1. The Chemical Engineering Capstone Experience: Design, Research, Entrepreneurship, or All of the Above? Stephen W. Thiel, PhD, PE Department of Biomedical, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering University of Cincinnati Keywords: Capstone Design Entrepreneurship Research Team Breadth

2. Why? Challenge: Tensions Among Increasing number of students interested in –Undergraduate research –BS-MS programs –BS-MBA programs Traditional CHE design capstone experience “One program, one capstone” – prefer to avoid track-specific capstone Capstone reflects students’ prior experience Desired Outcome: Revisioned Capstone Meet the traditional learning objectives of the UC CHE Program, Addresses the more specialized needs of research- and entrepreneurship-focused students Coordinates with (not replace) MS thesis research and entrepreneurial capstones Enrich capstone experience for traditional CHE students through interaction with students on non- traditional tracks

3. When? 2015-2016: Starting push for more students in research co-op positions in additional to usual undergraduate research * NSF Grant #1356656: S-STEM: Bridging Our Students to Their Future Existing ACCelerated ENgineering Degree program (ACCEND) – BS+MS / BS+MEng / BS+MBA in 5 years – continuing program 2015- 2016 S-STEM Scholarship Program * BME (Biomedical), CHE (Chemical), ENVE (Environmental) Engineering Targeted Support for Students in Entrepreneurial and Research Tracks First class will complete capstone in 2018- 2019 Need CHE, ENVE research capstones 2014- 2015 2018- 2019 S-STEM Cohort 1 Curriculum Revision Capstone Revisioning

4. Where? Are there similar programs elsewhere? Vision: program-wide (CHE, ENVE) or department-wide implementation –Cross-disciplinary teams: BME + CHE CHE + ENVE –“Broad” teams (research + entrepreneurship + traditional students) Vision: model for other engineering programs at the University of Cincinnati and elsewhere

5. What? Curriculum –Structured undergraduate research courses … work in progress –Workshops and social events – already a successful part of S-STEM/REU programs –Identify research mentors early … work in progress Current BS Capstone Course Sequence –Design + Economics –Implementing Engineering Firm/Process Engineering Group Model MEng Capstone Projects

6. Prognosis? Questions/Challenges Documenting impact – what metrics? Can we scale-up with current ACCEND and undergraduate research students? Class size! Maintaining UC “brand” and approach New ENVE program … capstone “under construction” How do we structure the UG research process to lead to “broad” capstone projects? How good an idea is this? What are the weak points? Any suggestions, warnings, or sage advice about implementation? How do we get broad teams up and running quickly? Or at all? Brilliant Educators