The Capstone Experience

• How capstone works

  The Capstone Study Project provides students who have successfully completed three years of study with opportunities to develop a comprehensive understanding of the technology, environment, markets and operations of a real organization through application of theory and knowledge learned.

  Based on a best-fit model, as a member of a selected student team you will:

  • Study a real business or organization.
  • Complete a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the business issue.
  • Develop suitable recommendations that solve and/or address a particular problem or group of problems.

  Upon successful completion of the program, you are required to present your recommendations and ideas to a panel of your peers to receive a final grade.

• What's in it for you?

  The value and benefit both students and businesses receive through participation of this intense project-based program has grown exponentially over the last 10 years since the inception of the capstone program.

  We can proudly say that a few of our host clients have hired past student participants based on performance, idea-generation and outcome of the various consulting projects, doubling the impact and increasing number of notable potential business applicants.

• Past capstone collaborators

  Since its inception in 2008, the capstone program has grown exponentially. More than 80 organizations have collaborated with us, including a blend of non-profit, startups, and notable organizations offering a wide range of projects in industries such as:

  Gaming and technology: 360 Insights Datarisk Canada Digistruction geekspeak Commerce Hexyoo Scientific Inc. KnowledgeFlow

  Non-profit: Big Brothers Big Sisters Canadian Civil Liberties Feed the Need Durham GIRL Talk Empowerment Mentally Charged Spark Angel Network

  Commerce and financial: AWCUU Financial Bryson Insurance BMO Nesbitt Burns GE Aviation GM Company IntriEnergy Canada Royal Bank

  Government and institutions: City of Markham City of Peterborough CNIB Downtown Oshawa BIA Durham Regional Police Service Lakeridge Health

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  More past partners:

  BMO Nesbitt Burns Business Advisory Centre Durham Canadian Automotive Museum Clarington Board of Trade Connected Thoughts Care CrossPlatform Cloud Technologies Durham Family Court Clinic Durham Housing Advisory Durham Region Home Builders' Friends of Second Marsh Global Leadership Initiatives Ingle International Institute for Heritage Certifications

  Lennox Financial Group Inc. Lewis & Gazarek, Inc.  Lifelong Group Companies Loblaw Companies Ltd.  Meridian Credit Union Northhumberland CFDC Nutu Inc. One Million Acts of Innovation Oshawa Credit Union  Parkwood National Historic Site RBRO Solutions Inc.  Regional Municipality of Durham Royal Ashburn Golf Club Southlake Regional Health Centre Royal Ashburn Golf Club

  Southlake Regional Health Centre Spin Master Inc.  Storage Power Solutions Inc.  Sun Life Financial Inc.  Tax Audit Solutions Telefficient Solutions The Staff Room TheGAAP.net TurnerMoore LLP Ontario Tech University Vertex Precision Manufacturing Vetterview Inc. VR Headspace We Traq Inc. Whitby Chamber of Commerce Whitby Fire and Emergency Services

• Types of Projects

  At our university, we have the pleasure of working with notable companies and a variety of other organizations who have opened their doors to our students. Student teams take on various consulting challenges, ranging in difficulty and complexity, and can include:

  • developing business plans
  • full operations assessment
  • gaming development
  • improving reporting practices
  • launching crowd-funding campaigns
  • marketing research and analysis
  • network security assessment
  • process reengineering
  • product price restructuring
  • social media rebranding

  We can proudly say that our project undertakings have benefited both the student, the organization, and the school at large.

  Below, we share with you just a few of the organizations our students worked with in the past. The key to this success is the variety of industry opportunities our students get exposure to.

  If you are an employer and wish to put forth a project proposal, submit a Proposal Request Form directly, or contact the Project Coordinator if you have additional questions.

• Student Testamonials

  "This capstone project was very interesting as I was able to work with a company related to my degree and major. I have learned a lot about the company I worked with throughout the academic school year. Being able to complete a project like this allowed me to gain valuable teamwork skills and apply whatever I learned in my other courses specifically to this project."

  "The capstone course is an amazing experience and I encourage everyone to participate in this class. It would be great to see more clients in finance field attract more students from that specific program."

  "It was an interesting project, and I enjoyed overall. It's nice that our university has the initiative and influence to make the capstone projects available to its students."

  "Capstone was a good experience; it allowed us to put our skills acquired from the previous four years in to a real-life situation. It really opens you up to the real world. There were many challenges, but we worked together as a team to make it to this moment, and I am super happy for my team! I do want to thank the course facilitators Tim Claydon, Vera Barton and Stephen Rose for paving the way for us, while continuously showing support for any roadblocks or issues we had; it was highly appreciated."

  "I would highly recommend this capstone course to any student. It has helped me get out of my comfort zone and explore different requirements. The excellent organization of this course was a great asset into completing the project. Overall, it benefits your future; you should seriously consider it."

  "When reflecting on the capstone course experience, I can say that I enjoyed it very much, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in a team project that can provide a truly exciting real-world experience to my resume/CV."

  "The capstone course was designed very well. The expectations for the course were reasonable, given the duration of the project. Students were given a great deal of freedom on how they wanted to complete their project."

  "Capstone is an amazing project that exposes students to the outside world and gives them a chance to see how each company resolves issues and gaps within the business. It also gives students the confidence to apply for jobs, as they feel they have the ability to tackle responsibilities within the workplace."