International engineering capstone conference comes to Ohio State

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Next week, college capstone design faculty, administrators, and students converge on Columbus. The 2014 Capstone Design Conference will be held June 2-4 on The Ohio State University campus.

Capstone projects serve as a practical culmination of a college student’s undergraduate education. For engineering students, that typically means a hands-on project with industry or humanitarian applications.

Held every two years, the Capstone Design Conference provides a forum for the extended capstone design community to share ideas about improving design-based capstone courses. Faculty, students and administrators from more than 85 colleges and 5 countries will participate. Industry representatives and event sponsors on the lookout for collaborative ideas and next-generation engineering talent also will attend.

Ohio State Engineering Professor Peter Rogers has served on the conference organizing committee since 2010. He was instrumental in securing the event in Columbus this year.

“Due to the interactive nature of this conference, everyone takes home enthusiastic ideas to incorporate into their respective programs.  I love the way folks across the capstone design community openly share ideas to help improve the learning outcomes of our undergraduate students.  Our focus on student participation really helps make this event special.”

In addition to workshops, project poster presentations, and panel sessions, attendees will be treated to tours at Honda of America Manufacturing and Limited Brands Distribution Center in nearby Marysville and Reynoldsburg, respectively.

The 2014 Capstone Design Conference is sponsored by National Instruments, IEEE, ASTM International, Stratasys, and NCIIA, among others.

The keynote panel is facilitated by the National Science Foundation's Susan Finger, who will guide the discussion of four industry capstone sponsors about the value of multidisciplinary and experiential capstone projects—this year’s theme.