Administration And Management Of Undergraduate Capstone Projects In Joint Degree Technology Programmes

376 Int. J. Management in Education, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2010
Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Administration and management of
undergraduate capstone projects in
joint degree technology programmes
M.K.S. Sastry*
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of the West Indies,
St. Augustine Campus,
Trinidad and Tobago
Email: mks_sastry@ieee.org
*Corresponding author
Clement K. Sankat
University of the West Indies,
St. Augustine Campus,
Trinidad and Tobago
Email: clement.sankat@sta.uwi.edu
Kamel Singh
Applied Engineering Programs,
University of Trinidad and Tobago,
Trinidad and Tobago
Email: kamel.singh@utt.edu.tt
Abstract: Managing undergraduate capstone projects is a specialised task which
depends on the nature of programmes, availability of resources, inputs and
the expected outcomes. Technology programmes are different from conventional
engineering programmes and hence the training in technology capstone
projects should be aligned with the programme objectives and expectations.
This paper describes an effective policy framework and administrative process
for managing the capstone projects in typical joint technology degree
programmes in Trinidad and Tobago. Uniqueness of technology capstone
projects and their distinct inputs and expected outcomes are illustrated.
Detailed management process, assessment criteria and the experiences gained
so far are presented. Few technology projects of these programmes under this
framework are briefly described.
Keywords: capstone projects; technology programmes; technologists; joint
degrees; engineering programmes.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Sastry, M.K.S., Sankat, C.K.
and Singh, K. (2010) ‘Administration and management of undergraduate
capstone projects in joint degree technology programmes’, Int. J. Management
in Education, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp.376–390.

Administration and management of undergraduate capstone projects 377
Biographical notes: M.K.S. Sastry is currently with the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of the West Indies (UWI) and
also the Programme Coordinator, BTech Degree Programmes jointly offered
by UWI and University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He received his
Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology,
India. He is a senior member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE), USA, and a member of Institution of Engineering and Technology
(IET), UK. His research interests include Engineering Education, Information
Systems, Computer Applications in Power Engineering, and Asset and Facility
Management.
Clement K. Sankat is presently Pro-Vice Chancellor and Campus Principal for
the University of West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Prior to this, he served
UWI in different capacities including Dean, Faculty of Engineering; Head and
Professor of Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering;
Chairman, Executive Management Committee for UWI–UTT Joint Degree
Programmes. His teaching and research activities have covered an extended
area of Mechanical Engineering and related domains.
Kamel Singh is a Senior Instructor and Programme Leader for the Bachelor of
Applied Technology and Bachelor of Engineering in Applied Process and
Utilities Technology Programmes at the University of Trinidad and Tobago. He
has 18 years of industrial experience in the design and construction of process
plant, pressure vessel, storage tank, pipeline, offshore production facilities,
welding engineering, quality control and maintenance management. His research
interests include modern energy systems, engineering curricula development
and machine design.
1 Introduction
Capstone project is a significant component in engineering or technology curricula
and provides an opportunity to the student in developing professional skills like
problem solving, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Most often, the words ‘Engineer’,
‘Technologist’, ‘Engineering Programmes’, ‘Technology Programmes’ are used
synonymously. However, these words are completely different and the Institution of
Engineering and Technology (IET), UK, clearly defines these terms with respective
meaning, inputs, outputs and expectations. The underlying spirit of technology programmes
is to produce more industry-ready graduates with hands-on skills in using innovative
tools, processes and technologies, as opposed to engineers who design and simulate the
systems or processes (Sastry et al., 2007). Hence, technology training is reinforced by
‘hands-on’ laboratory training and real world exposure to the utility engineering/industry
environment, through internships. Technology programmes have different structures,
standards and outcomes than the conventional engineering degree programmes and
produce ‘Incorporated Engineers’. Currently, there are several technology programmes
around the world which produce ‘Technologists’. The discussion in this paper focuses on
the administrative aspects of capstone projects in technology programmes offered jointly
by the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Trinidad and Tobago
(UTT). These programmes are unique with distinct features to serve the needs of local

