2025_EML Capstone Projects

7

Mentor Link Solutions: A Hybrid Mentorship and Knowledge Retention Model

Problem Statement

Engineering organizations are losing critical knowledge as experienced staff retire or move on,

and most lack a structured way to retain it. Without a clear mentorship framework or tools to capture

expertise, new engineers face steep learning curves and avoidable mistakes. Our consulting service

helps companies build scalable mentorship programs and practical knowledge retention tools, even

when direct handoffs are not possible.

The scope of this project is to design a scalable hybrid solution that integrates structured peer

to-peer mentorship with a documentation and knowledge retention tool. The solution is designed as a

consulting service that is adaptable to the needs of most engineering organizations. The final deliverable

includes feasibility analysis, an implementation roadmap, risk and change management, and success

metrics for future pilot testing and complete integration into engineering firms. Due to the length of this

capstone project, a live implementation will not be included. However, the project incorporates data

driven justifications and best practices that suggest a high likelihood of real-world implementation

success.

Background and Literature Review

The loss of institutional knowledge, especially during periods of generational transition, is not a

new phenomenon; however, it has become particularly urgent in highly technical industries where niche

skill sets are critical, such as aerospace, energy, and government contracting. As engineers retire and the

replacement rate does not keep pace, most organizations lack the infrastructure in place to transfer and

store critical knowledge. Most companies have traditional documentation practices, but these often fail

to capture tacit knowledge, such as workarounds, problem-solving techniques, and other experiences

that are not easily shared through documentation (Swap et al., 2001). The literature across many

industries suggests that capturing static data is insufficient and structured mentorship programs provide