Senior Design

Your First Job, Not Your Last Class

The Senior Design program in mechanical engineering builds on our lab-based, hands-on curriculum to provide students with “their first job,” a project supplied by companies and entrepreneurs.

These clients benefit from having a student team address their dynamic goals and tight budgets, and provide a fresh perspective.

Our Senior Design teams are formed based on student background, interests, and strengths. Student teams are advised by an eight-person advisory team, the members of which are specially selected for their technical expertise and for their proven ability to guide students through solving real-world, applied problems.

The capstone projects span two semesters, beginning with the development of a project plan, whereby students define end-user needs, client needs, design objectives and constraints, and metrics for success. Proceeding through concept generation and selection, and then through the system- and component-level design stages, each team ultimately produces a working prototype that is tested and refined to meet the project objectives. Projects commence in late August and early January.

SAE International listed Michigan Tech as the recipient of an honorable mention for the 2023 Altair Enlighten Awards. The team was honored for their Steel E-Motive Side Closure Mechanism project for the Auto/Steel Partnership in the Future of Lightweighting category.