The Production Engineering program at PUC-Rio invites companies to participate in the undergraduate journey by proposing real-world challenges that students will address in their final graduation projects, known as Capstone Projects.
The Capstone Project involves developing an applied engineering solution to a real business problem under the supervision of a faculty advisor.
The project spans one year and is divided into two phases. In the first phase, students enroll in the course “Capstone Project I”, where they are guided by a professor responsible for introducing the capstone themes, supporting literature review, and applying methods aligned with the main focus areas of Production Engineering to address the proposed challenge. In the following term, students continue with “Capstone Project II”, in which they refine and further develop their project under the individual supervision of a faculty advisor, ultimately delivering it as their Final Graduation Project.
The Production Engineering program offers three areas of emphasis:
- Finance and Risk Analysis (FAR)
- Operations Research and Analytics (POA)
- Production Systems (SPR)
The revised curriculum is structured around project-based learning from the first semester onwards. Throughout the program, students engage in integrated projects involving Sustainability, Software, Materials, Entrepreneurship, Data Science, Production Systems, Physical Distribution, and Finance. A full overview of the curriculum—including where the Capstone Project fits into the academic structure—is provided below.
The course methodology for “Capstone Project I” incorporates agile project management approaches, including SCRUM, Lean Inception, and Design Thinking, with structured guidance and supervision throughout the project via SPRINTs. Projects are developed in teams of three students and are supervised by a faculty member specialised in project management within Production Engineering. Students are expected to dedicate 4 hours per week over 15 sessions during the semester. In the following term, the same groups continue the project in “Capstone Project II”, maintaining the same weekly workload under the supervision of a faculty advisor.
Benefits for Companies
- Visibility for Production Engineering students at PUC-Rio, serving as a pathway to attract talent for internship programs.
- Opportunity to develop innovative solutions for real company challenges that remain unsolved.
- Potential to generate future research, development, and innovation (RDI) projects in areas of interest to the company.
Benefits for Students
- Project-Based Learning with Real-World Applications
- Interaction with leading companies in the industry
- Boost for internship opportunities
- Possibility of awards for meeting company-set goals