Engineering Design: A Survival Guide to Senior Capstone

Cory Mettler was introduced to project management at IBM while working as an environmental-test co-op. There he had the opportunity to manage schedules and report on test results for a large department responsible for numerous tests with limited resources. Mettler later put some of those skills to work as a graduate student working in a satellite calibration lab by tracking test-site maintenance relative to satellite pass-overs. These initial exposures to project management soon changed the trajectory of his career.

A year after graduate school, Mettler was recognized for these project management skills and was soon managing a division of engineering research and development. Projects included robotic systems, micro-sensors, and energy-scavenging power supply development. Eventually, he also took a position as the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for a distributed generation consulting firm.

Today, Mettler uses his industry experience to enrich his classrooms by providing a taste of real-world experience within the academic setting to provide students a safe place to experience many skill-sets which most "typical" college courses do not provide. Between 2013 - 2019 Mettler developed and managed the senior design capstone course at South Dakota State University, since 2019 he has assisted with the same courses at Montana State University.

Cory Mettler在IBM工作期間，作為一名環境測試合作生，他接觸到了專案管理。在那裡，他有機會管理時間表並報告測試結果，負責一個資源有限的大部門的眾多測試。之後，Mettler在一個衛星校準實驗室擔任研究生期間，利用追蹤測試場地維護與衛星通過的關係，將這些技能應用起來。這些初步接觸專案管理的經驗很快改變了他的職業軌跡。

在研究生學校一年後，Mettler因這些專案管理技能而受到認可，很快就開始管理一個工程研發部門。這些專案包括機器人系統、微型感測器和能量回收電源的開發。最終，他還擔任了一家分散式發電咨詢公司的首席銷售和市場營銷官。

如今，Mettler利用自己的行業經驗豐富課堂，為學生提供在學術環境中體驗真實世界經驗的機會，這是大多數“典型”大學課程所無法提供的。從2013年到2019年，Mettler在南達科他州立大學開發和管理高年級設計項目課程，自2019年以來，他也在蒙大拿州立大學協助相同的課程。