A senior project done in collaboration with industry

Many baccalaureate-engineering curriculums require that their students complete a project course prior to graduation. This project is usually taken in the senior year and is to utilize the engineering principles encompassed in the student's education. While this is definitely a worthwhile requirement, it is sometimes difficult to find meaningful projects. The advantages to real-world engineering problem as a project are many-fold but getting these projects is not always easy. This paper discusses a real-world senior project done at Penn State University New Kensington in collaboration with local industry. By way of this project, this paper discusses the advantages of real-world projects, suggests ways to find corporate partners to participate, and also provides some suggestions on ways to ensure success.