2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Missing Links of the Industry Partnership Capstone for Engineering Students

Presented at College Industry Partnerships Division (CIP) Technical Session 1

Industry-partnered capstone projects are designed to help engineering students integrate technical knowledge with real-world practice. However, these collaborations often fall short of expectations due to misalignments between academic and industrial goals. This study investigates the missing links that constrain the effectiveness of industry partnership capstone projects. Five critical issues were identified: unclear project objectives, inconsistent communication, insufficient professional skills of students, restricted authentic industry engagement, and value proposition. The findings indicate that divergent priorities and timelines between universities and corporations frequently undermine both learning and partnership outcomes. To address these challenges, the study proposes a framework emphasizing early goal alignment, structured communication and mentoring, continuous feedback, and sustained engagement. Strengthening these missing links can enhance student learning, improve project outcomes, and foster more enduring university-industry collaborations in engineering education.

Authors

Dr. Nga Hin Ben Fong Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Dr. Ben Fong is the Professor of Practice and Director of Professional Master's Program in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University. He is an IISE Fellow and a senior global product leader with 30 years of diverse experience in R & D, IoT product strategy, operational excellence, and commercial growth. Prior to join Purdue in 2021, he reported directly to multiple VP of Global Product Management and was responsible for a variety of products Profit and Loss that worth USD $500M+. Ben managed Product Management and Technology Team to define agile design criteria for NPI and market launch. Ben was a former DFSS Master Black Belt at GE Healthcare, a Global Product Support Portfolio Manager at Caterpillar, and a Consulting Manager at Celerant Consulting. He worked over 20 industrial sectors from 100+ U.S. and global facilities. Achieved $100M+ in savings for multiple LSS Enterprise CI programs.
Dr. Patrick Brunese http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-1009-2717 Purdue University – West Lafayette (College of Engineering) [biography]

Patrick A. Brunese was the Assistant Head of the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University. His research and teaching interests include the connections between models, modeling, and decision making; engineering and intercultural education; learning and personnel development systems; and facility logistics. He is presently an independent educator and consultant in the areas of learning and development for early and mid-career faculty, operations and decision systems design and improvement, and complex systems modeling. Dr. Brunese is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Operational Research Society, the Industry Studies Association, and the American Society for Engineering Education.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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