378 M.K.S. Sastry, C.K. Sankat and K. Singh
industries and utilities (Sastry et al., 2008) and essentially offered on part-time basis in
the evening. Further, about 95% of the students are full-time employees of local
industries and utilities. Capstone projects in these programmes are differently administrated
and managed to meet the programme expectations and global quality standards.
From the literature it is clear that engineering faculties across the globe have
experimented with capstone projects in several ways to achieve better throughput, to
maintain the quality standards and to improve the existing knowledge base. These
experiments included changing the duration of projects, group and individual projects,
assessment strategies and colloboration with industry. Few authors reported that couple
of cycles of expereinces were required to perfect the administrative framework governing
the capstone (Armstrong et al., 2006; Bachnak, 2006; Morales, 2006). During the early
1990s, few universities offered this course as a combination of classroom teaching and a
hands-on design labotorary training (Fabiano, 1992) over one, final semester. However,
administration and management of capstone projects in engineering programmes has
changed considerably since then. New strategies in the assessment process to normalise
the capstone grades and to minimise the differences among the examiners and the
experiences have been presented by Teo and Ho (1998). Incorportation of necessary
courses and training programmes to prepare students to take up challenging capstone
projects is preferred by some univeristies (Bhurtum et al., 1999). Universities have set
up industry-based projects to provide real-world exposure and training to the students
(Gol et al., 2001; Ray, 2003; Wang and Pai, 2006). However, Morales (2006) reported on
attempts to minimise the role of industry inputs on the basis of student feedback expressing
the lesser availability of industry personnel to interact with the students. Difficulties of
administering the capstone projects to meet the accreditation standards are also presented
by Hudson and Harding (2002) and Campbell and Sobel (2003). In summary, administration
and management of capstone projects is a specialised task which depends on nature
of programme, availability of resources and expected outcomes. However, not much
information is available on the capstone technology projects in case of degrees offered
jointly by two different univerisites. In this paper, an attempt is made to explain the
administrative and management framework goverining these unique capstone technology
projects. This paper is organised as follows. Section 2 explains a brief background of the
programmes. Section 3 provides the methodology in defining the policy framework for
the capstone projects. Section 4 explains the administrative framework, inputs, expected
outcomes and assessment criteria. The unique aspects of capstone projects are presented
in Section 5. Overall management process is presented in Section 6. Section 7 illustrates
our experiences so far, throughput analysis of student performance, student reaction and
industry perspective.
2 Background of UWI–UTT joint degrees
The UWI is a regional university which serves the 15 English-speaking countries of the
Caribbean region and which was established nearly 60 years ago. The UTT has been
established in the year 2004 and partnered with the UWI through a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) to offer two undergraduate degrees, viz. the Bachelor of Applied

Technology Degrees (BTech) in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. The primary
outputs of these two degrees are technologists (also known as Incorporated Engineers)
for the local industrial and service sectors. These programmes are being governed by a
Joint Management Executive Committee (JMEC) in which senior fauclty members of
both institutions are members (Sastry et al., 2007). The Institution of Engineering and
Technology (the IET), UK, has accredited these programmes after a succesful visit in the
year 2007. According to standards of the IET,
The Incorporated Engineers are characterized by their ability to act as
exponents of today’s technology through creativity and innovation (EC-UK,
2003). To this end, they maintain and manage applications of current and
developing technology, and may undertake engineering design, development,
manufacture, construction and operation. Incorporated Engineers are variously
engaged in technical and commercial management and also possess effective
interpersonal skills.
3 Methodology for creation of policy framework
Unfortunately, not much information is available in the literature about the policies and
processes governing technology projects to help JMEC in the initial planning. This task
is challenging in a sense that mostly technologies are imported, but managed locally in
Trinidad and Tobago, which has a vibrant energy industry sector. The senior members
of JMEC engaged themselves in series of brain storming sessions on different occassions,
discussed on the needs of the local industries, international accreditation statndards
and overall expectations of the technology programmes. As a result of their efforts,
a well-defined administrative policy framework for producing high-quality projects is
devised. This policy framework ensures that the technology projects in these programmes
provide much required hands-on and high skills training to the students. This policy is
then translated administrative process.
4 Administrative process
The JMEC has laid out a well-defined adminstrative process in terms of types of projects
that can be taken up, availability of resources, expected outcomes, assessment criteria
and the related rules and regulations. Each student of these programmes has to register
for the course titled ‘Integrated Project in Industry’ after having completed all the courses
in the programme successfully. The duration of the capstone project is two semesters,
13 weeks each with a total weighting of six credits. Capstone project is completely
different from the rest of courses in the programme and does not follow the usual
protocol of regular instruction, course work and examinations, etc. Further, technology
projects are closely coupled to local industry processes and practices to provide a complete
work-related experience in the real world. Student is responsible for project selection,
supervisor selection, and conduct and progress of the work. Obviously, this requires a
considerable shift in the attitude of the student, and management skills in realising the set
objectives of the chosen project within the specified time frame. The various aspects of
administrative framework are discussed briefly in the following sections.

