Senior design or capstone projects are designed to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to larger scale problems in a team environment.  The opportunity for industry sponsored senior design projects are offered in a several colleges and departments at NDSU.  These projects provide opportunities for students and companies to work together on timely projects that solve real world problems.  Departments offering senior design or capstone projects that can be sponsored by industry include:

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (Dr. Lowell Disrud)
• Electrical and Computer Engineering (Dr. Michael Maassel)
• Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (Dr. Om Yadav)
• Mechanical Engineering (Dr. Chad Ulven)
• Computer Science (Dr. Dean Knudson)
• Apparel, Retail Merchandising and Design (Dr. Jaeha Lee)
• Hospitality and Tourism Management (Dr. Amelia Asperin)
• Interior Design (Dr. Susan Ray-Degges)

For more information about Senior Design and Capstone programs and the required forms please refer to the Senior Design page.

The benefits of an internship to students are almost impossible to measure.  In addition to gaining work experience, student internships offer an opportunity to:

• learn more about their field of study,
• apply the knowledge learned in class to real world problems,
• develop and build skills,
• evaluate potential employers,
• gain confidence, and
• determine if their current path is the correct one

The benefits offered by internships are not one-sided.  In addition to being a way to give back to the community and support students, companies with active internship programs benefit by having a continuous pool of candidates for full-time positions.  Fewer hiring mistakes are made when dealing with a pool of candidates that have essentially already gone through a “try out” period.  In addition, internship programs can provide inexpensive, short term labor to increase productivity.  Two programs are available to help offset the cost of hiring interns:

• ND EPSCoR Students in Technology Transfer and Research (STTAR)
• Operation Intern hosted by the ND Department of Commerce

The NDSU Career and Advising Center helps prepare students to achieve their career goals, in part, by providing opportunities for students to connect with potential employers.  The NDSU Career Center can help the business community reach students through a variety of opportunities ranging from on-campus interviewing, job postings, employer presentations, faculty luncheons, in-class presentations, career fairs and presenting at student organization meetings.