Procedure and Requirements of Graduation Projects

Capstone Design Project (CDP)

Capstone Design Project (CDP) is used under the name of Graduation Project CE496 and CE497. Graduation Project is divided into two parts (2 credit hours each).  The student is eligible to register for Graduation Project-1 (CE 496) if he successfully completes at least 129 credit hours and passing all courses from level 1 to 7. Graduation Project-2 (CE 497) can be taken after completing successfully CE496 and it can only be taken during the first and second semesters (not during summer semester).

Schedule:

Time schedule of CE 496 and CE 497 (for a typical semester having 15 weeks of teaching)

S.No.	Items	Date	Week #
1	Registration for CE496 and CE497 Formation of teams		1
2	Introductory Lecture	Thursday 2:00 – 4:00 pm	1
3	Assigning Supervisors	Sunday/Monday	2
4	Formation of Joint Examination Committee	Sunday/Monday	2
5	Submission of Capstone Design Project (CDP) Proposal Form (CE496)	Thursday 4:00 pm	3
6	Midterm exam of CE496 and CE497 [During the Midterm exam, the students are expected to give a presentation of their work and its work progress in the right direction]	Sunday through Thursday	9
7	For both CE496 and CE497, submission of two hard copies of the final report by the students	Thursday 12:00 Noon	14
8	Final exam and presentation of CE496 and CE497 projects [During the final exam, the students are expected to give a presentation of their work conducted during the semester]	Sunday through Thursday	15

 

Outcomes:

Course Learning Outcomes of CE496

CLO1. Identify real-life engineering complex problem addressing various civil engineering specialties

CLO2. Formulate the problem, covering methodology of integrating knowledge drawn from previous courses and information

CLO3. Recognize alternative designs method/s covering the design viability and evaluation criteria and select the preferred alternative

CLO4. Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in context of global, economic, environmental and societal situations

CLO5. Work effectively as a member of the project team providing conducive environment and good leadership

CLO6. Establish goals and plan tasks to accomplish objectives for the project using planning techniques to ensure proper project timing and budgeting

 

Course Learning Outcomes of CE497

CLO1. Evaluate strength of existing long columns, two-way slab systems, combined footings, and cantilever retaining walls to decide safety and load-carrying capacity.

CLO2. Design long columns, two-way slab systems, combined footings, and cantilever retaining walls considering safety, serviceability and economic aspects.

CLO3. Evaluate the serviceability requirements for reinforced concrete members

CLO4. Demonstrate knowledge of element design for carrying out team-based mini design projects and present the designs professionally to instructors and the students.

 

 

Requirements:

Introductory Lecture

The introductory lecture is delivered in the first week of each semester. It is mandatory to attend the lecture, attending the lecture and submission of CDP proposal is allocated 5% grade from mid-term grade of CE496. The lecture is comprehensive orientation covering the all aspects of CE496 and CE497. Broadly it covers, nature and philosophy of CDP which provides encouragement to the students to pull in their skills including critical thinking, to create engineering system, to solve challenging problems and to develop oral communication skills, public speaking, research skills, teamwork, and planning. Plagiarism issues are discussed with students in detail. Students are guided how to use others work. Using others work without crediting the source is plagiarism which is an act of fraud. It is considered as academic dishonesty and a breach of ethics.

Capstone Design Proposal Form

CDP Proposal Form is to be filled in by the student groups in consultation with their supervisors.  It is a mandatory for all the groups of students and it has 5% grade allocation from mid-term exam (including attendance of first introductory lecture). This is being explained in first introductory lecture and the duly filled in form is to be submitted within two week. It contains the instruction and the information of the potential CDP project.

 

Evaluation:

Mid-Term Examination

This is being conducted between week 8 and 9 of the semester depending upon the academic schedule of our university. The main objective of introducing the mid exam was to provide the right direction of CDP as per its expected learning outcomes. Additionally, to assess the progress of the project. This has been extremely useful activity and helped to streamline the projects at the early stages. Mid-term exam is allocated 20% of the total grade for CE496 and 20% for CE497.

 

Final Examination

This is being conducted between week 14 and 15 of the semester depending upon the academic schedule of our university. The students are expected to give a presentation of their work conducted during the semester. The final exam is allocated 40% of the total grade (20% for the presentation and 20% for the report) for CE496 and CE497.

Supervisor’s Evaluation

Two assigned supervisors are evaluating their assigned students based on their overall performance and the effort they are exerting to complete their assigned projects. 40% of the total grade is allocated to the supervisors for both CE496 and CE497.

Specially prescribed evaluation forms are used for mid-term exam, final exams and supervisors’ evaluation to have fair distribution and award of marks for all the students.

 

Evaluation Forms

There are three sets of evaluation forms for CE496 and three sets for CE497. Each set has Examiner’s Mid-term evaluation form (20% grade), Examiner’s Final evaluation form for the Presentation and the Report (40% grade), Supervisors evaluation form at the end of the semester (40% grade). The evaluation forms are focused on the following aspects:

a) Presentation Evaluation Examiner’s Assessment Form: Presentation Style and Organization; Technical Content; Presentation Skills and Student’s competency.

b) Report Evaluation Examiner’s Assessment Form: Final Report Organization; Writing Quality;

Introduction; Main Body of the Report; Design Methodology; Results and Discussions; Capstone Aspect; Terminal Sections.

The weightage for either CE 496 or CE 497 assessment is as follows:

1. Supervisor’s assessment 40%
2. Midterm assessment by the examining committee (Oral presentation) 20%
3. Final assessment by the examining committee (Oral presentation and report) 40%