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Purchasing Guidelines

PURCHASING GUIDELINES CAPSTONE TEAMS!

All purchases by Capstone teams will be done electronically. You can look under the Purchasing options below for more detailed information on what you need to do for each specific kinds of purchases. Below is the process you will use for you to submit your forms.

HERE IS A LINK TO A LISTING OF SOME OF OUR PREFERRED VENDORS Preferred Vendors. Some have special instructions, so please make sure you read the instructions for any vendor you are purchasing from. If there is a vendor that is not on the listing, you can contact me with the name of the vendor and I will let you know if they are in our system.

You will need to first complete the Capstone Purchase Form (PURCHASE_FORM_Fillable_Form_F24.pdf) Once you have completed the form and have all the appropriate documents required for your purchase, you will need to submit them to your Project Engineer for approval. Typically this is via the EDN so that the team can discuss the purchase and revise as needed. Your PE may prefer an email with your completed request information. Your Project Engineer will submit your documents to me with his email that he has approved the purchase.

I will then place your order. When I receive your order from the vendor, I will send you an email stating that your it has arrived. Your order will be either given to your Project Engineer who will deliver it to you or it will be put on your team bench in the fabrication area.

The best way to contact Valerie Masterson is via email (). She checks her email often and will get back to you quickly.

Note: the mailing address for the lab is:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Attn Valerie Masterson
110 Eighth Street
Mailstop:  JEC3018
Troy, NY 12180

Unlike IED where students pay for all project materials, your Capstone project covers the costs for your project materials. The only anticipated team expense is for the printing poster at midterm and end of semester. As a result, it is critical that you follow the procedures outlined here!

YOU WILL NEED TO PLAN AHEAD FOR ALL YOUR PURCHASES.
1. IT WILL TAKE TIME TO GET WHAT YOU NEED THROUGH THE SYSTEM. (2 to 14 business days for in stock items)
2. IF YOU DO NOT USE PREFERRED VENDORS IT WILL TAKE LONGER OR NOT BE POSSIBLE.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PURCHASING, PLEASE CONTACT VALERIE MASTERSON EITHER BY EMAIL () OR BY PHONE (518-276-2724)

Getting started

Simplified process

  1. Obtain and fill out Design Lab requisition form: (PURCHASE_FORM_Fillable_Form_F24.pdf) ONE FORM PER VENDOR please!
  2. For vendor purchases, print out shopping cart. Verify you are using a preferred vendor or check with Valerie Masterson.
  3. Your team's Project Engineer approves the purchase before a transaction is made (see this for more info: PE-Purchasing ).
  4. Purchase is processed by Valerie Masterson (office is located in JEC 2027).
  5. You will be notified by e-mail when shipment arrives.

If you purchase anything personally before approvals - you will not be reimbursed!
If you purchase anything from NON-Approved vendors - you will not be reimbursed!

Purchasing Options

Catalog or Internet Purchases

  • ALL purchases should be sourced from RPI Preferred Vendors. Some have special instructions, so please make sure you read the instructions for any vendor you are purchasing from. If there is a vendor that is not on the listing, you can contact me with the name of the vendor and I will let you know if they are in our system.

Direct Student Purchases

Client provided equipment

RPI Support Services

Fabrication

  • On or Off Campus (Ex: Machine shop, 3D printing, rapid prototyping, Physical Facilities, Computer Store, etc.)

Chemical Stockroom

  • Chemicals and reagents, glassware, safety supplies

MRC Services

  • Electron Microscopy, Mechanical Testing, Metallography, NanoScale Characterization

After purchasing

Add purchase to the team Bill of Materials (BOM), a comprehensive list of all the parts used by the team.
Design Lab has created a template available here - Templates and Forms
Keep the file in the repository so that a single BOM is continually updated. A Forum thread on purchases should be used to provide additional information such as quotes, PDF's of request forms or shopping carts, as well as details for non-standard purchases.

Poster Printing

The cost of printing the Design Day / end of semester posters will NOT be reimbursed.

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