All BSIE graduates in the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering must successfully complete ISYE 4106 Senior Design, sometimes referred to as Capstone Design. The Senior Design experience is an intensive team-based engineering design project based on a real-world design problem faced by a local, national, or international client. Senior Design is a mentored experience in which you begin the transition from school to engineering practice.

You will find that your curriculum preparation prior to ISYE 4106 is necessary but not sufficient for success in Senior Design. Courses are highly structured presentations of theories, methods and tools, often with highly simplified examples of their applications, where data are given, and the assumptions are always satisfied. In Senior Design, you must learn to apply these theories, methods and tools in situations that are not simple, where the data are not given, and where the assumptions required by formal analyses may be violated. You also will learn that technical knowledge alone is not sufficient for success—you must also be able to apply what you know to new situations; be competent in teamwork, communication, and “selling” your ideas; and exercise good engineering judgement. Senior design is more than a course. It is an opportunity for you to work with clients, team members and faculty to do something impactful. There are high expectations for the Senior Design projects. However, you will find that ISyE, Georgia Tech, and your client can provide a lot of help, if you ask. We all want you to succeed and we are confident that you can deliver projects of high value and impact that you will continue to be proud of for the entirety of your professional career.