32 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
In January 2020, the spring term began at the University
of Pittsburgh as most had for the previous 233 years. The
temperature hovered around freezing with a high that
day of 35 degrees F. Students, faculty and staff navigated
Pitt’s campus with the renewed hope of a new semester
and what was in store.
Freshmen approached the semester with a new sense of
confidence with their first college semester behind them.
Sophomores and juniors were one step closer to entering the
“real world.” Graduating seniors entered their last term with
nervousness, excitement and overall anticipation of what was
next as they started to think about turning the page on their
undergraduate academic careers.
Later that week, seniors in the Industrial Engineering De-
partment settled into 227 Benedum Hall for the first meeting
of IE1090, the Senior Design Capstone Course. Some students
eagerly anticipated the start of the culminating course for the
industrial engineering curriculum, while others dreaded the
responsibility of such a class. When the nine project teams left
the lecture hall that day, neither they nor anyone else could
have anticipated what was about to happen in just a few short
weeks from that cold January day.
The Senior Design Capstone Course is traditionally offered
during the fall and spring semesters as the culminating course
for undergraduate industrial engineering majors at Pittsburgh.
Students apply industrial engineering methods acquired dur-
ing their program of study to help client sponsors solve real in-
dustry problems. Historically, clients have represented health-
care, power generation, third-party logistics, medical devices,
consumer products and other industries. Project topics have
included process improvements, cost analysis, facility layout,
human factors, supply chain and logistics, production plan-
ning, manufacturing modernization, quality, simulation and
data analysis.
In addition to honing their technical skills during the
course, students also gain valuable experience in project team
dynamics, communication, leadership, technical writing and
presenting. Besides being paired with an industry sponsor, stu-
dent teams are matched with mentors from the faculty. Stu-
dents are assessed based on meeting client goals, demonstrating
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January 2021 | ISE Magazine 33
and implementing industrial
engineering methods, con-
tributing to the team, work-
ing independently as a team
and exhibiting good project
management and organi-
zational skills. Each project
team is required to present
status updates to the class
twice during the semester
and a final presentation. A
comprehensive report is also
required and provided to the client after the project is com-
plete.
As the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic made its way
across the United States, the University of Pittsburgh, like so
many other schools, workplaces and businesses, made alter-
nate operational plans. Senior Design Capstone Course stu-
dents had to pivot to remote meetings with their teams as well
as their clients. As part of adapting, the nine student teams
were required to develop and document contingency plans.
Further, all team meetings and client interfaces were moved
to online platforms such as Zoom for the rest of the semester.
Final presentations for the course also moved to an online
format.
Students did a great job adapting to the course’s new mode
of delivery and mentors increased their involvement in sup-
porting them. Client sponsors were very helpful in making
the projects a success, especially considering the challenges
and disruptions that many of their businesses faced due to the
pandemic.
Given the circumstances, the course was a great success in
the spring semester. It provided a tremendous learning experi-
ence for the students in communication, remote project man-
agement and teamwork. Also, the unique situation presented
in the spring provided an opportunity to assess the current
course construct, make improvements and prepare for the un-
certainty of delivering the course in a pandemic environment.
Feedback was gathered primarily from students and from a
sample of faculty and clients and resulted in three primary ar-
eas to focus improvements:
1. Include additional lectures to supplement student success.
2. Provide a more detailed framework while still preserving
the open experiential learning nature of the course.
3. Identify projects that are feasible in an online environment.
Although the course is traditionally only offered in the
spring and fall semesters, it was made available in summer to
offer schedule flexibility for students and to provide an oppor-
tunity to implement the improvements in a pilot format. Nine
students were enrolled in the course during the summer term
and each were assigned to one of two client-sponsored projects
with Perfection Pet Foods and GA Industries.
Perfection Pet Foods (PPF) is a pet food and baked biscuit
manufacturer located in Visalia, California. Students worked
with the PPF team to incorporate data analytics to identify
root causes and recommend corrective actions within the
manufacturing process.
GA Industries (GAI) produces specialty pressure and level
control valves for the water and wastewater industries. Work-
ing with the GAI team in Mars, Pennsylvania, and Pennsylva-
nia Manufacturing Extension Partner, Catalyst Connection,
students developed a standardized supply chain risk assessment
process, implemented the process and recommended risk mit-
igation activities.
Students attended three lectures to assist with topics relevant
to project management and worked in a remote team envi-
ronment. Specifically, the sessions focused on project man-
agement tools, project operation and organization, leadership,
teamwork and communication. Additionally, “pop-up” lec-
tures were available for the specific needs of a project team.
