Capstones and Experiential Learning
Partnering with our students through capstone projects and experiential learning opportunities gives your organization early access to emerging talent, meaningful engagement with future professionals, and fresh perspectives on real business challenges.
Explore More: The University of Maryland offers a wide range of ways to collaborate with students on experiential learning projects. While a few examples are highlighted below, we encourage you to connect with our Office of University Corporate Relations to identify the best fit for your organization.
UMD’s approach to experiential learning:
A. James Clark School of Engineering
Capstone Projects
At the A. James Clark School of Engineering, students from all engineering departments Aerospace, Bioengineering, Chemical & Biomolecular, Civil & Environmental, Electrical & Computer, Fire Protection, Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering apply their knowledge to tackle real-world challenges in a senior level design course.
The Clark School hosts the Capstone Design Expo each spring—an interdisciplinary celebration featuring more than 1,000 senior students from across the school, presenting their capstone projects. Students present prototypes, systems and solutions developed through team-based projects with mentorship from faculty and industry partners.
Contact:
- Raquelle Contreras (raquelle@umd.edu), Assistant Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Clark School of Engineering
- Tamika Hodnett (thodnett@umd.edu), Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Clark School of Engineering
Competition Teams
University of Maryland’s engineering competition teams give students hands-on experience designing, building, testing, and competing with complex systems—from race cars, rockets, drones, robots, concrete canoes, and autonomous vehicles. These multidisciplinary teams develop technical, project management, and leadership skills while working on industry-sponsored challenges that closely mirror real-world engineering practice.
Contact:
- Raquelle Contreras (raquelle@umd.edu), Assistant Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Clark School of Engineering
- Tamika Hodnett (thodnett@umd.edu), Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Clark School of Engineering
College of Information
iConsultancy
The iConsultancy pairs organizations with skilled student consulting teams to tackle data and technology projects that keep getting deprioritized.
Undergraduate and graduate students from UMD’s College of Information specialize in data science, UX design, and information management—working as an extension of a partner’s team to deliver real results.
Partner organizations gain early access to emerging analytics and tech talent, while students build the real-world experience that helps set them apart.
Contact:
- Justin Zielke (jzielke@umd.edu), Program Manager, External Relations, College of Information
Robert H. Smith School of Business
Office of Experiential Learning
The Smith School’s Office of Experiential Learning creates integrated, interdisciplinary opportunities that help students tackle real-world challenges, build career-ready skills and deliver value to partner organizations through classroom coaching, live cases and capstone projects with Smith students.
Contact:
- Nima Farshchi (farshchi@umd.edu), Executive Director, Office of Experiential Learning, Smith School of Business
- Nicole Coomber (ncottre@umd.edu), Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning, Smith School of Business
Multidisciplinary Programs
QUEST Honors Program
The QUEST Honors Program at UMD connects organizations with interdisciplinary teams of top business, engineering and science undergraduates to address real-world challenges.
Through semester-long capstone projects, students apply their diverse expertise to deliver fresh perspectives, innovative solutions, and data-driven recommendations that help organizations improve processes, increase productivity, and reduce costs.
Contact:
- Jessica Roffe (jroffe@umd.edu, 301-405-1270), Associate Director, QUEST Honors Program
Vertically Integrated Projects
The VIP Model for Experiential Learning creates long-term, large-scale projects that unite undergraduate education and faculty research, innovation, design and entrepreneurship through multidisciplinary teams. "Vertically Integrated" refers to VIP team compositions, which typically include sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, post-docs and faculty.
Originally created at Georgia Tech and Purdue University, VIP has been making an impact for over 20 years at universities across the globe. Launched in 2024 with four engineering sponsored teams, there are now fourteen teams across disciplines for students to choose from.
Contact:
- Aralia Ramirez (aramir14@umd.edu), Assistant Director for Experiential Learning, Clark School of Engineering
- Dr. Patrick Killion (pkillion@umd.edu), Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research