EE496A Senior Design Project I Dr. Jane Dong Electrical and Computer Engineering

Overview Why do senior design project? What are we going to cover in EE496A? What is the course schedule? What is the grading policy?

Why do senior design project? Senior design is more than a course It is your first-time “real-world” engineering practice Your showcase of your knowledge and skills acquired Should contribute to your job hunting

What are you going to learn in EE496A ? Knowledge and skills about design –How to prototype your design –How to plan your design –How to manage and evaluate the design Other important “soft skills” –Team skills –Communication skills –Career planning

Roadmap Goal: provide step-by-step guidance to develop your design A rough time schedule: –Week 1: Introduced to fundamental design issues –Week 2: learn how to select a design topic –Week 3-4: Learn how to make design plan –Week 6, 7, 8: Learn other related issues such as cost/risk analysis, testing methodology, management skills, etc. –Week 9: Learn how to effectively present your design

Roadmap (Cont.) Your milestones: –Week 2: Form a team –Week 4: Have a initial design plan, identify your faculty advisor –Week 5: 1 st in-class presentation –Week 6-9: Further develop your design –Week 10: final in-class presentation

How to reach the milestone You are not alone. Dr. Dong will provide sufficient guidance in each steps –Sample design projects will be discussed to help you identify your own design projects –Lectures, case studies will be hosted to guide you through each design steps –Sample report and presentation slides format will be provided

More tips to a successful project Following the instructions given in class A close communication with Dr. Dong and your faculty advisor will be helpful Closely work with your team members Be active in class discussion

Grading policy  Attendance (10%)  Essay on contemporary issues +Essay on life-long learning (15%)  In class presentation (35%)  Senior design report (40%) In addition, students need to submit a resume and a sample lab report from any lab you took in previous quarter.

Fundamental issues in engineering design -- What is the key to a successful design project?

What is a successful project A successful project is Well defined Well planned Well documented –Able to meet or exceed its original design objective –Been thoroughly tested –Completed with planned budget including labor, parts, and other resources

What makes a project successful? Senior Design Project Senior Design Project Teamwork Responsibility Management Leadership Knowledge Skills Knowledge Skills Documentation Communication Research

Teamwork consideration A team is a working unit that –Has a a common goal and a group identity. –Consider themselves a unit and work together. –Share a common fate by being interdependent. How to create a team –Find people with common interest, but different backgrounds (expertise) –Should have common time to work together –Easy communication –One leader is elected to manage the teamwork

Teamwork consideration How to make teamwork successful? –Know each other’s strength and weakness –Work allocation based on team member’s strength –Be active and responsive –Listen to each other,build on other people’s opinion. Don’t fight. –Existence of both cooperation and positive conflicts Three things you can do to crash a team: –Be a Devil’s advocate – always question the team’s proposed direction. –Be a Procrastinator – can never seem to get things done correctly on schedule. –Be a Troublemaker – impedes project progress.

A linear version of design process User requirement analysis User requirement analysis Problem definition Conceptual Design Preliminary Design Detailed definition Validation Implementation

Problem definition Start point of your design Usually need to do research for more information –Literature review (what other people has done?) –Find what user needs/wants? (survey, interview, etc.) Outputs: define broad objective of your design (what functions to achieve, under which constraints, other requirements, etc.)

Conceptual Design From the objectives  establish detailed specifications (functions, attributes, features and benefits, etc.) Determine the metric  how to measure the performance of your design Create design alternatives  possible technical solutions

Preliminary Design Analyze selected conceptual design –Engineering analysis: feasible? Easiness? –Preliminary cost analysis Consider safety, reliability, compliance, and environmental issues. Construct preliminary design model for each design options

Detailed Design Select the best design option Create –Math/Physical model if needed –Detailed technical plan for implementation Hardware Software Provide detailed testing plan to verify that the design can meet the objectives Tools and methods used in the design

Validation Final design review – all parties Final safety & other considerations review – all parties Documentation complete – detailed design plan with drawings, test plan, purchase plan, and implementation schedule