| Projects are generally more successful
when a motivated individual is assigned to oversee and interact
with the students throughout the project duration. Some factors
that are important for a successful project are communication
and commitment. On the average sponsors typically spend between
one to two hours per week interacting with students and attend
two on-campus events. All sponsors are encouraged to engage
in the following activities:
- Facilitate visits by the students to the sponsor's location.
The first visit should occur within 10 days of project selection.
Two or three visits by the students to the sponsor site
are typical, depending on proximity to campus.
- Interact regularly (weekly or more frequently) with the
students (either at the sponsor's site, on campus, by email
or telecommunication).
- Review reports and provide feedback from the industry
point of view (i.e., progress reports, project proposal,
design analysis, final report). Communication by e-mail
is highly effective and is encouraged.
- Evaluate student performance.
- Promote constant professionalism and a high level of
performance from the students.
Project Expectations and Deliverables
Each project typically involves a team of 3-5 students over
a 14 week semester, under the supervision of Penn State faculty
members from the various disciplines represented on the project
team. This equates to approximately 400 person hours of effort.
Results from student teams are highly dependent on the nature
of the project, the innate team capabilities, the amount of
client interaction and support, and many other variables.
For that reason, no guarantees can be made, other than the
students will give it their best effort. Often, a project
provides direct and immediate benefits to the sponsor. Another
common outcome is a good concept, but further work is required
(either by a follow-on project, or by the sponsor's in-house
staff) to bring the project to fruition. Deliverables to the
sponsor may include some or all of the following:
- Reports, feasibility studies, design analyses
- Engineering drawings
- Prototype hardware
- Computer programs and data
- Manufacturing or service delivery process plans
- Presentations, videos, demonstrations
- Financial analyses, business plans
Attributes of a Good Project
An ideal project could include a product design and prototype,
a service or process engineering analysis, financial justification
analysis, a supply chain analysis, etc. Sponsoring a student
project is an excellent opportunity, to investigate a “back-burner”
idea which has been sitting on a sponsors desk for a minimal
investment. Well defined project objectives produce well defined
outcomes. This provides the students with a defined starting
point and allows them to remain focused. Providing a “right
sized” project or one that can be completed within one
semester is another important attribute to a successful project.
Financial Commitment
The project commitment fee is a donation of $2500 per student
team. The cost for a second team working on the same project
is $1250. Past experience has shown that having two groups
to work on the same project to be highly desirable. This inspires
competition between the groups, allows multiple solutions
to be explored, and more than doubles the output, for a minimal
additional investment of money and time. Since this is support for an education experience, no guarantees can be made of project outcomes. All that can
be promised is best effort engineering from students that
have spent the last four years studying the latest engineering
practices in our top ranked IME program. In previous semesters
follow-up surveys conducted found that over 90% of our sponsors
were satisfied or highly satisfied with their project results..
Each team is provided a working budget of $1000 which covers
basic expenses such as supplies, construction materials, phone
calls, faxes, copy charges, presentation materials, and car
travel to the sponsor’s location. The remainder of the
fee covers the operating costs of the IE department. The sponsor
is expected to supply whatever physical resources are needed
and are not already available at the university. Should additional
resources or equipment be needed to complete the project,
students are expected to justify them by written proposal
to the sponsor.
Intellectual Property and Confidentiality
Issues
Confidentiality: With regard to sponsor-provided
information (data, drawings, design details, etc.) required
to execute the project, students and university personnel
agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the non-disclosure
agreement entered into between the sponsor and the university
as evidenced by signature on a "Non-Disclosure
Agreement Form". Prior to public disclosure of information
including reports, display posters, and web pages, students
agree to provide the sponsor a copy of any proposed presentation
for the sponsor's review and comment. Upon request by the
sponsor, students agree to remove all information identified
as sponsor confidential information. All project results are
made available to the sponsor. All materials, reports, and
documents produced by students must be available for their
personal use.
Intellectual Property Ownership: For an
additional administrative fee, sponsors may also request ownership
rights to all intellectual property that is developed by the
students during the course of the project. Projects in this
category require students to assign their intellectual property
rights to the sponsor. For more information on the assignment
of intellectual property rights, see the universities
intellectual property policies. All materials, reports,
and documents produced by students must be available for their
personal use. It should be noted that this may discourage
students from selecting the project.
How to Submit a Project
Careful consideration and early collaboration between the
sponsor and Penn State faculty are crucial to the development
and execution of a successful student project. All that is
needed to begin the process is a one page project description
which details the contact information, objectives, motivation,
and deliverables for the project. The easiest way to provide
this information is to user our Project
Submission Form. To guarantee consideration, the form
must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the beginning
of each semester. The project descriptions from all the sponsors
are assembled into a catalog of available projects, from which
students select. Since project selection is voluntary, care
should be taken in composing the project description to make
it attractive and interesting.
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