Capstone/Senior Design
The Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) undergraduate curriculum prepares students to think like engineers through hands-on, practical learning experiences. These opportunities culminate with capstone (or senior) design—a year-long course where students engineer and design product prototypes based on actual biomedical engineering problems, working under the guidance of faculty and industry mentors.
Students create their capstone project as part of a team, granting real-world experience in collaboration, leveraging unique skills and dividing workloads to ensure successful project completion. It is a critical curriculum component for fourth-year students as they prepare to enter the workforce upon graduation. BME alumni often cite it as one of the key factors in preparing them for their future careers.
Capstone Project Sponsors
Project ideas come from physicians, industry leaders and researchers who have identified a technological gap that a new or improved device may address. Students and an engineering faculty member work with their project sponsor to specify the problem, identify and evaluate solutions, propose new or improved devices and prototype their best design.
At the end of the course, students will deliver a prototype and design report to their sponsor.
Capstone Sponsor FAQs
IP generated by the undergraduate student team on this project is assigned to the sponsoring organization or individual who pays the project fee and is covered under a nondisclosure agreement. Please review copies of the IP and project agreements in place for this program before submitting an idea.
Sponsors do not need to have a specific device in mind, just to identify a medical or clinical problem. While most of our focus is on device design, we do accept smartphone app-focused projects, particularly if the smartphone interacts with a device.
There is no fee to submit an idea. After a student team has selected an idea for their project and the agreement signing has begun, the project fee will be invoiced in the spring semester.
Questions about the capstone project course or submissions? Contact the capstone design team at bme-senior-design@utexas.edu.