Consolidating the capstone design course responsibility in electrical engineering at Texas A&M University

In 1992, an individual with industry experience was hired to coordinate the capstone design course in the Electrical Engineering Department at Texas A&M University, USA. The responsibility for the capstone design course had been distributed throughout the faculty of the department for several years. Approximately 150 students per year take the course in their final year as undergraduates. Over the following 4 years, several innovations in the structure of the course were adopted which produced a broad range of design experience alternatives for the students while minimizing the load on the tenured and tenure-track faculty of the department. Innovations include: interdisciplinary teams; entry in national design competitions; community service projects; joint projects between departments and colleges; undergraduate research; industry projects; mentoring high school design competitions; and the evaluation of matrix management techniques as applied to the capstone course. An outline of the course content and some analysis of the critical factors in implementing the various alternative design project environments are discussed.