2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Improving the Productivity of Capstone Project Coaching/Mentoring

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 7: Learning through Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Large interdisciplinary engineering capstone programs face persistent challenges in maintaining instructional quality while scaling to meet growing enrollment and financial constraints. In the capstone program examined in this study, a historical one team per coach model provided high levels of instructional support but required substantial coaching resources, which contributed to increasing program costs. This study presents results from a pilot implementation in which a subset of teams operated under a two teams per coach model, with outcomes compared to the one team per coach approach. Coaches supporting two teams were expected to devote approximately three hours per team each week, in contrast to the six hours per week allocated by coaches supporting a single team. Data was collected through weekly coach time tracking, twice per semester student mentoring surveys, twice per semester instructor and coach project success forecasts, and post project sponsor evaluations. Results indicate that teams supported under the modified coaching model achieved comparable mentoring effectiveness and project success ratings despite substantially lower coaching time per team. No meaningful correlation was observed between reported levels of average coaching hours per team and perceived mentoring quality or specific project outcomes. These findings suggest that time spent coaching individual project teams can be significantly reduced, and when supported by complementary mentoring from instructors and program staff, improve scalability and cost efficiency in large capstone programs without degrading educational quality.

Authors

Dr. Brady R. Davies Brigham Young University [biography]

Brady Davies joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University in 2022, after practicing design engineering for several decades at various companies including a national lab, several startups, and several mid-to-large size technology companies. During his industry career, Dr. Davies worked in a variety of different industries including automotive, semiconductors, communications, and defense. Dr. Davies now leads the college’s interdisciplinary capstone program, where he serves as an Associate Teaching Professor and Director of the Engineering Capstone Program. In this role, teaching and mentoring students is the primary stewardship and focus. The current capstone program serves over 400 students with over 60 projects and over 50 coaches, instructors, administrators, and staff.
Mary Allyson Gibson Brigham Young University [biography]

Allyson Gibson is the External Relations Manager and Capstone Coordinator in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Brigham Young University. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering and joined BYU in 2016 during the formation of a unified, multidisciplinary Capstone program. Since that time, she has helped expand the program from fewer than forty sponsored projects annually to more than sixty, significantly increasing industry engagement and student impact. Prior to joining the university, she worked in the software industry, bringing industry perspective to her leadership of sponsor development, coach coordination, and program operations. Her work focuses on designing scalable systems that support sustained program growth while preserving rigorous, high quality, industry sponsored design experiences through strategic relationship management and structured oversight of Capstone teams to ensure strong educational and project outcomes.

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