An international component to capstone senior design projects

This paper describes our first attempt to introduce an international component into the Capstone Senior Design. The main objective of this first experience is to expose students to a global working environment, where in addition to the complexity of team dynamics, they have to face challenges associated with the distance, language, schedules and curriculum differences. This is a realistic microcosm of how many engineers will have to operate during their careers. We have started with two international teams composed of students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (FAMU-FSU) and (i) the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR) in Brazil and (ii) the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (PUB) in Romania. The paper discusses the team selection process, the communication channels, the funding strategies, and the positive and negative elements associated with this first experience of adding an international character to the teams.