UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering is looking for real-world problems in need of creative solutions.
From now until August 6, the School of Engineering will be accepting project proposals for its year-long engineering design course, ENGR 499. The School is inviting engineering industry partners, UBC faculty and current students to submit proposals online.
Small teams of final-year students will then tackle the selected projects throughout the coming academic year. Their goal? To apply the knowledge and skills they’ve gained throughout their undergraduate degree to design feasible and innovative solutions.
Navigating real-world engineering issues is a significant part of the Capstone course which looks to provide students with insight into what they can expect once they enter the engineering industry, notes Dr. Kenneth Chau, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at UBCO and one of the two Course Coordinators for ENGR 499.
“We would like Capstone to be one of many gateways for industry partners to play a role at the School and engage with our students. We would like to see more real-world industry projects appear in the courses we offer at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” says Dr. Chau. “Over time, we would like to see these industry projects grow into research collaborations with our professors, graduate students, and research associates.”
In addition to fostering long-term partnerships with the UBC academic community, Capstone project partners have the benefit of working with the next generation of engineers, exploring design solutions, products and services that may be outside their current initiatives, accessing world-class research facilities, faculty support, and an enthusiastic group of students dedicated to solving their problem. Capstone project partners will also be presented with design models and potentially a working prototype at the culminating event in April.
Not all successful project proposals originate from industry. Last April, the top team at the Capstone Design Project Showcase & Competition, was a student-led project initiative. The winning project focused on designing an efficient and affordable way to place and organize electrical cables into trays.
The winning team from the 2024 Capstone Design Competition and Showcase.
Promoting entrepreneurship is a part of engineering education as well. The Capstone course provides the opportunity for students to realize their ideas and potentially scale them further.
To be considered, Capstone project proposals must involve elements that pertain to at least two of the School of Engineering’s programs: Civil, Electrical, Manufacturing and Mechanical, and demonstrate relevance to real-world engineering issues.
The School of Engineering is accepting project proposals now until August 6 through their online form.
The application is open to industry, government organizations, UBC faculty and current students in ENGR 499. The selected projects will be announced in August, with client consultation to begin in September when the academic year begins. Students will work closely with their capstone project partners and faculty advisors throughout the year until April, when the culminating presentation event will be held.
More information can be found on the undergraduate capstone website.