Civil Engineering Capstone Design Course

Abstract

Increased emphasis on design courses by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has caused many engineering schools to reevaluate the design component of their curricula. To make the transition from individual, narrow‐focus courses to the overall civil engineering design function, the civil engineering department at North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, has established the capstone design course described in this paper. A design project is carefully selected to encompass many of the areas within civil engineering as well as other socioeconomic issues. Definition of the project is purposely left as open‐ended as possible to encourage the students' imagination and ingenuity. The success of this design course is a result of close coordination between the faculty and students. Each faculty member acts as the adviser for one design group as well as the technical consultant in his area of expertise to all groups. In general, the students gain an appreciation for assigning specific individual duties within each group and working together toward a common goal.