University of Wisconsin–Madison

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

Real-world projects give our students the chance to apply what they’ve learned in meaningful ways. Instead of solving hypothetical problems, they take on actual challenges facing Wisconsin communities with input from our local agency partners and advocacy groups. This experience sharpens their technical and problem-solving skills, while helping them learn how to balance design decisions with real-world constraints like budgets, timelines, and public needs.

Our instructional team supports students throughout the process, helping them connect technical knowledge with project requirements and guiding them through teamwork and client engagement. By working on meaningful projects that benefit our communities, students build confidence, strengthen their communication skills, and develop a clearer understanding of what professional engineering practice looks like.

How do you decide what projects to work on?

Our instructional team works closely with local agencies and advocacy groups to identify real projects that align with our course goals and fit within a semester. We look for meaningful, well-scoped challenges such as transportation safety, stormwater design, or active transportation planning that allow our students to engage with both technical and practical aspects of civil engineering.

Each selected project must include design components across at least four distinct areas of practice. Just as important, we prioritize projects with committed sponsors who can stay involved throughout the semester by sharing background materials, answering questions, and reviewing student work. This collaborative approach facilitates a rich, hands-on learning experience while deepening our university’s connection to Wisconsin communities.

How did this project prepare students for professional practice?

This project placed our students in the role of entry-level engineers working in teams, managing deadlines, interacting with clients, and making defensible design decisions. Our instructional team guided students as they navigated unfamiliar requirements, applied engineering knowledge in real-world contexts, and balanced competing priorities like cost, feasibility, and community needs. Students learned to work through uncertainty, engage with stakeholders, and communicate their ideas professionally. The project gave them a strong foundation for what it means to serve the public through engineering, preparing them to enter the workforce as capable, collaborative professionals.

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

Start by building strong relationships with local agencies and organizations that have project needs and value student involvement. Our instructional team plays a key role in identifying opportunities, shaping project scope, and keeping communication open between students and project sponsors.

Choose projects that are open-ended enough to challenge students but manageable within a semester. Be sure to provide structure—clear goals, defined deliverables, and regular check-ins—to keep student teams on track. Most importantly, recognize that each project will come with its own set of challenges. With the right support from instructors, team mentors, and sponsors, these projects create a dynamic, real-world learning environment that benefits both students and the communities they serve.

What did you like best about participating in this project?

I most enjoyed the opportunity to work with my peers on a real project within the community. Despite all going to the same university, we all came into the class with very different skill sets and past experiences. We had to learn how to rely on each other and each other’s strengths to present our final solutions. In the end, it was rewarding to have put our education toward a project that will improve public transportation opportunities in our area.

What did you learn?

I learned a lot about the structure of civil engineering consulting in practice. While other classes do a great job teaching you the fundamentals, capstone teaches you how to apply the fundamentals to create a final project deliverable. It pushes the students to think through the project as though they were professional engineers, considering real-life impacts and solution feasibility. As project manager, I learned how to communicate effectively with our client contacts. Learning how to navigate leading both internal and external conversations pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow professionally.

How did the participation of professional engineers improve the experience?

Our professional engineer mentors guided us throughout the project, challenging us to consider new solutions throughout the project. They provided technical expertise, recommended teamwork strategies, and helped us develop our professional communication skills. Without the guidance of professional engineers, I don’t think we would have known how to properly utilize our experience to execute the project. I still use the lessons our mentors taught me daily in my professional life.

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

I think students give the engineers a new perspective on how to think through the problem. Because the students haven’t yet learned the most efficient methods to solving the problem or presenting the final deliverable, they are forced to come up with creative solutions. When you’ve been in the industry for decades, it can become easy to follow the typical project trajectory. I think the students challenge the engineers to think about the process in a different way.

Why did you get involved with the project?

Mentoring students in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Civil and Environmental Engineering Capstone Design Course has been a rewarding experience for me. Although my expertise is in transportation engineering, I have always welcomed getting involved with projects that allow me to draw on my civil engineering knowledge and my broader lived experiences dealing with public infrastructure projects. The Wausau Transit Facility project required students to think outside the box to design this transit facility based on multidisciplinary civil engineering principles and deliver a cost-effective and sustainable solution to their client. Mentoring and guiding the students from the proposal to final design phases was a rewarding experience for me as I imparted my knowledge and expertise to the next generation of aspiring civil engineers.

How did you assist the students in the project?

I co-mentored the students with my colleague Fred Groth, a structural engineer, from the proposal/project planning, the preliminary, and the final design phases. I provided guidance in all aspects of engineering plan set development, communications, and engineering document preparations. I helped the students organize a meeting with Justin Stuehreberg, the Madison Metro Transit general manager, so the students can gain insights and problem-solving approaches for their considerations as they design the Wausau Metro facility.

What did you learn from working with the students?

I was truly impressed by the teamwork displayed by the students, as each member contributed equally to planning, designing, and executing a successful project. Additionally, I was also impressed with how they utilized available resources and shared them with one another, which significantly contributed to the project’s success as they gained practical experience in civil engineering. When students receive guidance and mentorship, they are better equipped to tackle challenges, which showcases their abilities.

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

I wanted students to learn that effective communication, both written and oral, is critical on any public infrastructure project. I guided students to write a list of questions when planning a meeting with the Madison Metro Transit general manager, which was important to help students understand the keys to effective communication. I also guided/mentored students as they prepared for their preliminary and final design presentation to help them with their technical presentation and communication and public engagement skills.