Brigham Young University Capstone Program

BYU & College of

Engineering & Technology

Capstone Overview

Design Capabilities

Examples of Past Capstone

Projects

Becoming a Capstone

Project Sponsor

Outline

Brigham Young University Overview

•  Established in 1875 •  One of the largest private universities in the USA •  33,000 students

•  From 120 Nations & all 50 U.S. States •  Over 75% of students speak a foreign language •  80 different languages taught

•  3,500 engineering students

Ira A. Fulton College Engineering & Technology

Engineering  Departments  •  Chemical Engineering •  Civil Engineering •  Electrical & Computer Eng. •  Mechanical Engineering

             School  of  Technology  •  Construction Management •  Facilities & Property Management •  Industrial Design •  Information Technology •  Manufacturing Engineering Technology •  Technology & Engineering Education

 

What is Capstone?

•  Two-semester (8 month) design course •  Projects provided by industrial sponsors •  Projects include both design and build elements •  Senior engineering & technology students •  Multidisciplinary teams

•  ME, MET, EE, ChemE, and others •  Teams learn to use a structured design approach

BYU Capstone Organization

•  Students allocate 8-10 a.m. each day (M-F) •  Typical team size: 5-6 students •  Each team has a faculty coach •  2 Instructors •  1 External Relations Manager •  1 Administrative assistant •  2 TA’s & secretaries

BYU Capstone History

•  Capstone began at BYU in 1990 •  673 sponsored projects to date

•  32 sponsored projects every year •  Over 225 different companies/organizations •  14 countries •  27 different states (USA)

•  Provided design education & experience to more than 3,500 students

BYU Capstone Project Locations

BYU Capstone Sponsors

Capstone Program Objectives

•  Desire to learn •  Understanding of

manufacturing processes •  Ability to develop appropriate

solutions •  Creative and consistent

design capability •  Willingness to consider

alternatives •  Able to understand the

relationship of design and analysis (modeling)

•  Understand the quality process

•  Broad view of engineering disciplines

•  Good understanding of the engineering process

•  Grasp the value of working with hardware

•  Appreciate the value and complexities of the manufacturing enterprise

•  Excellent communication skills

•  Skilled and effective in team settings

Emphasis in Capstone

•  Students work in teams & performance evaluated in teams •  Students create project schedule and track progress •  Students hold weekly team meetings •  Students communicate regularly with sponsor

•  Provide weekly progress reports •  Weekly teleconferences

•  Student teams learn to work with others to get job done •  Industrial sponsors, vendors, university staff, etc.

•  Regular design reviews & presentations •  Teach students to present their work both formally and informally

Capstone Learning Environment

•  Team interaction •  Class is not “business as usual” •  Nearly all class assignments relate directly to projects and their

“Deliverables” or reports •  Student project teams work with “Liaison Engineer” from sponsoring

company

Selected Lecture Topics

•  Identifying customer needs •  Functional Specifications •  Project Planning •  Concept Generation •  Concept Selection •  Design Questions & Prototypes •  Design Reviews •  F117 Stealth Fighter Case study •  Industrial Design/engineering •  DFM/DFA and real projects •  Engineering Documentation

•  Case Study: Wright Brothers •  FMEA: Managing risk •  Robust Design •  Financial justification of projects •  Entrepreneurship and product dev. •  Integrity and Ethics in Engineering design •  Principles of Contract Law •  The Importance of Engineering Drawings •  Intellectual Property and Patents •  Product development and Globalization •  Engineering education & the real world

Capstone Resources

•  Structured design methodology with 25 years experience •  Intellectual property granted to sponsor •  Student project teams have access to:  

•  Engineering analysis •  NASTRAN, ANSYS, FLUENT, ADINA, Pro/MECHANICA, MATLAB,

OptdesX, ProModel •  Engineering fabrication

•  Machining, CNC, rapid prototyping, EDM, plastics, composites, metal forming, casting, welding, water jet & laser cutting

