Experiences with Capstone Projects in a Master of Engineering Management Program: A Case Study

Ali Hilal-Alnaqbi; Sangarappillai Sivaloganathan

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Conference: 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Seattle, Washington
Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Start Date: June 14, 2015
End Date: June 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-50180-1
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Engineering Management Division Technical Session 1
Tagged Division: Engineering Management
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 15
Page Numbers: 26.719.1 - 26.719.15
DOI: 10.18260/p.24056
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/24056
Download Count: 917

Paper Authors

biography

Ali Hilal-Alnaqbi United Arab Emirates University

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Dr Ali is an Emirates by birth and a citizenship. He graduated with PhD as a biomedical Engineer from University of Strathclyde in Scotland. Ali is holds a Post-Doc certificate from Harvard. He is a fellow of the BWH in Boston. Ali started his career in 2006 in the UAEU as the assistant professor at the department of mechanical engineering where he is as now works as a department chair and acting assistant dean for research and graduate studies. Ali was promoted to associate rank in 2014. During his stay at UAEU he has worked with many different industries in manufacturing and designing. Dr Ali is a keen researcher in Design and Development. He holds a patent in artificial liver device; no less than 7 distinguish awards and he has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and conferences.

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biography

Sangarappillai Sivaloganathan United Arab Emirates University

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Dr Sangarappillai Sivaloganathan – Siva is a Srilankan by birth and a citizen of the United Kingdom. His experience in Sri-lanka started with an year’s post-graduate apprenticeship in the manufacturing shops of the Government Railway and nine years in the Cement Industry. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from University of Srilanka, and obtained his Masters from the University of Aston and PhD from City University of London, both in the UK. He started his career in the UK as the Senior Research Assistant at the SERC Engineering Design Centre. He joined Brunel University in 1995 where he worked for 18 years before joining United Arab Emirates University in August 2011. During his stay at Brunel he has worked with many British industries. Dr Sivaloganathan is a keen researcher in Design and was the Convenor for the Engineering Design Conferences in 1998 and 2000. He has published more than 75 papers in reputed journals and conferences.

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Abstract

Experiences with Capstone Projects in a Master of Engineering Management Program: A case study Capstone course is a one-‐semester "putting it all together" course that gives students an opportunity to use their knowledge and skills,collaborate with their peers, practice their presentation and organizational skills and ultimately, showcase what they have learned and achieved during their stay in the master program. In the meantime it gives the faculty the chance to evaluate whether the learning objectives set by the faculty, department and university have been met. The topics covered in an Engineering Management program vary widely and often the decisions are made reference to the program constituencies and the society needs and goals. United Arab Emirates pay particular emphasis on entrepreneurship (personal communication 2014) and as such the capstone project pays particular attention to development of enterprises. Furthermore the composition of the population or demography suggests that the UAE nationals should be able to start and run successful technology-‐based business enterprises to meet the innovation based economy aspirations of the country. The objectives of the capstone course have been developed to cater for this and other academic requirements in a Master program. The projects which provide the learning experience and, being the instruments for the integration of the knowledge and skills acquired through other courses in the program, are chosen with care. The project has to tread through a path that is, on the one hand should be unique to the project catering the intricate details of the project and, covering the fundamental steps necessary in the execution of such a project, on the other. The delivery method is an important part of the learning experience. The students should be able to learn from the project of their own and from the projects executed by their peers. Assessments in the capstone project are designed to be both formative and summative. In the formative parts the students get comprehensive feedbacks with an opportunity to resubmit while the summative assessments are assessed as they are submitted. This paper describes all the above, starting from the description of the program and going through objectives, project selection, typical stages or fundamental considerations, delivery method of the course and assessment. An analysis and evaluation section follows this identifying the achievements and methods to cherish and the lessons to be learned and improvements needed.

Citation
Format

Hilal-Alnaqbi , A., & Sivaloganathan, S. (2015, June), Experiences with Capstone Projects in a Master of Engineering Management Program: A Case Study Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24056

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Experiences  with  Capstone  Projects  in  a  Master  of  Engineering                 Management  Program:  A  case  study      Capstone   course   is   a   one-‐semester   &quot;putting   it   all   together&quot;   course   that   gives  students   an   opportunity   to   use   their   knowledge   and   skills,collaborate   with   their  peers,  practice  their  presentation  and  organizational  skills  and  ultimately,  showcase  what  they  have  learned  and  achieved  during  their  stay  in  the  master  program.  In  the  meantime  it  gives  the  faculty  the  chance  to  evaluate  whether  the  learning  objectives  set  by  the  faculty,  department  and  university  have  been  met.  The  topics  covered  in  an  Engineering  Management  program  vary  widely  and  often  the  decisions  are  made  reference  to  the  program  constituencies  and  the  society  needs  and  goals.    United   Arab   Emirates   pay   particular   emphasis   on   entrepreneurship   (personal  communication  2014)  and  as  such  the  capstone  project  pays  particular  attention  to  development   of   enterprises.   Furthermore   the   composition   of   the   population   or  demography   suggests   that   the   UAE   nationals   should   be   able   to   start   and   run  successful   technology-‐based   business   enterprises   to   meet   the   innovation   based  economy   aspirations   of   the   country.   The   objectives   of   the   capstone   course   have  been   developed   to   cater   for   this   and   other   academic   requirements   in   a   Master  program.   The   projects   which   provide   the   learning   experience   and,   being   the  instruments  for  the  integration  of  the  knowledge  and  skills  acquired  through  other  courses   in   the   program,   are   chosen   with   care.   The   project   has   to   tread   through   a  path  that  is,  on  the  one  hand  should  be  unique  to  the  project  catering  the  intricate  details  of  the  project  and,  covering  the  fundamental  steps  necessary  in  the  execution  of   such   a   project,   on   the   other.   The   delivery   method   is   an   important   part   of   the  learning  experience.  The  students  should  be  able  to  learn  from  the  project  of  their  own   and   from   the   projects   executed   by   their   peers.   Assessments   in   the   capstone  project  are  designed  to  be  both  formative  and  summative.  In  the  formative  parts  the  students   get   comprehensive   feedbacks   with   an   opportunity   to   resubmit   while   the  summative   assessments   are   assessed   as   they   are   submitted.   This   paper   describes   all  the   above,   starting   from   the   description   of   the   program   and   going   through  objectives,   project   selection,   typical   stages   or   fundamental   considerations,   delivery  method   of   the   course   and   assessment.   An   analysis   and   evaluation   section   follows  this   identifying   the   achievements   and   methods   to   cherish   and   the   lessons   to   be  learned  and  improvements  needed.    
AU  - Ali Hilal-Alnaqbi 
AU  - Sangarappillai Sivaloganathan
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Experiences with Capstone Projects in a Master of Engineering Management Program: A Case Study 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/24056
DO  - 10.18260/p.24056
ER  -