From Concept to Craft
ITP capstone students turn classroom learning into real-world manufacturing.
Inside a lab in Cal Poly’s Engineering West building, filled with the hum of machines and the scent of freshly cut metal, students are transforming design prompts into real products.
The students are part of ITP 467: Applied Business and Production Management, a capstone course in Cal Poly’s Industrial Technology and Packaging program. Designed to simulate a full product development cycle, the class challenges students to identify user needs, prototype solutions and manufacture 30 units of a finished product. This year’s projects are being purchased by the President’s Office and the Orfalea College of Business to be given as gifts to donors.
“It’s an accumulation of skills from several classes,” said Tim Clark, a lecturer who is teaching the course for the first time this year. “You go from user research to prototyping, and then hit the crux point, when you actually have to manufacture what you designed.”
The four project teams are creating a bolt-action pen and holder, a topography-themed puzzle inspired by Cal Poly’s Three Peaks, a compact shovel and a burger smasher. Each team has navigated its own manufacturing challenges, from sourcing materials to learning new machines, all while working under real production timelines.
The team created a bolt-action pen, machined the body from aluminum and shaped its walnut base using computer-guided tools. Before working with metal, they prototyped their designs using SolidWorks and 3D-printed models.
“We used low-fidelity prints to get a sense of form and feel,” said student William Won.
These early versions are simple and inexpensive, he explained, used to test size, shape and usability before committing to more expensive materials.
“It helped us figure out what design elements were actually manufacturable,” he said.
Jacob Nava, another member of the team, focused on developing the product’s packaging using computer-aided design (CAD) software. He said much of the pen’s design was shaped by user research.
“Little details like the length, grooves and thickness all came from what people told us they liked in other pens,” he said.
Michael Gallo worked on machining the pen tips using Cal Poly’s newly operational computer numerical control (CNC) lathe. He said the process required extensive trial and error, including tutorials and hands-on learning.
“We’re here all day, every day,” he said.