Our standard IP agreement for capstone projects is between the University and the company and is in accordance with state and federal laws and, as such, cannot be amended nor customized by the company.

Students’ coursework-generated intellectual property belongs to students, and a company can request that the students sign agreements granting this IP to the company. The student IP agreements are executed between students and the company with acknowledgement by the course faculty. If such an agreement is required, this should be noted in the original project proposal submission so that the students can make informed project selections.

This agreement is required ONLY if the company sponsor wants to secure student IP rights from the project, and is not required if only individual NDA agreements are desired.

Proprietary Information/Non-Disclosure Agreements

As part of their course grading requirements, students give oral and written reports of their work, including a public demo of their project at the Design Showcase. In some cases, companies provide licenses or access to proprietary tools, data, or devices. Sponsoring companies may ask students to sign NDAs or license agreements as individuals apart from The University. If such an agreement is required, this should be noted in the original project proposal submission so that the students can make informed project selections.

Faculty mentors, teaching assistants, and other teaching staff generally do not sign NDAs and would not be involved in the use of or access to proprietary information or data. Their role is to guide students through the process of developing designs and prototypes, and grade students based on their project work and reports. As a result, the NDA covered materials should not be of a nature that precludes the team reporting project design details and outcomes.