Industrial Engineers and systems engineers often have project management, systems integration and/or technical design responsibilities. Whether working as a resident industrial engineer or as an internal or external consultant, it is imperative that the student have the skills and knowledge associated with the technical, project management and customer delivery components of technical projects.
The Senior Design program is the capstone, integrative experience that provides the basic skills to senior students needed to effectively plan, manage and control technical projects.
Across two academic semesters, student teams study project management in order to apply their acquired technical skills and knowledge to develop a proposal and design a solution for a real-world problem from a manufacturing or service industry.
Senior Design is not just a project; it is about the process of managing project and designing alternative solutions based on data collection. As illustrated below, students have a course, attended twice per week in addition to the project they manage.
You should consider the total person hours that a 3-5 person team will have to dedicate to your project, approximately 650 total hours across the entire project. You should also consider the fact that this project will simulate a part-time consulting project which means students will have other obligations that compete for their time, such as attending classes. Some example projects are located here.
Since the project spans two academic semesters (August — April), it is best to come up with something important but not urgent for the scope of the project. Generally, the closer the client is located to the Blacksburg campus, the more frequent, but likely shorter the visits. More distant clients can expect longer but less frequent visits. Students are taught the value of face-to-face contact with clients, whether the project demands intensive on-site activity or not. As a rough guideline, you should consider the following minimum expectations. For more distant projects that involve air travel, the arrangements are subject to your budget:
| Client distance from Blacksburg | Expected team visits on average |
|---|---|
| 0 — 1 hour | 1 visit per week |
| 1 — 2 hours | 1 visit per 2 weeks |
| 2 - 5 hours | 1 visit per month |
| More than 5 hours | Negotiated if air travel |
In terms of technical areas your project might cover, the following list is a good starting point for the types of things an ISE can or should be able to do. Again, an ideal project will combine a few of these areas:
ISE Skill and Knowledge Areas
Our process involves students forming their own teams and then “bidding” on projects of interest. This way, you are more likely to get a team that is interested in your project. In the submission form, you can specify particular requirements. The most common requirement is US Citizenship in the case of sensitive projects. Of course, the more requirements you place on a team's make- up, the less likely it is that a team that is self-selected will meet the requirements.
Some of the general benefits of participation include:
Project- specific benefit/cost analysis will be part of the students' deliverables. Common project benefits have typically included such metrics as:
There are no required fees at this point in time. Travel (e.g. mileage) and incidentals (e.g. copying) are reimbursed to students. For clients in the more distant, but drivable locations, over night stay could be appropriate. You will have the opportunity to approve a budget that is submitted at the beginning of the process by the team as part of a proposal. The ISE Department Head may encourage donations (~$5000) by companies that benefit from projects but this is not a requirement for participation at this time.
You should use the simple web-form at the Industrial and Systems Engineering website, located here:
https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1247081941572
The submission form will ask for two contacts, a primary and secondary contact. The primary contact person does not necessarily need to be you, even if you are the one submitting the project. The contact people should be professionals who will have the time and interest to mentor and guide the students. The best way to think about the organizational structure that we simulate is a matrix consulting organization. Internally, we have an instructor or equivalent to an administrative supervisor and a technical advisor for each team. The team serves you, the client. Thus, your contact should be accessible and someone knowledgeable and engaged relative to the project. The secondary person is the back up contact person. It is up to you whether you wish to have one or multiple contacts evaluating the students' work.
During their efforts to complete senior design projects, project teams may receive information from the project sponsor which is privileged and is to be held in confidence. The ISE department considers the responsibility for maintaining such a confidence a very serious issue. Virginia Tech will provide a confidentiality agreement at the initiation of the project, once a team selects the project. Agreements are between the student team members and the client.
The coordinator of the capstone program will periodically prompt you for evaluations of the team. Yes, you will be involved in gradingâ¦after all, you are the customer. Quick and easy standardized forms will be provided. There are fixed milestones such as a proposal, monthly progress reports and a final report, but you can request more frequent updates from the team, including in-house briefings. While the coordinator will prompt you for feedback, you certainly don't need to wait if a concern or conflict arises (although historically, these have been rare). Contact the coordinator at any time should such concerns or questions emerge. For major deliverables, grades will be submitted by the client (customer satisfaction), advisor (technical) and coordinator (project management).
Senior symposium is the capstone event at which all teams present their projects in a professional conference venue. There are parallel sessions and clients can experience not only their team's hard work, but can benchmark and network with others. There is food, drink and a poster session. The ISE Advisory Board provides recognitions to teams which have excelled in several categories. After a long year of technical and circumstantial challenges, this is designed to be a true, capstone event.
Example 1
The first example is from a multimillion dollar global industry, providing manufactured goods and design services for the industrial and commercial markets. For this transactional process improvement project, the design team worked with the Accounts Payable (AP) division. AP's primary responsibility is to process invoices and pay suppliers for numerous facilities of North America, including facilities located in Mexico.
While the client is an organization that heavily emphasizes the use of visual metrics and measurement systems to keep track of and maintain a desired productivity level, AP did not have measures in place. The client requested recommendations regarding existing standards of procedure to improve the productivity, as well as to provide relevant visual management methods to keep track of overall productivity rates and quality levels according to the same standards used by the operations side of the business.
