UBC ENGINEERING PHYSICS PROJECT LAB

2022-2023 ENPH 459/479 Capstone Quick Guide for Sponsors

Overview: Thank you for sponsoring a project! This quick guide covers the main responsibilities & actions involved in project sponsorship, and a few other important details. Questions? dcgunn@physics.ubc.ca.

General course info: The primary purpose of the capstone projects is educational. As such we may adjust project scope/size to best fit the learning needs of the students, though we always strive to achieve meaningful progress for sponsors. Please do not significantly modify the scope of the project or add any extra deliverables without talking to us first. The students will nearly always agree to a scope increase, despite having a considerable load of other courses, and it is our collective responsibility to make sure they don’t overdo it. We have two courses every year, 60 students each, in teams of ~4:

Class

Term 1 (Sept-Dec)

Term 2 (Jan-Apr)

ENPH 459

4th years

Typically on co-op work terms, expected ~5 hrs per student per week on project.

On campus with full course load. Expect ~10 hours per student per week on project.

ENPH 479

5th years

On campus, full course load, ~10 hours per student per week on project.

Schedule and sponsor responsibilities:

Timeline	Activity	Details and sponsor responsibilities (in bold)
By end of June	Sponsoring a project	Contact the Project Lab Director, Dylan Gunn, at dcgunn@physics.ubc.ca to set up a meeting. We’ll discuss objectives, scope, and priorities, and identify project inputs that need to be sorted out.
By end of July	Project write up and inputs	Work with us to finish 1-2 page project write up. Ensure project inputs (datasets, specialized equipment/software, etc.) are ready.
Mid Sep	Project selection	None.
Mid Sep	Notice of project selection, or not	If your project was selected, Dylan will introduce you to your team by email and provide instructions on completing NDA and IP assignment agreements, if required. The team will reply-all within 24 hours to request a kickoff meeting with you. You will also receive an email if your project wasn’t selected. Action: schedule kickoff meeting with team once they contact you.
Mid-late Sep	Project kickoff meeting	Kickoff meetings can be virtual or in person. We suggest: start with a narrow scope and expand later if things go well. Please discuss practical issues of access to facilities/equipment, data, regular meeting schedule and format, purchasing/approval procedure (see note below), and other logistical items. Regarding meetings, 1 hr every 2-4 weeks is typical, but frequent ad-hoc meetings can significantly accelerate project start in September. Instructors are not generally cc’d on emails, but please contact us at any time with concerns/feedback.
Oct-Dec	Regular meetings to develop project proposal	Teams will meet with instructors every 2 weeks, and with their sponsor at agreed intervals. The proposal is the major deliverable of term 1. The deadline is flexible because we believe a proposal is only useful when the project scope and plan have been locked down. Students present the proposal to instructors in a 45 minute meeting, and should also present it to the sponsor. Action: meet regularly with your team to develop a narrow scope and plan, then receive and approve proposal.

Timeline	Activity	Details and sponsor responsibilities (in bold)
Oct - Mar (starts once proposal is completed)	Executing on project, regular meetings	After the proposal is completed, teams switch to project execution and regular instructor & sponsor meetings continue, plus ad-hoc meetings as needed. In February, we ask teams to re-evaluate scope with end of March completion in mind. We also emphasize “close out” experiments, gathering critical data to support meaningful conclusions, etc. We ask sponsors to consider same. Action: continue meeting with team, start thinking about project wrap-up in February.
Dec	Final exams, end of work terms.	5th year students will be focused on exams and 4th year students will be focused on wrapping up co-op work terms. Project work will likely slow, and students may ask to cancel/delay meetings with you.
Dec	Check in with Project Lab	Dylan will contact you to see how everything is going and if any issues need to be addressed. Of course, please contact Dylan at any time if you have concerns or feedback.
Jan - Mar	4th year in-class presentations to peers	4th year (459) students present to instructors and peers in class. For confidential projects with IP/NDA agreements,students will ask you if all, some, or none of the project information can be presented. If “none”, students present only to instructors. Action: provide guidance to team re acceptable disclosure. Any of the 3 options is fine, though students get significant value from presenting their work.
March	Project Fair, 5th year presentations	Our annual Project Fair is a great chance to see all the projects and to meet the students and the broader EngPhys community, including many prominent tech leaders in Vancouver. You’ll receive an invitation to this catered weekday evening event. 4th and 5th years will present posters/prototypes. Additionally in March, 5th years present to peers and invited sponsors on a “seminar night”. As above, your team will ask about IP/NDA restrictions for the presentations. Actions: attend Fair. Guide team re IP/NDA vs. disclosure.
Early April	Final report, deliverables handoff, project closeout	Students are expected to finish project work in early April in order to focus on exams. Team will email you a PDF copy of their report and information on handoff/return of any materials and project deliverables. For 4th year (ENPH 459) students, projects will extend for 2 years and we’ll coordinate with you how to “park” the project for the summer. This is our first time doing this, so please bear with us as we figure out details. Action: coordinate receipt of deliverables and any other materials.
April	Marking	No action required.
May - Aug	Invoicing for expenses, survey	We will invoice you for project expenses beyond the ~$200 we provide per project. Dylan will send a survey requesting feedback on your experiences. Action: please reimburse Project Lab and complete brief survey.

Marking: Sponsors are not involved in marking, but we value your input, so please let us know if you believe anything from your experience should be taken into consideration. Marks aside, if you have issues or concerns at any point, please reach out as early as possible so we can address any problems.

Purchasing, finances: We provide $200 per project and ask sponsors to cover additional costs. Please communicate a budget to us and your team at the start of the project. Generally the team will review designs with you and get your approval for major purchases. Purchasing is fastest if done directly by sponsors with established purchasing systems and vendor relationships, but we can handle purchasing if needed. We will invoice you at the end of the project for reimbursement of project expenses. If paying by cheque, please put “Engineering Physics Project Lab PM004919” in the memo section.

Confidentiality and IP: For projects with IP/NDA agreements in place, we instruct the students to check in with sponsors about whether all/some/none of the project information can be disclosed during presentations to peers. Often, protected projects don’t end up involving or developing proprietary information and sponsors are happy with students presenting publicly. But if this is not the case, students will present only to instructors.

Please contact the Project Lab Director, Dylan Gunn (dcgunn@physics.ubc.ca) with any concerns or questions.