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The Industry Capstone Program brings together UW Tacoma SET students and companies to tackle real-world, multidisciplinary engineering problems. Sponsors bring in projects from their companies and provide support to teams of creative, talented engineering students who will design and build innovative solutions.
How it works
| Companies | Propose a project for academic review by SET faculty |
| Industry sponsors | Commit $15,000 to cover project and program costs |
| Teams of 4-6 students | Are matched to a project and faculty mentor |
| Industry sponsors | Provide a technical mentor to meet with the team weekly for the duration of the project (January – June) |
| Student teams |
With the help of their technical and faculty mentors, embark on a full cycle design process, including:
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Benefits to companies
- High-touch engagement opportunity to assess student talent and recruit for jobs
- Build brand recognition among next-generation engineers
- Low cost opportunity for a fresh look at a problem
- Strengthen ties to SET
- Professional development opportunity for technical mentor
- Non-exclusive commercial license to any IP developed by student team or UW employee through project
- Provide SET students valuable, career-relevant experiences by applying classroom skills to address real world problems
Sample timeline
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| September 1 | Project proposals due |
| Late October | Project launch |
| Early December | Mentor/adviser orientation and team kickoff |
| January – June | Project work, weekly team meetings with mentors |
| June | Final capstone showcase |
Submit a project proposal
What makes a good proposal?
- Provides a small team of students with a set of design and performance criteria that requires appropriate analytical study on a topic directly relevant to engineering
- Contains both a design and results phase, culminating in a specific project outcome
- Reflects lower-priority real-world problems faced by your company; mission critical problems are not appropriate student capstone projects
- Is appropriate for entry-level engineer in their first or second year on the job
- Is primarily self-contained, but also integrates with a larger context
We strongly encourage projects that are open to all SET students, regardless of citizenship.
