Capstone Project Wiki

Over the course of Capstone, we have found some things that will be of help to Capstone teams. Scan through these, and carefully review those that apply to your project.

Circuit boards are a good way to implement electrical circuitry for your project, but be aware that you will probably have to make more than one iteration, and that each iteration takes several weeks, so plan ahead. More information on using circuit boards is found on the Circuit Boards page.

There are a number of Hardware Resources on campus to help you with the hardware for your project.

Students sometimes have challenges with physical and mental health issues. The University provides support to students in this situation. See the Health Issues page for more information.

There are many people on campus that you can ask for help with various aspects of your project. Some information about ways they might be able to help you can be found on the People Who Can Help page.

In order for a team to successfully complete a complicated project, the team has to manage their time and resources. This is known as Project Management in industry. The essential idea is to identify each of the tasks that have to be completed to complete the project. The time and resources allocated to each task need to be determined, and scheduled. [In NASA parlence, this task list and schedule is known as a work break down structure (WBS). Other organizations use other terms.] The team must manage (control and track) their time and work to ensure all the tasks are accomplished within the resources and schedule required.

There are many useful tools to help in project management. A Gantt chart is an example. Many software tools are available to help with project management.

A Safety Plan may be needed before your team begins hardware testing.

We have a list of Software Resources available to help you complete the engineering work on your project.

Effective teams require effective team members. When team members are ineffective, the team cannot achieve their potential. We provide some information on becoming effective team members in the Team Effectiveness section.

Like all teams, your Capstone team will need to learn how to work together effectively, which sometimes can be stressful. Understanding the Tuckman Team Stages can help you with this process.

For electrical projects, good wiring can make the difference between success and failure. Good wiring practices not only facilitate proper connections and troubleshooting, they also increase the likelihood of the project working long-term. Do not create wire nests, instead, use these Wiring Tips for good wiring practices.