2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This study explores how undergraduate engineering students address Complex Engineering Problems (CEP) through their capstone design projects, responding to a growing need to align engineering education with the revised Graduate Attributes and Professional Competencies (GAPC) issued by the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) in 2021. Despite the emphasis placed on CEP in accreditation frameworks, limited empirical research exists on how these attributes are evidenced in student design work, particularly in the Philippine context. This research fills that gap by mapping the seven attributes of CEP to student performance in a real-world, interdisciplinary capstone project. A single-case study was conducted using the final report of a capstone team that developed a deep learning-based system for detecting coffee leaf rust in rural farms. Thematic analysis was employed following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase approach, with data coded and analyzed in NVivo 14. Matrix coding and cluster analysis were used to examine how each CEP attribute was exhibited across three stages of engineering problem-solving: problem identification, problem formulation, and solution development. Findings reveal that all CEP attributes were present in the students' design process. WP4 (Familiarity with Issues) was dominant during problem identification, WP2 (Multiple Constraints) during formulation, and WP1 (Depth of Knowledge) and WP7 (Interdependence) during solution. The most frequently coded attribute overall was WP1, while WP5 (Extent of Applicable Codes) was the least, pointing to a gap in the application of formal engineering standards. The students demonstrated high stakeholder involvement and contextual awareness but lacked explicit engagement with regulatory or professional codes. The study concludes that while students effectively navigate technical and contextual complexities, greater emphasis on integrating codes and standards in capstone instruction is essential to fully prepare graduates for professional engineering practice. The study also proposes a framework on how to effectively integrate complex engineering problem-solving in capstone design projects.