Supply Chain Capstone Project
About the Course
The Supply Chain Capstone Project course (EBTM 881) includes an independent research or applied-learning project in content areas related to supply chain management. Students work under the supervision of their faculty advisors to address a significant theoretical or applied problem in supply chain management. The completed project should clearly present the problem of the research subject investigated or applied project undertaken, its significance to theory and business practice, research of project background, a well-defined method, results or findings, and implications.
Deadlines
EBTM 881 Project Proposal Form Deadlines
Fall: First day of Thanksgiving Break
Spring and Summer: First day of Spring Break
Course Details
Prerequisites
- EBTM 602 Introduction to Supply Chain Management
- At least 15 credits completed in the SCM-MS program
How to Register
1. Submit Capstone Project Intent Form
You must notify the program director that you intend to complete the project during the next semester by emailing a completed EBTM 881 Capstone Project Intent Form (.docx) to supplychain AT_TOWSON by the appropriate deadline below.
Deadlines
Fall: First day of Thanksgiving Break
Spring and Summer: First day of Spring Break
2. Attend Capstone Presentation Night
You must attend the Capstone Presentation Night during the semester prior to enrolling in EBTM 881. The Capstone Presentation Night includes a workshop for proposal writing where students are paired with a faculty advisor. Information about the event will be sent to your TU email address once your intent form is received and processed.
3. Develop Project Proposal
Send a completed EBTM 881 Capstone Project Proposal Form (.docx) to your faculty mentor by the established deadline in order for the proposal to be reviewed and approved. The project proposal must be approved by both the faculty advisor and program director.
4. Register for the Course
Once the proposal is approved, students will receive registration instructions from the department.
Course Policies
- All students must present their final projects. Spring and Fall semester students must present at Capstone Presentation Night. Summer students must present during the Capstone webinar.
- Final projects include a written report plus presentation.
- Written report must follow the EBTM 881 Capstone Report Template (.docx)and include all sections as defined in the template.
- Presentation slides must follow the structure of EBTM 881 presentation template (.pptx) and be limited to 15 minutes of discussion.
- Students are required to meet with their faculty advisor at least two times per month during the semester. It is up to the faculty advisor’s discretion if additional meetings will be needed, and the advisor will clearly communicate those expectations by the end of the semester’s add/drop period.
- All deadlines are final and must be reasonably met by the student in order to avoid delays in completing the course.
- Please watch this short video that reviews the course polices: .
Forms & Templates
Presentation Resources
For more information, please email supplychain AT_TOWSON or contact Program Director Natalie Scala, Ph.D.
Faculty Advisors
The Business Analytics and Technology Management faculty will serve as faculty advisors for EBTM 881. Below is a sample listing of faculty who are willing to advise projects as well as their areas of expertise and interest:
- Dr. Feng Cheng: sustainable supply chain management, supply chain analytics
- Professor Bryan Goodyear: project/program/portfolio management, operations, enterprise information systems, acquisition integration
- Dr. Chaodong Han: inventory management, global supply chain, and manufacturing industries
- Dr. Xiaolin Li: social media analytics, buyer-supplier relationship, customer relationship management, supply chain management, electronic commerce, empirical research (either quantitative or qualitative)
- Dr. Mona Mohamed: enterprise information systems, cybersecurity, supply chain management, artificial intelligence, human computer interaction
- Dr. Barin Nag: supply chain management, blockchain systems, enterprise information systems, cybersecurity, lean operations, decision sciences, operations scheduling, manufacturing, automation, robotic processes
- Dr. James Otto: data analysis applications, decision analytics, graph theory, automation impacts, career transition analysis
- Dr. Neeraj Parolia: project, program and project portfolio management
- Dr. Sharma Pillutla: supply chain management, operations, business process modeling
- Dr. Natalie Scala: spare-parts inventory, decision analysis, collaborative scheduling, cybersecurity, elections security, sports analytics
- Professor Brent Sewell: sourcing and procurement, ERP, systems and processes
- Dr. Stella Tomasi: business process improvement, analytics and visualization, sports analytics, social media
- Dr. Dong Yao: supply chain analytics
- Dr. Xiaorui Zhu: statistical methods, ordinal data analysis, machine learning, financial risk management, empirical finance
Sample Reports
Students are encouraged to review sample reports in order to understand the quality and depth of a successful EBTM 881 project. These reports are to be considered guidelines, and the student's project advisor is the arbitrator of grading and approval of project scope.
- Halina Siegel (PDF) (Spring 2020): Sample of a project based on a company problem. Strong data collection with the results that can be easily interpreted by a professional or general population.
- Lorraine Black (PDF) (Spring 2020): Sample of a survey based research problem. Detailed data collection and statistical analysis to support multiple hypotheses.
- Brystal Gwinn (PDF) (Summer 2020): Sample of a project based on a company problem. Use of data and a model to create a scoring template to be implemented within a company.