University of Wisconsin–Madison

What value does a real-world project bring to students?

One of the primary benefits to students working on a real-world project is the experience of interacting with the client, visiting the site, and working through actual constraints, as they would in practice. Our course gives students insight into the design process and helps prepare them for their professional careers.

How do you decide what projects to work on?

We typically look for projects that offer design components in at least four areas of civil engineering and that align with our course requirements. We partner with local organizations and communities that have civil engineering projects in the works or on their wish list and who are willing to volunteer their time to play the role of client for our student teams. The clients often comment on how pleased they are with the ideas and preliminary design work the student teams produce.

How did this project prepare students for professional practice?

Our students experience a condensed project workflow with several key deliverables and experiences they can expect to encounter in practice, such as teamwork, proposal and interview processes, presentations to a diverse audience, draft and final reports, managing deadlines, contract preparation, and project drawings.

What advice do you have for other programs wanting to add similar collaborative projects to their curriculum?

Support from the professional community through their hundreds of cumulative hours of volunteer work each semester is key to this course’s success and the students’ experience. Our mentor volunteers collaborate with student teams at least weekly and provide insight into what students can expect in practice. Our judge volunteers challenge students during their preliminary and final presentations. Our client partners are an important source of real-world projects for our students. And our guest speakers and guest instructor provide invaluable perspectives and instruction on various aspects of civil engineering. So, as for advice, I’d say it’s important for university programs to foster relationships with the professional community and express thanks at every opportunity. A big thank you to our capstone volunteers!

What did you like best about participating in this project?

I liked that it was a real-world project that is currently in the works. I enjoyed most seeing how many different parts of civil engineering were involved in the project from project management, water resources, transportation, and geotech to structural design.

What did you learn?

I learned a lot about how the topography of the site can make design and construction pretty complicated. The area had a lot of hills making design space limited. We had to explore a lot of different ideas before finding one that might work. Throughout design we found issues with the varying topography making need for retaining walls in some areas for the design we wanted. We also had to take into account flood management due to the topography of the land.

How did the participation of professional engineers improve the experience?

They helped us pay attention to details we could have missed and helped us think like engineers have to in real life. For example, the architecture of the building on where the entrance and gift shop made the most sense in the building, as well as other ideas on site that would improve design. Furthermore, they provided us with a lot of resources that we may have not known about. For example, websites and books to use to figure out how to estimate costs.

What do you think the engineers learned from working with students on this project?

The engineers learn that we have very little to no experience on real-world projects, and they learn how to work with our level of knowledge and encourage us that we know more than we think from classes. They learn that sometimes they have to be patient, explain things in multiple ways, or just take a step back and explain things at a student level to show us how the concepts we know from classes apply to the real-world project. I think it is neat for them to see where they once started as engineers, and they learn and are reminded of how far they have come as engineers.

Why did you get involved with the project?

The project is located on the Taliesin Estate, architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio, in Spring Green, Wisconsin. As a historic preservation architect, I have been working on projects at Taliesin since 1989 and presently serve on the Architectural Advisory Committee for Taliesin Preservation, Inc. As a professor of practice and co-instructor for the capstone class for 12 years, I  worked closely with the Taliesin Preservation staff to develop and then accomplish multiple student team projects at Taliesin. The Riverview Terrace is a current project of Taliesin Preservation, Inc. and is in the schematic design phase with construction anticipated in 2027–28.

How did you assist the students in the project?

As a co-mentor for the student team for the semester, we met with them weekly in a hands-on group session. My specific goal for interacting with the student team was to guide them through the process of defining the problem, investigating, conceptualizing, and then presenting alternatives to the client. I encouraged their critical thinking and design skills in combination with integration of their prior learning and work experiences.

What did you learn from working with the students?

The students brought diverse backgrounds and experiences to the classroom, offering unique viewpoints on the design challenge presented to them. Their recommended design solution was dramatically different than anything the real-life design team had considered. In addition, this team evolved a very good team working relationship in a very short time, creating a highly functional unit. It was interesting and educational to experience their collaboration and communication as it developed. It showed how, as mentors, we could be more patient and effective communicators.

What did you want students to learn from working with you?

I wanted them to develop a basic understanding of design and the design process as it relates to civil engineering and how collaborating with other disciplines and the client leads to successful outcomes. I also worked with them on being good presenters to not only engineers but also to non-professionals in public presentations.