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
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