Senior Capstone Program
The undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering (BSAAE) includes an intensive senior capstone project.
Students complete a rigorous design and build project focusing specifically on the skills and knowledge unique to the field of aerospace engineering. All projects provide students with focused industry mentoring, interdisciplinary teamwork, written and oral communication skills, engagement with regulatory requirements, fiscal and procurement management, social and ethical considerations, and market awareness.
Capstone Options
Within the UW William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics (UWAA), three options are available for capstone design:
- One large group effort in aeronautics that creates a new scale-model fixed wing aircraft each year based on a current design topic of direct relevance to industry or military needs,
- One large group effort in astronautics that focuses on development and testing of a launch system and payload such as a cubesat, and
- A selection of industry-sponsored capstone projects that allow students to engage directly with industry on current and emergent engineering challenges.
Options (i) and (ii) must accommodate both domestic and international students, so the selected topics must not involve any constraints related to export controlled material. Requirements for US citizenship and/or NDA constraints are possible for projects in option (iii).
To learn more about these programs, visit the Capstone Projects page.
Industry Sponsored Capstone Program
The University of Washington (UW) College of Engineering Industry Sponsored Capstone Program (option (iii)) is a college-wide effort that is designed to provide effective project-based and team-based education of undergraduate students to meet the needs of engineering, science and industry. The structure of the UW College of Engineering program is based on assessment of a dozen industry-sponsored capstone programs around the country as well as decades of experience with our existing capstone projects in UWAA and other College of Engineering capstone programs.
To learn about sponsoring a Capstone Program, visit the Information for Sponsors page.