Capstone courses

**Not offered in 2024/25**

Students will complete a policy analysis and produce a briefing note for a community partner relating to any health issue. The topics of the policy analysis are chosen by the community partners (with support from the course instructors) and may cover a wide range of health policy issues, including those involving the built and natural environments, social determinants of health, mental health and addiction, and many others situated outside or within the healthcare sector. The students will articulate the policy problem, complete a review of the literature to develop policy options, critically appraise the options and recommend an option. They will be guided by the course instructors. 

Contacts: Fiona Clement (Co-Instructor), Jennifer Zwicker (Co-Instructor)

Link of interest: New university Centre for Health Policy prioritizes community engagement to target health-care system reform

Student teams are assigned to organizations in Calgary and the surrounding area to solve specific information and technology issues. Teams investigate the issues and present proposed solutions to the organization contact. Teams will execute the approved project plan and present a final report both orally and in writing to the organization contact.

Students can assist with such things as:  strategy, project development and implementation, data analysis, dashboard creation, database management and platform recommendations.

Contact: student.consulting@ucalgary.ca  

Link of interest: Business students tackle technology issues, from improving driver safety to streamlining databases

Student teams carry out a small community development-related project. The course content focuses on skill development in the areas of project planning, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation as well as protocols (e.g. ethics) required to conduct research and to carry out a collaborative project.

Contact: Rowland Apentiik (Instructor)

Students develop data-analysis and problem-solving skills to help power an organization’s digital transformation.
Topic areas relevant to The City might include: Efficiency of Business Units; Forecasting Demand for Services; Digital Automation of Routine Data Tasks; Webscrapping

Contact: Benjamin Crost (Instructor)

Team design project applying engineering and project management principles to civil engineering design problems. Students consider the technical, resource allocation and business aspects of their project. They develop project scope, design, specifications, sustainability, scheduling and documentation, including elements of practical team management and leadership. Specific guidance will be provided by academic and industry advisors.

Contact: 
Jacob Lamb (Co-Instructor)
Ron Chik-Kwong Wong (Co-Instructor)

The emphasis is on the design process as it is associated with electrical, computer and software engineering, design methodology, general design principles for engineers, teamwork and project management. Preliminary and detailed engineering design and implementation of an engineering system that applies engineering knowledge to solving a real-life problem.

Contact: Hamid Zareipour (Instructor)

A team-based design course in which students apply the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier courses while refining their skills in teamwork and project management. Students work towards innovative, solutions to industry-sponsored design projects, and engage in individual critical reflection on their course activities, team performance, and on their growth as an engineering designer within their undergraduate program.

Contact: Simon Li (Instructor)    

The fourth-year capstone design courses bring groups of students together to apply their academic and engineering skills in a single unique project. The design process consists of the stages of conceptual design, design development and verification. Project management, teamwork and communication are emphasized for professional development. Design solutions associated with mechanical and manufacturing engineering.

Contact: Alex Ramirez-Serrano (Co-Instructor), Joseph Davis Thekinen (Co-Instructor)

Students will create innovative and strategic solutions. The client and project are real, exposing students to the complexities of creating a project from expressed needs, developing a methodology to appropriately plan and scope the project and carrying out the work to arrive at a product that is agreed upon between the instructors, students and client.

This advanced studio is centred on an existing community need; involves analysis, synthesis, and formulation of a planning or urban design solution; and culminates in a professional report and presentation.

Contacts: Beverly Sandalack (Co-Instructor), Francisco Alaniz Uribe (Co-Instructor) 

The Studio includes documentation and analysis of urban form and process, and explores site planning and design of the public realm. Issues of local and regional identity and sustainability inform the approach of the studio. This studio aims to further develop skills in conceptualization and visualization through consideration of contemporary urban design issues.

Contact: Fabian Neuhaus (Instructor)

In this course, each student will demonstrate, through the completion of a major project involving a strategic issue for an organization, the ability to apply theory and concepts learned in the course of their MBA studies. Projects should be decision-oriented and selected based upon their value, for the development of the organization and the student, and may be completed by individual students or teams of 2-3.

Contact: student.consulting@ucalgary.ca 

Links of interest: Capstone course provides students a field experience with local ventures to put business strategy into practice

In this course, each student will demonstrate, through the completion of a major project involving a strategic issue for an organization, the ability to apply theory and concepts learned in the course of their MBA studies. Projects should be decision-oriented and selected based upon their value, for the development of the organization and the student, and may be completed by individual students or teams of 2-3.

Contact: student.consulting@ucalgary.ca 

Links of interest: Capstone course provides students a field experience with local ventures to put business strategy into practice

The MPP capstone project demonstrates the ability of the student to integrate and apply the knowledge gained across the courses in the MPP program to a particular policy problem or issue. Topics may include policy issues from a broad range of areas, e.g. social policy and health, energy and environmental policy, fiscal and economic policy, and many others.

Contact: sppcareers@ucalgary.ca 

Links of Interest: Previous MPP Projects (For projects most relevant to The City we suggest to use the search term “Calgary” in the open search field, and then sort by Relevance); MPP website

In this capstone course, teams of four undergraduate students will complete a field investigation that will meaningfully utilize concepts and methodologies that students have learned in Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, and Business Analytics courses.

Contact: student.consulting@ucalgary.ca  

SEDV 640: Research Design

SEDV 641: Proposal Development

SEDV 642: Research Exploration and Examination

Interdisciplinary student teams complete a research project that integrates and applies the concepts from their individual courses to a practical industry situation. The academic experience in these project courses is enhanced by incorporating site visits and guest speakers to bridge the energy industry and our classroom, providing invaluable real world context and broadening the perspectives of our students.

Topic areas relevant to The City might include (optional): Renewable Energy; GHG emissions; Governance; Policy; Fossil fuels; Environmental Management Systems; Environmental Impact Assessment

Contact: Irene Herremans (Instructor)

Links of interest: Students offer solutions to use fewer hydrocarbons and more renewables; SEDV program

Students develop applied research projects to engage in experiential learning with partners.

Contact: Tatenda Mambo (Instructor)

The WELL 400 capstone course will bring together interdisciplinary teams of students to create solutions to real mental health and resilience challenges on campus and with partner organizations in the larger Calgary community.

Student groups will collaborate with their community partners to develop a Wellness Solution Proposal in response to partners’ wellness challenges. Wellness Solution Proposals will offer a wellness assessment and outline a practical and innovative intervention that partners may implement to address their wellness concerns. Throughout this course and project, students will be examining topics that relate to stress, burnout, mental health and wellbeing, coping resources and strategies, and wellness interventions.

Contact: Melissa Boyce (Academic Coordinator)

Link of interest: UCalgary’s new certificate program first in Canada to teach coping and resiliency skills.

Urban Studies is a broad interdisciplinary program designed to provide an integrated understanding of the social, political, economic, environmental, and cultural processes that shape urban life, with particular attention paid to how these processes operate in space and time. The Urban Studies program provides a strong background for students interested in working in both public and private sector fields including urban and regional planning, public policy, architecture, environmental design, economic development, city administration, social services, cultural programming, urban politics, law, and education.

Contact: Aaron Williams (Instructor)

Urban political ecology helps to untangle the interconnected economic, political, social, and ecological processes that together form highly uneven urban landscapes. Through theoretical and case study articles, discussions of themes such as water, food, green space, housing, waste, and through local case-studies, students will examine the evolution of urban political ecology, its main tenets and its relevance for understanding urbanization processes.

Contact: Aaron Williams (Instructor)