Capstone Design Project in the Professional Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering-a Collaboration Between ITA and Embraer

Resumo

© 2025, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.The Professional Master Program in Aeronautical Engineering (MP-AER) is an initiative established in 2002 between ITA (Aeronautical Institute of Technology) and Embraer Industry to prepare new engineers for the development of new aircraft ventures. This Graduate Program has four phases. Phase 1 (first semester) offers courses in Fundamentals in Aeronautical Engineering. In Phase 2 (second semester) the student has to choose one career track and take several courses. In Phase 3 (third semester) all the students develop, in groups, the Capstone Aeronautical Project. In Phase 4, the student develops a Master’s Thesis. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the Capstone Project is organized and evaluated according to ABET criteria. The whole program description, the capstone project, and the continuous assessment and improvement processes are presented in detail. It is also shown how the Capstone Project prepares graduate students for a rapidly evolving work environment, which contributes to foster aeronautics in Brazil.