MBS Curriculum

Team Masters Project

The capstone of the MBS program is the TMP in which teams of three to five students work with sponsoring companies to solve real problems. The Team Masters Projects ideally include both business and technical aspects; for example, students may be asked to validate a new technology and to develop a strategy for market penetration of the technology. The actual deliverables for each TMP are negotiatied by the student team and the company liaison.

Students are expected to spend about one-third of their time on the projects; including each Wednesday that is set aside for TMP work, the TMP work week of Jan 9-13, 2006, and other work time based on individual schedules and the needs of the particular project. Some class meetings are scheduled on Wednesdays during the semester for lectures on Project Management and for teams to exchange oral progress reports. Typically each team will present once in each semester. Each team provides its sponsoring company with an interim report at the end of the first semester. A public, non-confidential presentation of all TMP projects occurs during the first week of May. In addition, teams are available to make confidential presentations of their work at the sponsoring companies’ sites. The final comprehensive report is due to the faculty advisor in draft form by April 21 and in final form by May 10. A copy is forwarded to the sponsoring company.

Grading
Each member of the student team is assigned a specific grade each semester for the Team Masters Project by their faculty advisor. In addition to direct observations by the faculty advisor and his or her faculty colleagues, the advisor will also seek input from the sponsoring company’s liaison and from student peers on the team.

In assigning this grade, the faculty advisor considers:

• the performance of the overall team and of individual members throughout the academic year
• the quality of the scientific/technical and management/ethics analyses accomplished
• teamwork, project management, and communications
• presentations by the team made periodically through the academic year, presentations to faculty and company liaisons, and the year-end public presentation
• the team's final written report