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.