Contact the Mechanical Engineering Department
Capstone
Senior capstone design for ME students at Northern Arizona University
As the highlight of many undergraduate students’ education, capstone projects in our Mechanical Engineering department allow senior students the opportunity to work in teams and work on real-world applied research and design projects. All student teams are closely supervised by a faculty mentor within the Mechanical Engineering Department at NAU, and many of our projects are sponsored by engineers and scientists from collaborating industry and government organizations.
See the Design4Practice website for present and past projects.
More information
Scope of work Accordion Closed
Currently the ME department offers the ME 476C (Capstone I) and ME 486C (Capstone II) progression year-round. The largest offering of capstone begins Fall semester, concluding in Spring semester with a campus-wide Undergraduate Symposium. We also offer ME 476C and ME 486C in the Summer and Fall semesters, so there is potential to have projects completed in any of the three semesters.
Student teams are expected to produce professional quality deliverables to their faculty mentor and sponsor, including design plans, iterative prototypes, and completed products.
If you are interested in submitting a project, please contact David Willy at david.willy@nau.edu to begin working on the scope and limitations of the project. You will develop a project description with Dr. Oman that will then be presented to the students at the beginning of the ME 476C semester. Teams are assigned projects in the first weeks of the semester, and will then take over the communication with the sponsor of the project.
Sponsor a team Accordion Closed
As a company, member of the community, or individual, we look to you to propose projects. Your proposals give students a one-of-a-kind learning opportunity on problems you would like to see addressed, while building relationships with potential employees.
Projects should include opportunities for students to:
- Learn and apply new technical or interdisciplinary skills
- Analyze and make trade-offs
- Incorporate contemporary issues, and
- Apply project management methods
More information can be found the the Request for Capstone Projects form found here.
Sponsor commitment details Accordion Closed
As a sponsor, you:
- Must be committed to providing a learning experience and be willing to communicate on a regular and timely basis with your student team
- Are asked to fund the direct costs of the project that include material and manufacturing costs, specialized software, hardware or equipment costs, and student travel expenses
- Are encouraged to make tax-deductible donations to our Senior Design Foundation Fund (which is used to enhance our Design4Practice program) and finance a limited number of non-commercial capstone projects (e.g. community service projects or design competitions)
Contact Accordion Closed
If you or your organization desire to have a team of ME seniors work on your project, please contact David Willy. More information can be found the the Request for Capstone Projects form found here.