4.1 Types of projects
Capstone projects can be of different types based on the area of engineering specialisation,
student’s background and interests of the industries and local utilities. Keeping the
overall outcomes of the technology programmes and the standards, the technology
projects are broadly classified into four categories which are summarised hereafter.
• Problem identification and solving: The projects under this category can be an
existing major problem in an industry or a utility, or a time consuming task in a
complex process. This type of projects require modelling of the plant/system and
rigorous analysis of the problem and the student’s own approach or strategy to solve
the same using a feasible and cost effective solution.
• Design and build: Design of complex engineering systems based on standard
specifications and benchmarks. A fully functional working prototype must be
designed and built based on custom specifications. Design validation and extensive
analysis must be undertaken. The same must be tested and demonstrated during the
examinations.
• Implementation (or re-engineering): Development of a working prototype based on
an existing methodology/standard technique, such as new electronic circuits, working
tools or machines. Under this category, a working prototype must be built based
on available designs and standard specifications. The same must be tested and
demonstrated during the examinations.
• Software simulation: Development of software for engineering applications through
standard software process and using any approved technologies must be developed
to solve specific problem. The developed software must be tested thoroughly and
demonstrated during the examinations.
Students enjoy freedom to choose any type of project. An interactive orientation session
will be held by the programme coordinator to help students to understand the overall
governing process for this course. During this orientation, students are advised to identify
problems in their own work places, local industries or even from the literature. Each
student is expected to define the problem and formulate the objectives, scope and
expected deliverables.
4.2 Inputs and expected outcomes
Though there is no formal teaching or training to the students, during the two semester
period, they are provided with wide range of inputs throughout the programme and even
during to meet the standard expectations. These inputs and resources are provided to the
students to inculcate the notion of design, analysis and awareness of interdisciplinary
nature of engineering practice. The various inputs and outcomes are outlined below as
well as in Figure 1.

4.2.1 Academic inputs
Students of these joint degree programmes receive training in wide ranging courses
in ‘Core Engineering’, ‘Technology Management’, ‘Basic Sciences and Mathematics’,
‘Languages and Humanities’ (Sastry et al., 2008). These courses impart a variety of
skills, knowledge and hands-on experience to the students, thus making them ready to
face the likely challenges during the capstone project. The UTT has developed good
relations with several senior industry personnel and engaged them in as part-time
instructors to teach technology courses in the same programmes.
Figure 1 Inputs and expected outcomes of technology capstone projects
Final Year Individual,
Capstone Project
Conceive
Design
Develop
Test
Analyse
Employer/Ind
ustry Support
Academic
Inputs
through
Courses:
Core
Engineering,
Technology
Management,
Maths and
Science,
Languages
and
Humanities
Technical
guidance from
Supervisor
Overall Progress
monitoring by
panel of examiners
Guidance on technical report writing, Laboratory
and Library Facilities
Expected Outcomes
Fully working system
Functional prototype
A new Strategy/
Methodology
This strategy provided students an opportunity to develop close relations with the senior
engineers directly in the classroom who can help them in problem identification and
formulation of the projects. This nature of classroom interactions can pave the way
forward for effective cross-industry partnership, technology and knowledge transfer to
identify the solutions to the existing or known technological problems.
4.2.2 Technical guidance from supervisor
Most of the students are employed in local industries and utilities. About 95% of the
students formulate their capstone projects based on the problems or the topics which are
of interest to their respective employers. Students can identify the project supervisors

