ABET Assessment of a Mechanical Engineering Program through Senior Capstone Design Courses at University of the Pacific

Abstract

This paper describes two capstone senior design courses for the Mechanical Engineering program at University of the Pacific. The first course taught in the Fall semester is entitled “Engineering Design/Senior Project I.” The second course taught in the Spring semester is entitled “Engineering Design/Senior Project II.” All Mechanical Engineering students with senior standing are required to take these two classes in this sequence. At the end of every Spring semester, industrial advisors are invited to assess the final senior projects during an annual Senior Project Day. This assessment is performed using the Program Outcomes and Program Educational Objectives established for Pacific’s Mechanical Engineering program. Since all Mechanical Engineering students are required to complete senior projects, this is a 100% evaluation process. After the evaluations are done, the data sets are compiled and reviewed by the faculty for assessment purposes. It is important to note that the industrial advisors perform the evaluations, but the faculty members assess the information to determine if modifications need to be made to the program or courses. In addition to the senior project evaluations, general feedback from Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Committee (MEIAC) members is also useful for the outcomes-based assessment process in addition to the definition and evaluation of Program Outcomes and Program Educational Objectives.