Senior Design

"I have been looking forward to project work on a professional level for my entire undergrad. This course greatly exceeded my expectations for quality of collaboration and teamwork. Potential employers love asking about the project and are very impressed." - Past Senior Design Student

Course Objectives

Students in Senior Design experience the design process first-hand, gaining experience in problem definition, determining design requirements, alternative design concepts, engineering analysis, proof-of-concept prototypes, CAD drawings, refinement of a prototype, design optimization, fabrication, testing and evaluation. By the time they complete the course, students will have gained experience in the following areas: 

1. Understand how to collaboratively work in a team toward a common design
2. Become proficient at technical and professional communications (both written and verbal)
3. Become proficient at managing long-term projects
4. Become proficient at integrating technical skills from courses, independently acquiring project-specific knowledge, and effectively utilizing available resources
5. Become proficient in design skills and application of the design process

What Senior Design Students Learn

Course Deliverables

Senior Design is a two-semester course, taking place over the full academic year with specific course deliverables required during each semester. The student experience requires lectures, training sessions, weekly project meetings and weekly team meetings with their client. Students are expected to spend 10 to 15 hours per week on Senior Design. 

"In all cases, your program has delivered excellent value to our company and has provided a rich experience to the students involved. I credit this to something unique in your approach at CU Boulder." - Industry Sponsor

How Sponsors Contribute

• Sponsors pay a fee of $16,000 for undergraduate and $25,000 for graduate projects. This fee is split between student project budgets and support of Idea Forge spaces, such as the machine shop and the Chevron Design Studio, where students design and build hardware for their projects​.
• Sponsors are asked to provide an Industry Mentor who can commit 10 hours per semester to support the student team. These hours are typically dedicated to weekly meetings with the students.​
• Sponsors benefit from students’ fresh ideas, gain an edge in recruiting top students to their company and obtain functional hardware with documentation at the end of the project. A company’s investment may also result in the company retaining exclusive rights to the intellectual property developed. When intellectual property is developed, sponsors own all IP, while students are listed on any patents filed, with no ownership rights. 
• With sponsor approval, students present their work at the CU Engineering Projects Expo, a public forum open to family, friends, alumni and the community. 

What Students Provide

• Each student team will commit at least 1,500 hours to the project.
• Student collaboration with professional engineers.
• ​Students leverage over 50,000 square feet of active learning spaces and fabrication facilities like the Idea Forge and the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory, among others. If desired, students may also work at the sponsor's worksite. Note: Students are not currently able to work at the sponsor's worksite due to COVID-19. 
• ​Students budget time and materials while gaining experience with industry procedures such as writing purchase orders and meeting deadlines under pressure.
• Each year, student teams submit approximately four written reports and many oral presentations on product development and testing.

​If you are interested in sponsoring a project, contact Alan Goodman.