Mechanical Engineering
Senior Design Capstone Projects
The Senior Design Capstone Program is a two-semester (8-month), two-course experiential-learning sequence offered by the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) degree program by the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Lyles College of Engineering at California State University Fresno projects.
The Senior Design Capstone Program integrates leadership breadth with technical depth in the innovative engineering leadership curriculum. It addresses present-day industry challenges that have solid engineering content. There are two types of projects in the Capstone Program: 1) Partner-led/sponsored projects and 2) Experience-projects.
Partner-led/sponsored project
Partner-led/sponsored projects in the Senior Design Capstone Program happens when a project uses exclusively (or almost entirely) corporate resources and intellectual property versus university resources and intellectual property. This project model has a faculty instructor and an industry liaison who is the industry point person. At the discretion of the industry sponsor, students may work from the company’s physical location or remotely but the industry point person is required to communicate with the team on a regular basis. In this type of project, the first semester (ME135) is the feasibility/design phase of the project and the second semester (ME155) is the procurement/fabrication/testing/delivery phase of the project.
Experience-project
Experience-projects in the Senior Design Capstone Program are internally-funded and a project uses exclusively (or almost entirely) university resources and intellectual property. This project model has a faculty instructor and an university liaison who is the point person. At the discretion of the internal sponsor, students may work from a designated university location or remotely but the point person is required to communicate with the team on a regular basis. In this type of project, the first semester (ME135) is the feasibility/design phase of the project and the second semester (ME155) is the procurement/fabrication/testing/delivery phase of the project.
Coursework
Senior capstone design is a two-course culminating experience in the Mechanical Engineering program at California State University, Fresno. The purpose of this course is to simulate an entry-level engineering project in industry—allowing students to apply engineering knowledge acquired in fundamental ME courses to a real-world, open-ended design challenge.
Through this two-semester experience students have the unique opportunity to work with a group of 3 to 7 peer students, who will be personally mentored by a ME Faculty Instructor and a Project Mentor/Liaison from the sponsoring company, government agency, or organization. Students will learn the complete cycle of design and what it entails. At the end of the academic year, actual hardware/software will be produced and presented to the sponsors. Most importantly, by the end of each student’s ME academic program, he/she will understand the difference between theory, paper, and prototype. This capstone experience is required for all undergraduate mechanical engineering students, ensuring that each student will interface with talented faculty, staff and sponsor.
Timeline
Important Dates for Senior Design Capstone Projects
- 1st week of April: Project Concept
- 1st week of June: Project Concept: Full capstone project information form (PIF) with budget and invoicing form
- 1st week of August: Full payment
- Early September (Fall Semester): Project start, ME135 – Sr Capstone Design 1
- Early May (Spring Semester): Project end, ME155 – Sr Capstone Design 2