Capstone Design Projects - Department of Engineering

Real Solutions for the Real World

Overview

Grounded in a culture and curriculum that values the liberal arts and positive societal change, Wake Engineering students are uniquely prepared to tackle the real-world, multi-disciplinary engineering problems presented in the Capstone Design Projects.

Project teams of 3-5 seniors design and build innovative solutions that meet client, user, and stakeholder needs, with a focus on how their work positively impacts the human experience in the spirit of Wake Forest’s motto, Pro Humanitate. Yearlong Capstone Design Projects require students – under the guidance of faculty advisors and industry mentors – to think entrepreneurially, creatively, critically and ethically to develop functional prototypes not yet imagined. In their iterative quest to fill an unmet societal need, students dedicate more than 1,600 person-hours to each project, gaining invaluable technical engineering experience in team-based designing, project management, leadership development and professional communication.

Timeline

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Junior Year
January	Students enroll in EGR 313 (1 credit).
January-March	Students, faculty, industry partners, non-profit organizations and governmental entities can submit project ideas.
April	Teams of 3-5 students select their top projects and form teams around one project per team.
Summer	Project teams are assigned faculty advisors. Partnerships and agreements with sponsors (when applicable) are finalized.

Senior Year
August	Students enroll in EGR 314 (4 credits). Mentor/advisor orientation and team kickoff.
September-December	Project work, weekly meetings with mentors.
January	Students enroll in EGR 315 (4 credits) and submit an interim report.
January-April	Project work, weekly meetings with mentors.
April	End-of-year design showcase.

Project Proposals

Wake Engineering students understand that tackling real-world problems requires diverse perspectives, including their own. Our Capstone Design Projects embrace this mindset by soliciting project ideas from many sources. Industry, government and non-profit sponsors may submit projects to meet identified needs, while students, faculty and staff may propose their own entrepreneurial ideas.

Propose a project or learn more about sponsoring a Capstone Design Project.