Upon extensive analysis of the existing process, the design team determined that since AP's process is highly dependent of external departments, it would be more beneficial to minimize the amount of changes to be made to the existing process. At this point, the project shifted focus to developing multiple metrics to drive productivity improvement, rather making any significant changes to the existing internal processes. These metrics measured AP's productivity rate and accuracy as well as the performance of the Purchasing and Receiving Departments to establish accountability to drive future improvements.
The measurements and metrics allowed AP to target and resolve any discrepancies within the entire process, and the metrics have reflected on overall improvement of AP's productivity rate as well as invoice accuracy. All of the project objectives were met on time, below the initially proposed budget.
Example 2
This project consisted of being trained in making ergonomic assessments, conducting ergonomic surveys using proprietary software, and making recommendations for reducing ergonomic risks. To do so, the team was required to make several visits to the company's headquarters and repair shop.
The team was given a list of areas to observe. The consultants observed and collected all the necessary data to prioritize three different areas. The data were entered into the software. Data were collected using observational checklists that documented the physical demands associated with given processes performed by the operators. The notes and results from the tool were then discussed with the client, shop floor supervisors, and the group's advisor to shed light on standard practices and problems. From there, the team was able to complete BEST and BRIEF ergonomic surveys and find the most problematic tasks in each area to redesign the area or job.
The team chose to focus on a particular area because of the severe ergonomic problems that presented (revealed while using the software) as well as the team's belief (substantiated by the client) that substantial improvement could be made. Based on the data, the group devised multiple actions and tools that could be implemented to relieve the area's associated problems. Using a decision matrix with input from the client, the group determined that a hybrid of options should be 5S, a new layout, as well as new stools and engine stands. The Benefit / Cost Analysis for the project resulted in a 1.45 ratio. The following data were used:
(NOTE: All teams conduct such an analysis and the “cost” includes the hypothetical consulting cost associated with the students had they been actual consultants)
Example 3
This company, invests approximately $75,000,000 into raw materials with almost 0% rejection of the product from the quality control department. It became a matter of concern when it was realized that they are investing more money than required in the raw material. Hence, the company believed they could increase their profit if they optimize the raw material usage. A tool was designed for the client that identifies and ignores outliers on the basis of the data being input into the built-in database. All outliers are tagged to their respective ID's so that the company can relate to the supplier information of that particular raw material if needed. The intent of the tool is to reduce least 1% of the raw material cost. As the main goal was to optimize the inbound raw material use, the tool achieved that by improving gauge and width selection efficiency. This opportunity provided the relevant, real-time work experience for applying Industrial and Systems Engineering principles into developing a solution for a real world problem. Namely, this project applied statistical analysis for applying optimization, human factors related design, and project management.
Back to Select and Scope a Project
Email us additional questions you would like to see answered in this tutorial bkleiner@vt.edu
Advising a senior design team is a service assignment that also counts on the activity report as undergraduate advising. The time commitment to advise a team is minimal, typically on the order of 1 hour per week for regular interaction. Untenured assistant professors should probably limit their advising to one team/year. In addition, possible synergies exist. It is possible to have a design team support a sponsored or unsponsored research project. It is also possible for you to advise a project with a company for which you have particular interest. Finally, the context of a senior project is also a good venue for evaluating prospective candidates for graduate school. It is generally advised that the faculty advisor visit with the client once per semester. ISE typically provides a stipend for this purpose.
The Coordinator will give you the opportunity to identify in advance, projects you are potentially interested in advising. Our general process involves teams self-selecting members and then “bidding” on projects of interest. Once a team has formed and selects a project, they will seek an advisor. Since the number of projects typically exceeds the number of faculty, you are encouraged to advise at least one team. The scope of a given project typically and intentionally includes multiple areas of ISE so it isn't expected that your area of expertise overlap completely with the focus of the project.
The best way to think about the organizational structure is a matrix consulting organization.
Internally, in terms of faculty, we have a coordinator/instructor, comparable to an administrative supervisor and you, the technical advisor for each team. The team serves an external client or “customer”. The evaluation scheme recognizes that these three stakeholders could have different expectations. For example, it is entirely possible that you will ask the team to go beyond the client's expectation, especially in the case in which you feel the team is not being stretched technically. In the rare event of gross disagreement with client direction or conflict, consult the coordinator.
As faculty advisor, your role is to provide technical guidance and to facilitate the technical integrity of the team's work. While various management styles have been observed, in general, one of the most effective seems to be one in which the advisor stays fairly close to the team, prompting regular reviews (e.g. weekly). These can be held during your regular office hours or at a special time — it is up to you. For aspects of the project that are outside of your comfort zone, you are encouraged to have the team consult with appropriate faculty members.
The coordinator of the capstone program (and course instructor) will periodically prompt you for evaluations of the team. Quick and easy standardized forms will be provided. There are fixed milestones such as a proposal, monthly progress reports and a final report, but you can request of the team, more frequent updates. While the coordinator will prompt you for feedback, you certainly don't need to wait if there is a concern. Contact the coordinator at any time should such concerns or questions emerge. For major deliverables, grades will be submitted by the client (customer satisfaction), advisor (technical) and coordinator (project management).
Email us additional questions you would like to see answered in this tutorial bkleiner@vt.edu
