Guest Editorial: The 2018 Capstone Design Conference

The 2018 Capstone Design Conference held in Rochester, NY expanded and improved upon previous conferences (2007 and 2010 in Boulder CO, 2012 in Champaign IL, 2014 and 2016 in Columbus OH) and further developed the community of educators, students, and industry members engaged in discussing, analyzing, and improving capstone design education and pedagogy. Sessions at the 2018 Capstone Design Conference enabled vibrant sharing of ideas and experiences across the capstone community via interactive panel sessions, conference-wide poster session, hands-on workshops, and many informal social activities. A special effort was made this year to improve networking and idea sharing among capstone design students, and to allow instructors to gain insight from this key group of stakeholders. This editorial discusses conference preparation, the range of conference sessions, and feedback from attendees. The technical papers that follow in this issue represent extended versions of selected papers, panels, and workshops from the conference. Topics include noteworthy capstone course innovations, pedagogical tools, effective practices for managing and assessing capstone students, and research on developing both design and professional skills in capstone students.