MSU seeks businesses and others to sponsor senior engineering projects

The Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering at Montana State University is once again seeking sponsors for capstone projects that senior engineering students conduct each year.

Sponsors can be businesses, MSU faculty and staff, nonprofits, state and federal agencies and labs, or individuals — anyone who has an engineering or computer science challenge they would like help with, according to Craig Shankwitz, a capstone instructor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Sponsors don’t need to be located in the Bozeman area.

“This is a great opportunity for people to tap into the engineering and computer science resources we have here at MSU,” Shankwitz said. “Our students have access to state-of-the-art facilities, and they’re able to tackle really significant projects with guidance from dozens of capstone faculty advisers who are experts in their fields.”

Examples of recent projects include an innovative wheelchair designed for a nonprofit that works internationally, a device to help MSU researchers simulate the microgravity on the International Space Station, and a new playground for a local school. Chemical and biological engineering majors have designed a process for removing contaminants from mining runoff, civil engineering majors have drawn up building site plans, industrial engineering have improved productivity for agricultural operations, and computer science majors have programmed a variety of software. Each spring, often more than 100 teams of students present their creations to the public at the Design Fair in Norm Asbjornson Hall.

“Capstone projects are the final bridge for students between their education and their professional careers,” Shankwitz said. “They’re drawing from everything they’ve learned and applying it to a real-world problem where they’re responsible for managing a budget, timeline and delivering a final product that meets the client’s needs.”

Sponsors work with capstone faculty advisers to define the project and determine a budget and timeline. Sponsors typically pay for supplies, but the students’ design services are usually offered free of charge. Students work with the sponsor to determine project details and specifications, then do research, consider alternatives and perform a thorough analysis before creating a final product or recommendation to deliver to the sponsor.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a project should contact one of the instructors listed below. To have a project considered for the upcoming academic year, sponsors should contact a capstone instructor before mid-August, if possible, Shankwitz said.

For more details about sponsorship and to see examples of recent projects, visit coe.montana.edu/capstone.

Instructors:

Mechanical Engineering: Craig Shankwitz, 406-823-9192, craig.shankwitz@montana.edu.

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Wataru Nakagawa, 406-994-5956, nakagawa@montana.edu.

Computer Science: Clemente Izurieta, 406-994-3720, clemente.izurieta@montana.edu. Daniel DeFrance, 406-994-1628, daniel.defrance@montana.edu.

Chemical and Biological Engineering: Brent Peyton, 406-994-7419, bpeyton@montana.edu.

Civil Engineering: Otto Stein, 406-994-6121, ottos@ce.montana.edu. Anders Larsson, 406-994-7187, andersl@montana.edu.

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, Financial Engineering: William Schell, 406-994-5938, wschell@montana.edu.