_46588
author = "Bharani Nagarathnam, Bimal P. Nepal, Malini Natarajarathinam, and Kourtney Rogers Gruner"
title = "Applied Capstone Project for Working Professionals: A Decade of Experiences in Design, Execution, and Creating Value for Employers "
booktitle = "2024 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2024"
month = "June"
address = "Portland, Oregon"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/46588}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper outlines the process, design, implementation and improvements to an applied capstone project designed for working professionals. Experiences and lessons learned from a decade of teaching and advising will be shared. These include project identification, proposal preparation, background research, quantitative and qualitative data collection, solution development and return-on-investment demonstration on the project.  

The Capstone Project is part of the Master of Industrial Distribution (MID) degree. The MID program is a 21-Month, distance learning program focused on professionals with at least five years of experience in the industrial distribution, industrial sales, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics areas. Pioneering distance learning at Texas A&M University for 20 years, the MID program is the largest online program in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University.
The MID program is designed for working professionals to apply the concepts and knowledge from the courses immediately on the job. The individual capstone project during the second year, done with a goal of problem solving, serves as an opportunity to identify an improvement area in the student’s organization and develop a solution with demonstrable value. The Projects mainly focusses on industrial and construction distribution functions such as sales, customer experience, business development, operations, supply chain technology, finance or human resources. A process improvement (efficiency/effectiveness) or new business opportunity (feasibility/market potential) creates value to the student’s organization. Students are expected to organize a steering committee that includes their advisor, direct manager and up to two other executives to support their project. 

Enhancements over the years include improvement to project scoping and design, background/literature review, depth of analysis, and overall writing process. A unified syllabus for the two-semester project, deliverable spacing, rubrics, advisor check-ins, past project examples, and former student panel discussion help support student experience and project outcome. Recent addition of a Capstone Project Coordinator is designed to provide periodic check-ins, advising and project resources. Assessments of project include the advising and grading by the advisor, steering committee meetings with their company managers/executives and final project presentations reviewed by external advisory committee members. Several students have used their capstone project to not only bring demonstrable value and impact to their organization but has used it as a stepping stone to advance their careers.
AU  - Bharani Nagarathnam
AU  - Bimal P. Nepal
AU  - Malini Natarajarathinam
AU  - Kourtney Rogers Gruner
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Applied Capstone Project for Working Professionals: A Decade of Experiences in Design, Execution, and Creating Value for Employers 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/46588
ER  -