Sponsor an Industry Collaboration Project

Project Guidelines and Expectations 

A unique aspect of the Cornell Master of Engineering Program is the Team Course Project, which allows students to apply the knowledge and skills obtained from their courses in a practical way. 

Teams (comprised of 5-10 graduate students) partner with an industry sponsor for one semester. The project topics may include (but are not limited to): technology strategy, data analytics, sales and marketing, information exchange, cost and life cycle benefits, resource allocation, forecasting, technology roadmapping or selection, strategic and tactical planning, bottom line evaluations (including triple bottom line evaluations), decision analysis and support, quality control, manufacturing, or distribution. 

Partner/sponsor expectations: 

• Designate a point person or “sponsor” within your organization to serve as the primary contact for the student team. The point person enables the student team to fulfill the project objectives by providing information, guidance, and access to key resources in a timely fashion. 
• Help frame and scope the goals and objectives of the project. 
• Meet bi-weekly with the team to discuss upcoming deliverables. 
• Help obtain key resources, which may include data (where NDAs can be signed at the company’s request), individuals with relevant domain knowledge, or any special software and/or computing environments relevant to the project. 
• Attend the final presentations. 
• If feasible and applicable, plan a site visit for the team. 
• Allow Cornell to post the final project on our public-facing websites (with any confidential information removed). 

Student team responsibilities:

The primary responsibility of the student team is to fulfill the project objectives in a timely and professional manner. One or more designated Cornell faculty members will advise the team and facilitate the analytical process. At the conclusion of the project, the student team will deliver to the sponsor a formal written report, an oral presentation, and any relevant supporting materials (including spreadsheet models or software applications that have been developed as part of the project). 

Project goals and outcomes:

Our goal is to create educational and real-world learning opportunities for our students. While sponsors are usually highly satisfied with project results, we cannot guarantee successful outcomes. Moreover, since our students graduate and move on, we are often unable to provide ongoing support for models developed by the teams. In such situations, supporting documentation is typically provided as part of the project deliverable, and a formal handoff is made at the project’s conclusion. That being said, we are very open to sponsors working with students after projects, such as hiring them full-time or as consultants. 

Please contact us with questions: engmanagement_grad@cornell.edu