The capstone of the Mechanical degree is group industry project in a manufacturing company. During the Spring semester students start meeting with with the company and their thesis advisor to identity the problem or opportunity to pursue, the project scope and expected deliverables. These meeting are usually weekly in-persoon or through video calls. Then in the summer, starting in mid-May and goiung through mid-August students work on the company project full time. These projects – done in groups of three students per site – form the basis of the thesis portion of the degree. Students work on-site under the supervision of an DIC faculty member typically solving near-term problems for their company.
A number of companies propose the projects in late fall and a selection process matches students with their project and DIC faculty advisors. Students begin their initial work at each company site in January followed by once-weekly meetings during the spring semester. From late May until mid-August the groups work on-site full-time to complete their projects. Students document his or her full contribution to the project thesis, which is submitted to their DIC advisor for approval.