from their work place or from the university faculty. If a student is not able to identify an
appropriate supervisor, then the UTT will circulate the proposal and then identify one for
that project. Students consult their project supervisor for necessary guidance periodically.
Supervisors work with the student very closely, make necessary visits to the project sites
to understand, analyse and then help the student. In most cases, it will be a learning
experience for the supervisors too. This approach provided the much needed interaction
between university teaching staff and the industry.
4.2.3 Employer/industry support
The support from the employer is vital to the student in carrying out the project
successfully. Usually employers provide necessary permissions and approvals to use their
equipment and resources due to the fact that some of their long pending problems are
likely to be solved through their own employees. It is also interesting to note that
employers are very happy to see that their staff, who are students of the technology
programmes, engaged in technologically challenging projects (Ugas and Sastry, 2009)
and progressing well in terms of professional development. Some industries funded and
closely monitored the progress of the projects to ensure the expected results and derive
benefits (Dial et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2009).
4.2.4 Infrastructural facilities of the universities
As the BTech degrees are jointly offered by the UWI and the UTT, the students have
access to the libraries, simulators, laboratories and workshops of both the universities and
this has helped the students in understanding the concepts, experimentation process and
analysing information related to their projects. In addition, the UTT has devised a student
friendly purchase procedures for equipment procurement, which is a great challenge,
given the fact that Trinidad and Tobago is an island country and most of the equipment
need to be procured from the USA or UK. Despite such challenges, a wide range of
instruments, equipment and other apparatus have been purchased without losing the time.
Two faculty members from the languages department of the UTT trained the students in
technical report writing and also assisted them in proof reading their reports.
4.2.5 Overall monitoring and assessment
Students meet the project supervisors regularly to seek consultation. The respective
engineering departments at the UWI appoint a panel of examiners to assess the student
performance. The panel makes the necessary field visits, before commencement of the
project and after completion of the project. Through these field visits, the panel can
examine the student closely from project commencement to the completion. Normally,
the panel suggests the suitable solutions to the likely and potential challenges in the
project as well as their expectations during the site visits. In addition to this, at the end of
first semester, students have to present their progress reports to the same panel of
examiners and this examination has a weighting of 20% of final grade. During this
examination, students present the progress made thus far and what needs to be done in
the coming semester. Panel carefully analyses the progress of the student and provides a

cursory feedback and its views on the student performance. In summary, site visits,
support from supervisor and progress report presentation, help students to check their
own progress as well as making necessary changes in time, if necessary.
4.2.6 Expected outcomes
At the end of the two semesters, every capstone project should ideally result in any one
of the three outcomes (a) fully working system, (b) functional prototype and (c) a new
strategy/methodology to improve an existing process. In addition to this, students are
expected to submit a thesis on their work. The students will gain the unique experience of
solving technical problems, within demanding work-time schedules, using available
resources. With this experience, they will be able to address real-world problems and
new technological challenges in an effective manner.
4.2.7 Assessment mechanism
Assessment is done by a panel consisting of project supervisor and two additional
examiners drawn from both universities. Each student is examined in three major areas
(a) technical report writing skills (b) oral presentation and communication skills and
(c) professional conduct and progression during the project execution. Table 1 illustrates
various assessment components that are used to examine the student skills and the quality
of work done in completing the project.
Table 1 Assessment components with weightings for evaluation of capstone projects
Assessment component Percentage weighting
1 Technical report writing skills
Presentation quality 10
Technical content 30
Research 20
2 Oral presentation and communication skills
Presentation quality 10
Delivery 10
Defence 10
3 Professional conduct and progression 10
Total 100
5 Distinction of technology capstone projects in joint degree programmes
As can be seen from Section 4, the technology capstones projects are distinctly different
from the conventional engineering capstone projects at the UWI with typical sets of
inputs and outcomes. Table 2 summarises the similarities and differences between the
technology and engineering capstone projects.

Table 2 Comparison between technology and engineering projects
Technology capstone projects
Traditional engineering capstone
projects at the UWI
Students identify their own problem and
develop the project proposal with objectives
and expected deliverables
Teaching staff conceive the projects and
make the ready-made proposals available
to students
About 95% of the technology capstone projects
are based on the real-world problems in
industries or utilities where the student is
working
Less than 5% of engineering projects are
carried out in local industries and utilities,
as the students are with the university on
full-time basis
Students use propriety technologies, tools and
software systems to analyse, design and
develop the systems during their project work
More than 95% of engineering projects
involve developing new tools, algorithms,
software applications, simulation and
in-depth analysis of complex systems, etc.
Research is not a significant component of
technology projects. As the problems are
unique and specific to the local industries and
utilities, it is very difficult to find the
previously published articles. Students are
expected to carry out in-depth analysis and
develop a feasible solution
Research is a significant component of
engineering projects and students are
expected to undertake an in-depth literature
survey on the chosen problem and compare
their results with international benchmarks
which may be available in the refereed
journals
Final outcomes of the technology projects
include a fully working system or a prototype
system or an effective strategy to improve or
maintain an existing process
Final outcomes of engineering projects
include new processes, systems or algorithms
to solve complex problems or software
applications
Project duration is two semesters Project duration is two semesters
6 Overall management process
The administrative framework is translated into a systematic management process, which
is used by the teaching faculty and administrative staff for the management of student
projects. Eligible students register for their capstone projects at the start of the semester,
just as they register for other courses. During the registration week, the UTT organises
orientation classes to explain about the procedures, expectations, deadlines, resources and
previous experiences of students as well as those of supervisors. Students are required to
identify a topic or a work-related problem on their own and then submit a project
proposal in the prescribed format within the first week. The proposal consists of title,
problem statement, objectives and scope, a brief introduction of the problem, background
expected end deliverables, tools and technologies that will be used, resources needed
from universities, etc. The senior faculty from respective engineering departments at the
UWI will review the proposals according to the expected standards and approve them
based on their merit, subjected to modifications.
After securing the approval for the project, student arranges a site visit to explain the
problem to the UWI examiners and programme coordinators. During this site visit, the
panel will identify the technical challenges involved and give suggestions that can help
student to solve the same. A supervisor will be identified either from industry or from the
UTT to monitor the progress of the student. The first semester is called Phase 1 and the
second semester as Phase 2. Student will be coordinating activities like problem analysis,

