Congratulations on almost graduating with either the Masters of Science in Systems Engineering or Masters in Engineering Management! Besides the coursework, the Graduate School requires “a final exam that covers breadth and integration of material in the field.” The capstone project and exam is how the department determines whether or not a student has sufficient mastery of the material to earn their master's degree. The capstone exam occurs in the semester that a student plans to graduate and every student must pass a capstone exam to graduate.
The vast majority of successful systems engineers and engineering managers are able to draw knowledge and solutions from multiple areas. The purpose of the capstone project and exam is for the students to demonstrate mastery of the course knowledge, and also the capability to integrate topics from multiple classes into a cohesive solution. A successful project integrates knowledge from at least three classes on the student's program of study to create a real-world solution. For the MSSE, at least one of these three classes must include systems modeling (SIME 6460 - ME EN 6166 Model-Based Systems Engineering or SIME 6060 - ME EN 6183 Discrete Event Systems Simulation). For the MEM, at least one of these classes must include Quantitative Decision Making (SIME 6000 - ME EN 6185 Analytics for Systems Management, SIME 6050 - ME EN 6050 Operations Research for Systems, ME EN 6035 Design of Experiments, or CS 6930 Machine Learning).
The capstone project begins during the first week of the semester by the student emailing the MSSE Director (Pedro Huebner) or the MEM Director (Todd Easton). This email describes the problem that the student plans on pursuing, along with the 3 classes that the student will apply to create a cohesive solution. The Director will assign an examiner.
During the semester, the student will research and develop a solution to the problem that incorporates and integrates knowledge from these three courses. Although a student can always reach out for assistance, it is anticipated that the student will demonstrate their mastery of the material and create their solution with minimal assistance.
The student should work with their examiner to schedule the capstone exam, which should occur at least a two weeks before the end of the semester. A week before the capstone exam, the student should email the examiner their slides. This provides feedback to make sure that the student is reasonably prepared. The day before the examination, the student should email the examiner with a final copy of the slides.
The capstone exam is a 20-25 minute presentation with questions where the student describes the problem, why it is important to solve, and the avenues the student would pursue to solve it. The student does not need to actually solve the problem, describing how the student would use the tools or methods to obtain a cohesive solution is sufficient. Besides presenting the solution methodology, the presentation must also discuss the student's ethical decision process, and any ethical implications of their proposed solution. Additionally, the presentation should discuss the student's consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
The examiner listens to the presentation and asks questions. If the examiner determines that the person passes, then the person has completed this requirement for the MSSE or MEM.
If the examiner decides that the person didn’t pass, then a second Capstone Exam is scheduled still in the same semester. Two examiners listen to the second exam. If both of these examiners vote to pass, then the student has passed with a vote of 2-1, and the student has successfully completed this graduation requirement. If either of these people vote not to pass, then the student failed the capstone project with at least two negative votes. Failing the Capstone Exam should be viewed similar to failing a master's thesis defense. Rules for the number of retakes and time between retakes is established by the Graduate School and will be strictly followed.
Below are links to some sample Capstone Exam slides created by the faculty. These slides should assist students in determining the level of detail.
The program assesses oral communication in the final exam. Students are encouraged to be well prepared and within the time limit.