Sponsor Capstone Projects

The Shiley School of Engineering provides projects for undergraduate students in their final year of study.

Student teams spend up to 1000 hours working on their projects providing solutions for real world challenges. Teams are guided by a capstone instructor and a faculty advisor with expertise related to the project’s requirements. Capstone projects represent the intersection of students’ academic learning and their future careers in engineering. 

Inquiries can be emailed to engineering@up.edu.

Industry Benefits

• Meaningful solutions to engineering problems at lower costs than traditional labor
• Fresh perspectives to challenges
• Full intellectual property rights to work developed through capstone projects
• Valuable recruiting opportunities
• Connection to Shiley's incredible network including talented faculty
• Mentorship roles to develop early-career talent into future leaders

Project Scopes

Ideal capstone projects involve real engineering challenges, include a design component, and have a manageable scope that works with the academic timeline. A faculty advisor is appointed for each team and helps identify an appropriate scope for their project.

While projects should not be mission-critical or have imminent deadlines, students can still provide significant value on leading edge projects. These opportunities are great for industry partners that might not yet have dedicated resources within their organization for the specific work being done.

The primary purpose of the capstone projects is for student learning. There's never a guarantee that any final solution would be ready for immediate implementation by the end of the students' capstone course (one academic year). It is imperative that students remain the focus of the work, and their development and learning be the center of their project.

Frequently asked questions:

What's the capstone timeline?

• The entire life-cycle for one project is about as follows: 
• November-February (approx.): Projects are solicited from industry.
• February-April: Student teams are formulated based on interest/necessity of disciplines for each project.
• April-August: Summer Break (no student capstone work completed).
• August/September: Capstone Kickoff Meetings between students, industry liaisons, and faculty advisors.
• December: Shiley Winter Showcase; students present posters with designs/plans.
• April: Shiley Showcase; students make final in-person presentations with any prototypes, final designs, or other deliverables from the project scope.

How much time commitment is needed from the industry liaison?

• Liaisons can expect to spend about 1 hour per week doing things like meeting with the students, responding to team emails/inquiries, or reviewing various stages of project work.

What types of projects can students complete?

• Anything related to one or multiple of our engineering disciplines! We have civil, electrical, environmental, and mechanical engineering students as well as computer science majors. Teams may be cross-discipline.

Is there a fee?

• Yes. The University of Portland is a nonprofit private institution, which means programs like engineering capstone are self-supported.

Is there an agreement/contract involved?

• Yes, you may view a blank agreement here.

Any inquiries about the capstone program or other industry partnerships should contact engineering@up.edu for more information or to speak with one of our representatives.