Model-in-the-Loop Engineering · Capstone brief
ENG-11 · PLTW / senior design fit
Can you scope one brief from this bank so it hits your academy’s existing capstone checkpoint calendar — without inventing a new course or skipping a required gate?
The question
Can you scope one brief from this bank so it hits your academy’s existing capstone checkpoint calendar — without inventing a new course or skipping a required gate?
System / materials
Teacher supplies the checkpoint calendar (PLTW, academy packet, or division senior project milestones).
Expected failure modes
Promising deliverables the calendar does not have time for. Ignoring team roles.
Done looks like
Gantt or milestone map: brief deliverable ↔ academy checkpoint, with one risk row for slip.
Five C's
CT: calendar realism. CR: trimming scope to fit. CO: team role assignments. CM: map the advisor accepts. CZ: fair workload across teammates.
Mentor role
Academy lead approves map at Checkpoint 1. School-supervised.
Rubric calibration
R1: named calendar. R2: milestones dated. R3: last year’s baseline optional. R4: slip risk named. R5: advisor-readable. R6: refuses fake scope.
Two ways this goes wrong
(a) Beautiful brief, impossible timeline. (b) One student carries the safety case alone without documentation.
Credit lane fit
Lane A immediately. No verified credit claim.