resource identification, equipment procurement, solution formulation and design, etc. in
the Phase 1. At the end of the first semester a progress report is required to be submitted
and all the Phase 1 students will be examined for the progress made thus far and for their
action plan for the Phase 2. Examination panel provides necessary inputs, suggestions
and recommendations to the students to encourage them towards successful completion
of their projects. Students who could not make enough progress can opt to withdraw from
the project and restart. However, they need to identify a new problem and a new
supervisor different from the past project, in order to keep the uniform challenges to all
the students.
During the Phase 2, students undertake building the prototypes, cost benefit analysis,
testing and comparison, final report writing, etc. Students meet their respective supervisors
periodically and note the proceedings of the meetings in a project log book, issued by the
BTech department. Upon completion of the project, student arranges another site visit to
demonstrate the outcome of the project to the examiners. The overall process and the
intermediate activities are illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2 Overall process of capstone projects with intermediate activities
Project Registration/
Preliminary Orientation
Review of the Project Proposal by UWI Senior
Faculty and appointment of UWI Examiners
Site visit and inspection by UWI Examiners
Identify suitable project supervisors from UTT
and from Industry . Student starts working on
the approved project
Progress Report Presentation - Phase 1
Examination at the end of First Semester
Final Project Presentation - Phase 2
Examination at the end of Second Semester
Final Project Submission and Demonstration of
Working Prototype
Site visit and inspection by UWI Examiners to
check the completed project in working
condition
Identify the Overall features and requirements ,
Formulate solution Strategy , Design the
solution/ Prototype/ Design Validation
Implementation of Design, Development and
construction of a working prototype or actual
system
First
Semester
(Phase
1)
13
Weeks
Student decides to
drop out
Second
Semester
(Phase
2)
13
weeks
Is Student successful
in final Project
Examination?
Prepare the student file for
Graduation
No
Yes
No
Yes
START
Proposal Preparation and Preliminary Review /
Appointment of UTT Project Supervisor
7 Results and experiences
Till date, 123 students (Electrical Engineering: 57 and Mechanical Engineering: 66) have
completed their capstone projects. The student success and failure rate are 95% and 5%
in the first attempt. The detailed distribution of the final grades and the student numbers
is shown in Figure 3. Trends of student success and failure rates indicate that the existing
administrative processes and management strategies yielded good and healthy results.

Faculty members and supervisors encouraged students to publish their works in refereed
international conferences and journals. Few students have responded and started working
with faculty members to contribute to the local, regional conferences and journals. This
engulfed the enthusiasm in other students and now more students who are very successful
in their projects are working actively on publishing their works (Sangster et al., 2007;
Dial et al., 2008; Mangal et al., 2008; Ramsingh and Sastry, 2009; Roberts et al., 2009;
Ugas and Sastry, 2009). Though students face some level of stress in the first few weeks
of project, at the end, they are proud of their achievements. Some students have been able
to gain better employment based on the project experience. Industries and utilities
are keen to study the technology projects undertaken in their premises for possible
implementation. Few projects have been adopted by the respective industries already.
Some students have received positive encouragement to implement their findings on a
pilot basis or to submit a deployment feasibility report. In some cases, employers have
restrained the students from disclosing the vital design aspects and other key information
related to their internal processes. Interestingly, all students in such cases were promoted
to higher positions.
Figure 3 Throughput analysis of capstone projects in UWI-UTT BTech programmes
This positive response from local industries and utilities indicates the applicability of the
end deliverables, overall effectiveness of the technology programmes and the training
involved and the success of administrative framework of the capstone projects. To
provide a general understanding, details of few selected technology projects completed
so far are presented in Table 3.
To compliment the above policy framework, the faculty of Engineering at the UWI
organises ‘Engineering Management Final-Year Students’ Project Competition’ to
recognise the best student projects and this competition is open to all engineering
programmes in both the UWI and the UTT. Some of the students in the technology
programme have participated and successful in achieving the awards.

Table 3 Description of selected technology capstone projects
Project title, name
of the company Brief description
A Novel Control Strategy
for an Ammonia Marine
Loading Arm – YARA,
Trinidad
Using a state of art, industry standard monitoring and control
equipment, an operator friendly, real-time visual interface is
developed to display overall operating process. This approach
reduces the overall operating cost and improves safety standards
during product loading (Ugas and Sastry, 2009).
A New, Locally
Engineered Hydro Test
Bench for testing the Gate
Valves – United
Engineering Services
Limited, Trinidad
A new hydraulically operated test bench has been designed, built
and tested successfully. This equipment is found to be having
higher overall testing efficiency in testing and maintenance of
gate valves. Presently, this equipment is adopted by the company
for regular use (Dial et al., 2008).
Design, Construction and
Testing of an Automatic
Bottle Cap Feed Hopper
System – National
Petroleum Co Ltd.,
Trinidad
This is an automation solution to a manual process of filling the
cap sorter bin with caps and eliminated the need of an attendant
having to do it and eliminate any unnecessary line stoppage due
to low cap level in the cap sorter bin. This has been successfully
incorporated into process line of the company. The hopper
system, with the conveyer carrying the caps in the bottle filling
process line is shown in Figure 4.
Wireless Control for
Function Testing
Automatic Spreader Bars –
Point Lisas Industrial Port
Development Corporation
(PLIPDECO), Trinidad
A real time wireless control mechanism, using Bluetooth
technology has been designed, tested and integrated with a
newly engineered test kit to control a BROMMA EH5 spreader
bar. This has replaced the conventional, manual system and the
associated processes. The operators are now provided with a
friendly computer interface to operate the spreader bars in real
time. The real-time interface is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 4 Automatic Bottle Cap Feed Hopper System designed and built at NPC, Ltd.
(see online version for colours)

Figure 5 A real-time operator interface to control the spreader bars at the PLIPDECO
(see online version for colours)
8 Scope for further research
From the above sections, it is clear that the joint technology programmes in Trinidad and
Tobago have typical arrangements governing the technology projects. These arrangements
have been established based on the MOU, working relations of the partnering
universities, international standards, and local industry and utility requirements. The
approach suggested in this paper can be adopted in any technology programme with
similar inputs and outputs. However, further research should be carried out to study the
global practices and trends in this area as it is the capstone project really, in which the
student takes up a technologically challenging professional responsibility without
any formal teaching. Additionally, work needs to be carried out to clearly define the
standards and terms of reference for technology capstone projects. Such benchmarks can
be used by various professional engineering and technology institutions (such as IET)
around the world for accreditation and professional registration purposes.
9 Conclusion
Technology capstone projects are quite different from conventional engineering projects.
Administration of such projects in joint degree programmes requires a well-defined
policy framework and administrative process due to their uniqueness and distinct inputs

and outputs. It can be seen that the implementation of these policies, supplemented with a
continuous monitoring of student progress has yielded successful results. As seen from
the discussion on few sample projects and the industry perspective, it can be observed
that the framework presented in this paper has helped the partnering universities in
the successful completion of the programmes and also helped the students to earn
professional respect from their employers. This experience can be replicated or adopted
in any technology programmes with necessary adjustments as required.
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requirements’, 9th International Conference on Engineering Education, pp.T1H19–T1H24.
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of mobile telephone customers’, International Conference on Technology Innovation and
Industrial Management (TIIM), 18–20 June, Bangkok.
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33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, pp.S2B24–S2B29.
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asphalt crusher’, Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology
(LACCET’2009), 1–5 June, San Cristobal, Venezuela.
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overpass’, 23rd ISPE International Conference on CAD/CAM Robotics & Factories of the
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degree programs in Trinidad and Tobago’, Latin American and Caribbean Journal of
Engineering Education, Vol. l, No. 1, pp.27–34.
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Journal of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago.
Wang, S.L. and Pai, D. (2006) ‘Engaging stakeholders in the assessment of ABET outcomes
in a capstone design course’, 9th International Conference on Engineering Education,
pp.T4A10–T4A13.

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