The long awaited day has finally arrived: graduation! Studying engineering requires years of hard work in rigorous academic programs with lectures and labs, papers and presentations, textbooks and tests. But how prepared are students to enter the job market?
At the UNM School of Engineering, seniors face their final challenge by applying four years of learning to the capstone project. These projects test the students' knowledge, help them tap into their creativity, and polish teamwork skills that will prepare them for the workplace.
Arup Maji, chair of the Civil Engineering Department and interim dean of the School of Engineering, says, "The capstone projects boost the confidence of the seniors before they enter the workforce". Geoff Courtin, a chemical and nuclear engineering research engineer comments, "Students grapple with all the constraints that they will experience in their working careers. This gives them a sense of what engineering is like in the real world."
Every department has a senior capstone requirement, but the projects vary from company-sponsored tasks to those designed and managed by the School of Engineering professors. Projects have included:
The capstone projects benefit the companies involved, as well as the students who apply what they have learned to a business setting. Matt Nighbert, an engineer for Gannett Fleming West, (standing); an international planning, design, and construction management firm who mentored a group of civil engineering students, summed up the students' experiences with the capstone projects by saying, "They learned how important communication is for an engineer."