Students use classroom knowledge, gain real-world experience through Capstone Projects

BY SIMON YANG, AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATION & MARKETING, BS '26

Capstone Projects allow students to gain real-world experience, solve real-world issues, put theory into practice, build confidence and gain exposure to potential employers before graduation.

David Schmidt

David Schmidt is a Capstone co-instructor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering and presents students with projects in the class BBE 4502: BBE Capstone Design. “In the engineering space, it is referred to as a Capstone Project, but it’s essentially a senior design project where students take on real-life design and use everything they should’ve learned as an undergraduate,” Schmidt said. “I come up with projects for students to work on, and they vote on the one they’re interested in.”

Each semester, there are approximately 5-6 projects, as students are assigned to groups and work together to solve the issues presented. Within this class, Schmidt and his team find real-life projects from outside sponsors with real-world problems, as opposed to creating scenarios and topics for students to solve. “It’s really interesting, they’ll be given a project where they have no idea of a solution, and within a month, that group of four people becomes experts,” Schmidt said, expressing how amazed he is by the students in these projects.

Josh Schleif

Josh Schleif, a process engineer at Tetra Pak and CFANS alum who graduated in spring 2025, worked alongside a group of students on a Capstone Project within their senior course under a sponsor from a pea production protein company, PURIS. “The goal was to make a design for reusing water at a food processing plant, [within pea protein production],” Schleif said.  The production of pea protein creates a byproduct called a slurry, which holds reusable water but requires proper filtration and sterilization. 

“From a slurry, you can still get reusable water, but it contains volatile organic compounds which make it unsafe,” Schleif explains. Beyond that, due to the fact that it's a byproduct of food processing, it isn't stored properly or maintained at the correct temperature. The slurry needed to be cleaned up and sterilized to be “food-safe” and ready for use in food processing. Food production companies also have high water usage, so this design would reduce usage, preventing processing plants from draining their aquifers.

While working in teams, many moving parts went into the final product, with each member contributing in their own way. Schleif expressed that, at the time, there were difficulties in comprehending each individual's tasks due to the varying knowledge of everyone, and scheduling conflicts arose, presenting a separate challenge. But all members always came together to explain their tasks, ensuring everyone was on the same page. 

When asked about the values teamwork taught him, Schleif said, “The value it taught me was that everyone is good at their own thing, so giving people a goal they’re interested in or good at makes a project go much smoother.” 

Capstone Projects serve as a means to provide students with real-world experience, where they apply every piece they’ve learned into one comprehensive project. “Learning theory and math in the classroom is great, but it can only get you so far, so Capstone Projects help expose students to using classroom skills in the real world,” Schleif said. This provides students with insight into an industry within their field of study, to potential employers, and career opportunities. More importantly, students develop technical and collaboration skills that are valuable to their future.