EDGE™ Preparing a Poster for a Publication and Display Prepared by Edward Hensel (ME) Elizabeth DeBartolo (ME) Copyright © 2005 Rochester Institute of Technology All rights reserved.

EDGE™ FACET Cycle as Applied to Planning and Preparing Your Poster  FORMULATE –  Prepare an outline of your poster.  Use the poster templates for outlining and initial layout  ASSUME  Think about your audience and what background they will have when reading your poster.  What assumptions must you make to provide a good poster for both a high school junior and a senior engineer?  CHART  Prepare compelling graphics  Use action photos and video to show  EXECUTE  Compile your poster materials, develop the electronic format  TEST  Ask someone unfamiliar with your project to give you feedback on content, clarity, readability, image quality, graphic layout, and technical level  Anticipate Questions at the poster session  ITERATE  Modify your poster as needed based on feedback  Print and mount the poster and deliver it to the poster session manager

EDGE™ About your posters… Lots of examples in the hallways viewers! BROAD audience: –Peer students –Faculty members and Project Sponsors –Practicing engineers at Sponsor Organization –Lower division undergraduate students –Prospective Students and Their Families Copyright © 2005 Rochester Institute of Technology All rights reserved.

EDGE™ Poster Objectives Summarize the highlights of your work. Serve as a conversation starter. Entice the viewer to seek out more information about your project.

EDGE™ Poster Format 20” wide x 30” tall A poster template is available in the downloads section. Use full color, and lots of graphics Two copies made: –One for display in halls of KGCOE –One for sponsor Additional posters printed here at your own cost You can print copies of your poster for your own use or your team’s own use independently.

EDGE™ Use color judiciously…  Red – Excitement, Intensity  Blue – Truth, Justice  Orange – Action, Optimism  Green – Expansion, Growth  Yellow – Confidence, Wisdom  Purple – Royalty Sophistication  White – Professionalism, Newness, Innocence  Black – Authority, Strength  Gray – Integrity, Maturity

EDGE™ Typical Poster Contents

EDGE™ The Title Block Title (descriptive but brief) Project Number Every author with departmental affiliation. Use graphics – show a photo of the team, not just their names!

EDGE™ Introduction & Background Why is your work important? Motivation! Who else has contributed to this field of research, based on the references cited? Where can the viewer find out more about the project? Outline work done to complete the project.

EDGE™ Needs and Specifications Outline customer needs Outline design specifications Are all customer needs addressed? (QFD)

EDGE™ Design Concepts If you include many design concepts, do it briefly! How did you arrive at final solution? Final concept should be clearly defined Exploded view, clear CAD drawings

EDGE™ Theory / Analysis / Model / Testing Outline the mathematical development – key results Outline testing done on final product Emphasize results and interpretations Check your work – especially units! Did you meet your specs? Prove it!

EDGE™ Conclusions and Recommendations Critical evaluation of project – what went well, what didn’t? What still needs doing AND what resources might be required for that? Does your customer support your conclusions and recommendations?

EDGE™ Acknowledgements Who paid the bills? Who helped out and what did they do?

EDGE™ Poster Review – 15 minutes! In groups of 2 or 3 (your team?): –Pick three posters to review as a group –Identify 3 strengths of each poster –Identify 3 weaknesses of each poster –Regroup here for discussion

EDGE™ What did you see? Positive features we saw… Negative features we saw… Ideas we can apply to our own poster…

EDGE™ The Highlights: Limit text, use bullets Choose easy-read font size Lots of (annotated) graphics Clean up graphs and CAD drawings Content should flow intuitively Content should not be overly detailed – highlight methods, results, and conclusions

EDGE™ Some nice (but optional) features: Supplemental 1-page handout for viewers Plan a 1-2 minute verbal summary of your work to accompany the poster Anticipate some questions that viewers may ask – how will you address them? Have your prototype available for the poster session

EDGE™ Questions?