Senior Design Projects

The capstone senior design project is intended to be the culmination of the undergraduate experience, where knowledge gained in the classroom is applied to a major design project. The School of Engineering recognizes the value of having the senior projects be sponsored by industry and has the goal of having the majority of senior projects sponsored or defined and mentored in collaboration with an industrial partner. This provides meaningful projects of value to the sponsor, and it imbues a professional orientation in the student team as they work towards providing the sponsor with deliverables in a manner that simulates the environment in which they will shortly be operating. At the same time the project is crafted to meet the educational goals of the capstone design course, which runs the full senior year.

Projects involve teams, typically 2-6 students, working approximately one day per week over two academic semesters. Multi-disciplinary projects are encouraged.

Suitable projects might include feasibility studies; design or redesign problems that are longer term and/or lower priority than the sponsor can tackle with their available personnel. This addresses the timing of Senior Design, which in both start time and project duration is not on the compressed scale of industrial activities. The goal would be to benefit the sponsor on a long-term basis rather than link the project to an immediate need. A Stevens faculty advisor will be assigned to guide the students in fulfilling the project requirements. Typically the sponsor will also provide an advisor.

Benefits for Students

• It is an opportunity to work at meeting a practical industrial need rather than pursuing a purely academic goal initiated by a faculty advisor
• Industrially defined problems typically have a scope that favors solution by cross-disciplinary teams
• Interacting with representatives of the sponsoring organization helps students develop greater professionalism and perspective.

Benefits for Sponsor

• Sponsors can obtain solutions to problems or explore concepts that they cannot themselves address, perhaps because of time or personnel constraints
• Provides an opportunity to see potential hires in action and to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with these students
• Builds sponsor-faculty ties that may provide benefits in research and/or consulting in areas of interest to the sponsor
• Provides visibility for the sponsor on campus
• Affords an opportunity to assist in the education of the next generation of engineers in areas of interest to the sponsor.

Intellectual Property

Stevens Institute of Technology has two complementary missions: (1) educating students skilled to succeed in varied careers because of their well-rounded knowledge, resourcefulness and integrity; and (2) advancing research excellence in selected areas of engineering, science, computer science, and technology marketing and management.

In pursuing these missions, the faculty, staff and students of Stevens Institute do not have a primary focus on producing inventions. However, in the course of their educational and research activities, through application of their intellectual curiosity, expertise and entrepreneurial inclinations as well as other intangibles associated with the environment in which they operate, intellectual property may be developed. Stevens wishes to ensure that such property is protected in a manner that preserves its potential commercial value as well as allowing for its timely disclosure to the public. In addition, Stevens believes that rewards arising from such intellectual property should be fairly distributed among the stakeholders.

It is therefore recognized that the sponsors of educational or research activities might expect to share in the fruits of intellectual property that may arise during the period of sponsorship. This applies also to the Stevens personnel involved and to the Institute as the provider of the enabling infrastructure. In recognition of these issues, Stevens has an intellectual property policy with appropriate standard agreements for its faculty, staff, students and sponsors. These in turn facilitate the crafting of agreements with sponsors, that based on the particular circumstances, fairly meet the needs of all parties involved.

Senior Design Exposition Day

The general public and Stevens community are invited to a showcase of undergraduate design activities. This fun event gives senior undergraduate engineering students an opportunity to present the results of their design projects in poster and/or prototype format to the Stevens community, invited guests, and sponsors.

Technogenesis Senior Design Prize

The Office of Academic Entrepreneurship has established Technogenesis Prizes to be given annually to two senior student teams for demonstrated excellence in Technogenesis.

Previous prizes were given in the following amounts:

1st Place $3000

2nd Place $2000

The prizes will be awarded for innovative design, research and/or business projects which could lead to the development of a technology directly linked to novel scientific concepts or to the development of a novel technology based on the application of established scientific concepts. The project should consider all aspects of the innovation process including possible impact on society and the commercialization potential of the technology.

Teams who would like to have their work considered should submit five (5) copies of their contributions along with the names and addresses of their advisor(s) and other individuals to the ITI Office.

An announcement as to the recipients of the prizes will be made at the President's Dinner. No prior announcement will be made nor will the recipients know until that day.

Potential candidates are encouraged to consult with their advisors and key professors to determine the suitability of their project for consideration for the Technogenesis Senior Prize Guidelines for consideration

The student team must be composed of Steven's students in good standing. Multidisciplinary teams are especially encouraged to apply.

The criteria for evaluation include: 

• The originality and innovative nature of the project.
• The quality and depth of understanding of the technical and scientific foundations of the project.
• The degree of professionalism in the written documents submitted including the quality and clarity of the illustrations.
• The potential impact on society.
• The team's analysis and understanding of how their design evolved to satisfy the needs of the potential customers, the ability of the organization to manufacture the product or deliver the product or the service.
• The team's analysis of the market potential, economics of production and sale of the innovation, and the competitive situation as they would affect the potential commercialization of the project.
• The eventual profitability of the innovation will not be used as a criterion in awarding the prize.