Sponsor Undergraduate Research

Sponsor Undergraduate Research

Benefits for the Company:

• Access faculty expertise and laboratory capabilities.
• See students in action and find potential hires.
• Professional and public relations benefits from mentoring students teams at Virginia Tech.

Depending on the project, the results can include:

• Cost savings.
• Safety improvements.
• Productivity improvements.
• Sustainability benefits.

Cost for the Company:

The fee to sponsor a Packaging Senior Capstone Project is $5,500-$7,500. This fee provides funding for student travel to customer's location (factory, warehouse, design studio, etc...), overhead for the students' lab work, and a faculty member who guides the student teams and communicates with the industry customer to ensure that the projects are completed on time. Besides the up-front fee, the sponsor company is also responsible for providing all packaging materials, and product samples, that may be required for the research project.

Expectation for Company Involvement:

A company liaison needs to be appointed for each project. The student group works independently throughout the semester, guided by an assigned faculty member, and consults with the sponsor's liaison on an as needed basis. Progress reports are provided to the sponsor company at least twice per semester (mid-way and final). All sponsors are encouraged to attend the final presentation at the end of the project.

Confidentiality:

During their efforts to complete senior capstone projects, student teams may receive information from the project sponsor which is privileged and is to be held in confidence. Virginia Tech provides industry sponsors with a contract that ensures both students and faculty will maintain all such confidences. These agreements are treated very seriously and are signed between each team member and the customer company.

Intellectual Property:

Virginia Tech waives its rights to intellectual property, data, and products generated as a result of the work performed by these student teams. Students also waive their rights to the intellectual property, data and products through the agreement with the sponsor (Note: students who are not in agreement can participate in alternative projects that are not industry sponsored and have no confidentiality requirements).

Submit Project Ideas:

We welcome new potential project ideas and proposals from any source! Project ideas should be discussed with the faculty contacts listed below in order to determine the feasibility of the research.

To learn more, feel free to contact us!