Program Description
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is facing challenges in growing and maintaining strategic skill sets in its workforce, particularly in the key disciplines of: Aerospace, Materials, Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, Software Development, and Engineering Mechanics. The AFRL Senior Capstone Project has been established to address these challenges by having senior engineering students work projects in research areas that; 1) Represent specific technical challenges to AFRL, and 2) Meet the universities' engineering departmental requirements for a senior "capstone project". The purpose of the program is to provide students with the opportunity to work on projects with the Air Force Research Laboratory, learning more about AFRL technical needs in the process, and to connect AFRL personnel and students for potential future opportunities in employment and research.
Basic Eligibility Requirements
- All students on the proposing teams must be pursuing the requirements for an engineering degree and be eligible to participate in their university's senior capstone program.
- At least 1 member of the team must be a U.S. citizen
Proposal Guidelines
- Proposal should be no more than 2 pages long and must address one of the posted AFRL topics
- Budget/Funding
- Funding is available for selected projects to address unique material, processing or equipment needs. It cannot cover personal expenses, tuition or student/faculty labor costs
- It can include travel for faculty/student team to meet with Air Force Research Laboratory mentor at Wright Patterson AFB, although the AFRL mentor will be responsible for making at least two visits to the university site over the course of the project.
- Students’ proposals should include any budget requests at a level of detail sufficient to assess reasonableness.
- Overall duration, plus key milestones for your project should be indicated in the proposal. The schedule can be in the format specified by the faculty advisor
- Submission deadline: Should be consistent with your university’s program
- Interim and final report due dates are to be agreed upon by the project faculty advisor and Air Force mentor
Selection Criteria
Proposals will be considered and evaluated in the order received
- Innovation, creativity and feasibility of addressing the topic area selected
- Demonstrated level of involvement/support by the university
- Total cost and cost reasonableness
- Match to current technical priority needs of AFRL