ME Capstone Design

Capstone Design Course Website for The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech

Reimbursement Guidelines

The following guidelines apply only to teams that have confirmed their prototyping needs with their faculty instructor. DO NOT ASSUME that reimbursement for your project prototyping needs is automatic. Please check with your faculty instructor before incurring any expenses.

Towards the end of the semester, one team member will be reimbursed for a portion of your project’s prototyping expenses. Prototyping should be done for a specific purpose.

Who is reimbursed?

  1. Please click here to check your project reimbursement limits. 
  2. As a general rule, the following teams are reimbursed by the School of ME
    1. Current students enrolled in the ME Capstone Design Course
    2. Current students enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Capstone which has ME faculty as their team’s primary advisor
  3. NOT for student-teams sponsored directly by faculty or entrepreneurs

Projects typically fall into 4 categories with different reimbursement amounts:

  1. Company-sponsored projects are eligible for reimbursement of 90% of each team’s expenses up to a maximum amount of $900. If your team spends $1,000 or more, you can receive $900 as a reimbursement. If your team spends less than $1,000 you will be reimbursed 90% of your expenses by the School.
  2. Non-sponsored (Student) projects are eligible for reimbursement of 80% of each team’s expenses up to a maximum amount of $800. If your team spends $1,000 or more, you can receive $800 as a reimbursement. If your team spends less than $1,000 you will be reimbursed 80% of your expenses by the School.
  3. Non-Profit/Entrepreneur-initiated Serve-Learn-Sustain sponsored projects are eligible for reimbursement of 100% of each team’s expenses up to a maximum amount of $500 by the School. If your team spends more than $500, then those expenses might be reimbursed directly by the external organization. Please confirm the expense with the sponsor prior to making the purchases.
  4. Projects sponsored by Faculty and Entrepreneurs are eligible for reimbursement of 100% of each team’s expenses directly by the faculty/entrepreneur sponsor. Please confirm the expense with the sponsor prior to making the purchases. The following guidelines DO NOT apply! Contact your sponsor directly.

What is reimbursed?

  1. Items allowed for reimbursement:
    • Supplies and materials used for prototype/model/mockups directly related to the project
    • Consumable expenses for team branding at the expo (like posters, printing, etc.)
    • Provisional Patent Filing Fees and t-shirts for non-industry sponsored teams may be reimbursed.
    • For industry-sponsored teams, please check with your sponsor if they will provide company shirts to wear during the expo. Companies are NOT required to do so, but ask.  (Remember we now have the embroidery machine in the Invention Studio if you want to monogram shirts for your team.)
  2. Items NOT allowed for reimbursement:
    • Personal expenses of any kind cannot be reimbursed. Each individual charge will be reviewed. Please do not submit receipts that include ANY personal items, as they will be rejected. (Ask for a separate receipt for that soda or chapstick!)
    • Tools or equipment typically available in makerspaces.
    • Any payments completed with a gift card cannot be reimbursed.
  3. For travel:
    • Most sponsors will provide funding/support directly to the team for travel. Please check with your sponsor for funding before traveling to their site. If you have questions, please email Dr. Jariwala at amit.jariwala[at]gatech.edu

Prior to making any purchases you wish to have reimbursed, you must review the GT policy.

How to request reimbursement?

Select one person from your team to manage the reimbursement paperwork. This person (team contact) will receive the reimbursement payment and distribute it to the rest of the team members. (Note: Even though one person will handle all the paperwork, please provide a roster of all team members with your reimbursement package.) Once your paperwork is completed, email the course reimbursement support admin for the final review and to turn in the finalized reimbursement packet.

Steps for requesting reimbursement by Team Contact:

  1. CHECK your team’s maximum reimbursement limits here
  2. SUBMIT Intent for Reimbursement by week #7 of class here.
  3. Fill out the Capstone Reimbursement Receipt List Form: Download it from here
  4. CREATE ONE .pdf file with all the receipts
    • Each receipt must include details on the item purchased, price per item, and total quantity
    • Ensure that the receipt shows clear proof of payment on the receipt and/or invoice. it should show the last 4 digits of your credit/debit card if not paid by cash.
      • if the above is not possible, then attach a screenshot of your credit/debit card statement showing the transaction and the last 4 digits of your card
    • Take a photo of all the receipts and combine all the files into one .pdf file. (See How to here)
    • Please do not submit receipts that include personal items along with reimbursable items.
    • Review common mistakes to avoid here
  5. SUBMIT the Capstone Reimbursement Package here.

If the team contact who is submitting for reimbursement is graduating, then they should provide a non-Georgia Institute of Technology address as it will take at least FOUR weeks to process the request, and this will probably be after the student’s graduation date.

When to request reimbursement?

  • Reimbursements are handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • The entire reimbursement package is due online by Friday following the expo. Failure to submit the proper and complete package by the deadline will cause significant delays, and your final reimbursed amount WILL BE LOWER than initially requested, with the possibility of your entire reimbursement package being rejected.
  • After submitting your receipts and check requests for reimbursement, it will take at least FOUR weeks to process all requests. Once processed, it can take up to 30 business days to receive your reimbursement.

Course Reimbursement Support Admin:

Mr. Jacob Blevins: jacob.blevins@gatech.edu; MRDC 2200; Invention Studio