在提交顶点项目之前

Before submitting a project for the Capstone Design program, it's important to understand what makes a project successful.

The ideal project is the design of a product, 过程, 软件, or service that involves technical analysis, 金融的理由, 和原型设计. 这是一个极好的机会, 对于最小的投资, to investigate the potential for that "back burner" idea that has been sitting on your desk. Projects need to have a strong design component with clear, well-defined objectives to provide the students with an ideal starting point and allow them to keep focused. Each capstone project will typically involve a team of 3-4 students over 34-weeks (two semesters). See examples of past projects for additional insight into the scope and types of projects that work well for our students. 

To support project expenses, sponsors make a donation of $3,000 to the 博克学习工厂.

Some projects may incur additional expenses depending on a sponsor's needs for Intellectual Property & 保密. Once a team has been formed and starts working on a project, part of the donation can be submitted as a tax-deductible contribution to 宾州州立银行. Additional expenses to support the program are provided by the 博克学习工厂 and sponsor donations.

赞助商的参与

Sponsor involvement is essential to the success of the Learning Factory and the 博克学习工厂's Capstone Design program. Sponsors are expected to identify a liaison to serve as the team's point-of-contact for the project for the semester. We rely on our sponsors to fully engage their project teams during the semester and help us "hold their feet to the fire." We find the more time sponsors invest in the project, the more they get out of it.

保荐人联络人应计划:

• attending the Project Kick-Off Meeting (2nd week of the semester)
• providing additional details beyond the one-page Project 描述
• facilitating visits from the project team, if necessary (2nd-3rd week of the semester, 如果需要，稍后再说吧)
• interacting regularly with the team via tele- and/or video-conferences, weekly memos, etc.
• reviewing reports and providing feedback from an industry point of view
• evaluating the students' performance (part of the final)
• attending the Design Showcase (last week of the semester) 
• demanding constant professionalism and a high level of performance from the students

项目可交付成果

Depending on the nature of the project, the deliverables may include any or all of the following:

• Technical reports (concept, preliminary, detail)
• Feasibility studies, engineering analyses
• 竞争标杆分析
• Engineering drawings and specifications
• 原型和初步硬件
• Computer programs, simulation models, data
• Manufacturing or service delivery 过程 plans
• Presentations, animations, videos, demonstrations
• Final technical report, poster, and one-page summary

Each capstone project will typically involve a team of 3-4 students over 34-weeks (two semesters).. Considering that students will also be taking other courses at the same time, this equates to approximately 400 person hours of effort devoted to the project. Results from student teams are highly dependent on the nature of the project, 天生的团队能力, the amount of client interaction and support, 还有很多其他变量. No guarantees can be made, other than the students will give it their best effort. Often, a project provides direct and immediate benefits to the sponsor. Another common outcome is a good concept, but further work is required (either by a follow-on project, or by the sponsor's in-house staff) to bring the project to fruition. Again, we find that the more sponsors put into it, the more they get out of it.