Pop-up sessions that occurred throughout the semester sup-
ported students in learning failure mode and effects analysis
and structured query language.
Students meet with
instructor Mike Sherwin
in two different online
meetings during the
Industrial Engineering
Department’s Senior Design
Capstone Course at the
University of Pittsburgh.
Despite the social distancing
measures put in place during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
they were able to apply their
IE principles to help clients
find solutions.
Andrew DiPalma
Rahul Bidanda
Spencer Zacher
Mike Sherwin
Ryan Fossick
Daniel Denoncour
Mike Sherwin
Nicholas A. Vezzuto
Kevyn Mitchell
Abigail Pinto
Jordan Marshall
34 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
Finding a silver lining amid the pandemic
The open-ended and independent nature of the course are
keys to the students’ experience. The class’ main features were
maintained while being supplemented by additional detailed
frameworks, project templates and reminders. The course
evolved from a more structured environment at the begin-
ning of the semester to less structure and independence as time
progressed.
The PPF and GAI projects fit well with the online format
during the summer term and served as models for the future.
In turn, as projects were identified for the fall term, the course
was better prepared to understand the types of projects that
would be feasible, given the uncertainty of being able to de-
liver the course face-to-face.
In addition to the online friendly projects, the summer term
experiences identified several lessons learned as outlined be-
low.
Additional framework and structure. Based on stu-
dents’ continuous feedback, the supplemental frameworks
and structure helped them succeed. It was also important to
provide more guidance at the beginning of the semester and
then allow teams to work more independently as the projects
progressed. Consequently, the initial structure improved the
student teams’ performance as well as their abilities to work
independently.
Project management concepts. Although all students
had previously been exposed to project management tools and
concepts within the curriculum, some time had passed. The
capstone course lectures served as a reminder of project man-
agement concepts, and the projects provided an opportunity
to apply those concepts in real time.
Moving online has its benefits. Our goal is to support
students in becoming successful contributors to society. Once
the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, the lessons students
learned when managing and participating in a project remote-
ly will serve them for years to come. Students not only honed
their technical acumen during these projects but also were
able to develop better communication, meeting and planning
skills. Instead of learning these skills in the first months of
employment, they gained experience while working on their
senior projects in an online environment.
Another benefit of moving the course online was expanding
the reach of the client sponsors. Before the pandemic, clients
were located in the greater Pittsburgh area primarily because
of the need for regular face-to-face meetings. The summer
term proved that successful project outcomes were achieved
independently of clients and team location. More specifically,
one client, PPF, was located in California and students in the
class were located in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey.
Continuous feedback. The ability to have constant and
consistent lines of communication and dialogue with students,
clients and mentors was a primary key to the success of de-
livering the senior design capstone course in an online en-
vironment. Communication was balanced between regularly
scheduled and ad hoc Zoom meetings, as well as via email.
Feedback from students was acquired both formally through
periodic polls during the semester and informally when the
opportunity presented itself. In turn, the course was adjust-
ed in real time and relevant feedback was implemented in a
timely fashion.
We will strive to continuously improve the experience for
all involved – students, clients and mentors – and look forward
to integrating the lessons learned from the past few months
during the fall semester. Student project teams looked to apply
industrial engineering concepts to support the University of
Pittsburgh’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and solve
problems for clients in the healthcare, retail, laser marking,
dining services and bicycle sharing industries. Topics includ-
ed simulation, work sampling, forecasting, supply chain risk
management, facility location, data visualization and process
optimization.
Mike Sherwin, Ph.D., PE, is an assistant professor of industrial en-
gineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He is an IISE member.
Contact him at mdsherwin@pitt.edu.
Student challenges highlight
Annual Conference discussions
Several presentations in the Engineering Education track at the
virtual IISE Annual Conference & Expo 2020 addressed the
challenges students face in the current climate. All are available
on-demand through Nov. 3, 2021, at iise.org/Annual2020 and
include:
• Community-based Capstone Projects in Industrial
Engineering
• Applying Agile Methodology to the Industrial Engineering
Capstone Experience
• Online Attendance Intervention to Improve Student
Learning Outcomes
• Implementation of Active Learning in Engineering
Classrooms
• Flipped Classroom Video Engagement for Generation Z
Engineering Students
• Online Kanban boards to introduce students to basic
project management
• Development of a Virtual Reality for Engineering
Laboratories
• Evolution of Active Learning Experience Through
Challenges and Real Problems
