Improving Students' Capstone Experience with Community Participation

Senior design projects are a culmination of students' academic and lifelong lessons, and as a result, should be meaningful, have multiple outcomes, and far-reaching benefits. Moreover, they should challenge students and provide a real-world experience. One component of the design process it that is often overlooked is community involvement. Local citizens are a critical part of the project success and must be included. In order to provide the students with a project that prepares them for the real-world as well as given them an opportunity to "give-back", the transportation capstone program in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Northeastern University has relied on 18 municipal projects in 12 communities over the last several years. All projects have had had significant impact on the students and communities involved. Part of the process has been community participation to improve the design process and overall experience for the students. The projects have not only been financially supported by the some of the communities, but have also received a significant amount of input from community members during over the semester. The program has gained such popularity that municipal stakeholders have contacted the instructor to have their city/town included in the program. Based on feedback from the community and students, the program is well-received and beneficial. The following paper details the program.