•  Engineering laboratories •  MEMS, combustion, experimental and computational fluid

dynamics, wind tunnels, automation, microscopy, and material testing

•  Super computer

Capstone Benefits

•  Real-world work experience for students •  Progress made on mid to back burner projects •  Sponsors benefit from real work on real projects from student teams •  Industry sponsors retain all intellectual property •  Sponsors evaluate students and students evaluate sponsors for

potential employment

The Best Type of Capstone Projects

•  Design, build and test •  Mid-to-back-burner •  600-800 project engineering

hours

•  Project types: •  New or improved product prototypes •  Process machines •  Tooling and gauging •  Test machines •  Semi-automation •  Process optimization

Becoming a Capstone Sponsor

1.  Generate possible projects ideas 2.  Submit project ideas (Deadline: End-June 2015) capstone.byu.edu

BYU will work with you to find a good project match 3.  Sign and return Capstone Sponsor Agreement 4.  Make arrangements to pay educational grant of US$20K 5.  A Capstone Team and Faculty Coach will be assigned to your project

2014-2015 Project Sponsors

Air Force Research Laboratories Autoliv BD Medical Systems Blendtec Boeing Burr Oak Tool Zodiac Aerospace Complete Speech Edwards LifeSciences GE Healthcare GE Oil & Gas Icon Health & Fitness John Deere Power Systems Los Alamos National Labs National Oilwell Varco Intelliserv Paylock Savsu Technologies Tata Chemicals NA Union Pacific Railroad US Synthetic Corp Water for One Vegetronix BYU ME Mars Rover BYU ME Super Mileage BYU ME Baja SAE

2014-2015 Project Descriptions •  Double  the  Flying  Time  of  Tube-­‐launched  Unmanned  Aerial    •  Vehicle  Automobile  Airbag  Burn  Hole    •  Test  Stand  IV  Drip  Chamber  Monitor  and    Control    •  Blender  Motor  Dynamometer  Test  Stand    •  Integrated  Fiberglass  filler  process  for  the  787  Horizontal  Stabilizer    •  Flexible  CNC  Drill  Tooling  for  777  &  787  Carbon  Fiber  Composite    •  Ribs  Fin  Transfer  Cart  for  HVAC  Coil  Assembly    •  Design  and  Build  of  Solar  Power  SoluMon  for  Manufacuturing  Facility    •  Airplane  Galley  Quick  Connect  FiQngs    •  Speech  Therapy  Sensor  Redesign    •  Test  Apparatus  for  Measuring  Temperature  in  Radiofrequency  Cardiac  

AblaMon    •  AutomaMon  of  UltraFit  Tray  Assembly    •  Visual  and  HapMc  OrientaMon  Indicators  for  a  Mobile  C-­‐Arm    •  Improved  Hydraulic  Connector  Technology  for  Subsea  Oil  and  Gas  

ApplicaMons    

2014-2015 Project Descriptions (continued) •  Automated  Powder  Coat  Hook  Loading  and  Un-­‐loading  System    •  Simulated  Cylinder  Pressure  Loading  for  Valve  Train  Test  Stand    •  Lightweight  Fluid  Transfer  Vessel    •  Improved  Powder  CoaMng  Process  for  Filter  Frames    •  High-­‐speed  Telemetry  Coax  InspecMon  Tool    •  High-­‐speed  Telemetry  DemonstraMon  Kit    •  Electromechanical  Parking  Boot  Redesign    •  Solar  Ice  Maker    •  Waste  Water  PurificaMon  and  Recovery  Process    •  Mobile  Top-­‐of-­‐Rail  FricMon  Modifier  Wind  Shroud  Design    •  Aerodynamic  Side  Skirts  and  Underbody  for  Railroad  Grain  Car      •  Improved  Cooling  Efficiency  for  Refrigerated  Box  Car    •  Automated  Bearing  Brazing  Machine    •  Submersible  Water  Pump  for  Solar-­‐powered  Water  Wells  in  Developing  

Countries    •  University  Mars  Rover  Challenge    •  BYU  ME  Supermileage    •  BYU  ME  Mini  Baja    •  Open-­‐source  Hardware  Motorized  Wheelchair  for  toddlers  

Questions?

Find us: capstone.byu.edu

or thru the BYU Mechanical Engineering Department on social media: