Collaborations with industry are usually done during the evaluation process [ 22 ] whereby the representatives from industry are invited to project presentations. Student teams present the results of their project in a formal presentation setting. Later, the industry partner gives feedback, comments and discusses the results with both students and course coordinators.
26; 31 ]. The course coordinator / faculty advisor is responsible for ensuring that each discipline involved in an interdisciplinary capstone design project contributes equally, working as a team without any disengagement by group members.
Modern university practices tend to reward highly specialized educators. An educator must conduct and spend more time for research activities to get promoted and for faculty advancement [ 35 ]. The nature of a capstone design project that requires full commitment from the course coordinator may result in less time for research activities.
It has been suggested that graduate students act as mentors for undergraduate capstone teams as a way round this dilemma [ 24 ]. Graduate student mentors act as part of the team, guiding and answering the teams’ questions regarding the project as well as keeping the team on track. This arrangement relieves the pressure on sponsors and faculty advisors of the project. Olsen et al. [ 31 ] suggested that faculty mentors who are not members of the lead faculty should be included in the project. Faculty mentors should give directions and feedback to students and commit 1-2 hours for weekly meeting session with the students.
Collaborations with industry Other researchers [ 13; 22; 26; 36 ] believe that it is always advantageous to have an industrial partnership in a capstone project. Magleby [ 37 ] claimed that industrial projects capture greater
35