Town Government, Industry, And University Involvement In The Capstone Design Course At The University Of Hartford

The capstone design project at the University of Hartford requires students to work on a “real” civil engineering project that is mentored by an engineering practitioner. This format is an excellent way in achieving many of the ABET 2000 outcomes. Finding projects that both enhance the educational experience of the students and meet the sponsor’s project requirements is a very time intensive process. Alumni, town engineers, state agencies, and engineering consultants have been requested to sponsor most of the design projects. Recent experience has shown that the university is also an excellent source of civil engineering projects. Discussions between the chairman of the civil engineering department and university officials identified several design studies that met our criteria for a successful project. This paper describes a project where students embarked upon designing several alternative conduits for connecting the university to a shopping area in the neighboring town of Bloomfield. Students were required to work with university officials, a town planner, a town engineer, and engineers from a local consulting firm. At the conclusion of the project, the students presented the alternatives and recommended design to the Bloomfield Town Planning and Zoning Commission.