Senior Projects
The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering curriculum requires that every student earning a degree in Industrial Engineering (IE) or Manufacturing Engineering (MfgE) successfully complete IME 481 (2 units) and IME 482 (3 units), Senior Project. As stated in the ABET requirements, "Students must be prepared for engineering practice through the curriculum culminating in a major design experience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work and incorporating appropriate engineering standards and multiple realistic constraints." (ABET 2000)
Objectives of the Senior Project:
- Execute a project that is an integrated application of coursework in IE or MFGE
- Plan and manage the project
- Do research in the area of interest
- Write a complete technical report
- Give a business presentation on the project
The senior project will be completed before a student leaves the university.
The senior project is an “academic report,” similar to a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. It is different than any other project you have completed in the IME department. In this context, you must perform a thorough review of literature in order to gain expert knowledge in the area. Projects that you work on in class or at work are generally for a client or for management and will be written with this audience in mind. The Senior Project report is written more closely in the form of a publishable research article.
Some resources that might help you as you write your project:
- A video summarizing how to write up the senior project
- A video specifically on the Literature Review. This was made for Grad projects, but senior projects students might also find this helpful.
- Here is an example Literature Review. It is for a Master's Project, but a Senior Project will be very similar, just shorter (5 to 10 pages) and with fewer references (10-15)
- A sample of projects students have done