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Senior Project Sponsor Information 2009-2010

Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Projects

Cal Poly has long been known for its learn-by-doing motto. And all though the years students at Cal Poly have finished off their undergraduate experience with a senior project. In working on our newsletter we have had alumni send in senior projects from the 50s that are just as impressive as the projects that get done today.

Several years ago, Mechanical Engineering went to multi-student (3 or 4 people) industry sponsored projects from single-student projects. This format allows students to develop team work and communication skills needed for today's workplace. We are lucky to have enough students (1000+) to accommodate such a course sequence. Using student teams also allows us to form multidisciplinary teams with students from other departments or colleges. Interdisciplinary projects are highly encouraged!

The senior project sequence is a full academic year in length consisting of three quarter long classes offered Fall/Winter/Spring and Winter/Spring/Fall. Student teams are formed in the first couple weeks of the first course and they stay together for the whole year. Because of our enrollment size, we need to have about 35 sponsored projects in early September and again in early January. Quarter one has the student using brainstorming, decision making and feasibility study techniques. A design proposal culminates the first quarter. The second two quarters the students are designing their project, submitting a detailed design and building and testing their project. A final report and design exposition is held at the end of the course sequence. Throughout the year each student team has a faculty member that meets with them on a weekly basis guiding them on their project. For the technical specifics, the students must work with their industry contact.

What does it take to get one of your organization's projects lined up for a talented Cal Poly student design team? We have made it relatively simple. First, you must fill out a one page project application form which may be obtained from Professors Joe Mello or Tom Mase (MESrPrj@calpoly.edu). Please type in your responses and email them back to one of us. We will contact you and request a short (10 minute) presentation that can be shown the first week of class (weeks of September 21st or January 4th). This is a sales pitch to get the students interested in your project, and we prefer that you come to Cal Poly to present. Students give us their preferences/interests in projects and we form the teams. Then it's off to the races!

We do ask that a $2,500 donation be made to offset supplies and travel for the students. If a project has more expensive needs we ask the corporate sponsor to pay those as well. Intellectual property issues have successfully been handled in the past. The same holds true for non-disclosure. The next page has a listing of the projects that were undertaken in 2008-2009. We hope to have your project on-board next year!

Download a Project Proposal Form

What constitutes a good senior project?

If you are asking yourself what makes a good senior project for Cal Poly students please look at our course learning outcomes as a guide.

Understand Design as a process and apply this process to solve an open-ended, externally supplied engineering design problem.
Work effectively on an engineering team.
Develop, analyze and maintain an engineering project schedule using a Gantt chart and appropriate software.
Use Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to evaluate customer requirements
Formally define an engineering problem.
Generate a specification document.
Apply creative techniques to develop conceptual solutions.
Apply structured decision schemes to select appropriate engineering concepts in a team environment.
Design subsystems within constraints of strength, size, materials, performance, cyclic loading, etc.
Bring a variety of engineering and physical sciences to bear effectively on design problems.
Apply current industrial design practice and techniques such as DFX, FMEA, and/or TQM to engineering design problems.
Construct and test prototype designs.
Develop and implement a design verification plan and report.
Communicate and present engineering design project results orally, graphically, and in writing
Practice engineering professionalism and understand societal responsibility.
Understand the ASME code of ethics and its implications in engineering practice.
Take a position and present oral arguments on an open-ended topic.

Also keep in mind we want the students to design, build and test their project. A project that is purely a paper design is not appropriate for the senior project. It is acceptable to provide advanced machining or fabrication for the students.

What are the key dates for the senior projects?

The following is a list of several key dates for the project:

ME 428 - First Senior Project Course

Week 1 - Project teams formed
Week 2 - Introduction letter sent to sponsor
Week 4 - Proposal submitted to sponsor
Week 7 - Interim design report submitted to sponsor
Week 10 - Draft design report submitted to sponsor

ME 429 - Second Senior Project Course

Week 3 - Final design report to sponsor
Week 4 - Critical design review with sponsor
Week 10 - Project status report to sponsor

ME 430 - Third Senior Project Course

Week 2 - Manufacturing and test review
Week 10 - Final project report on design, manufacturing and testing submitted to sponsor

What are some sample projects?

For the Senior Project Exposition the students make a poster and display their project. Below are four sample projects representing some best projects that have been done.