Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Design John Peeples, Ph. D., P.E. Professor and Department Head

Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate only 7 permanent faculty, 2 staff 130 students  30 seniors Day component 14 cadets, 6 Navy, Evening component 8 non-traditional, 2 Navy

ELEC 421, Design I A study of the engineering design process; establishment of objectives and evaluation criteria, analysis, synthesis, construction, testing, and evaluation. Exercises in design, documentation, and reporting. Development of a proposal for a major design project for ELEC 422, Design II. Lecture: one hour; laboratory: four hours. ELEC 422, Design II Continuation of the major design project begun in ELEC 421. Project implementation, documentation, and reporting. Normally to be accomplished by students working in small groups formed in ELEC 421. The impact of the practical, societal, and governmental issues raised in ELEC 421 will be assessed. Each student will make written and oral presentations on their contributions to the project. A prototype demonstration and presentation of final result in a symposium format is required. Lecture: one hour; laboratory: four hours. Senior Design Catalog Descriptions

3-5 person teams for two semesters  Choose a project  Conceive a design  Evaluate alternative design/technology choices  Finalize and document the design  Construct, debug, verify and demonstrate the product  Maintain a budget and report status throughout the process Faculty collectively approve project selections during the third week of the senior year and serve individually as team advisors Major deliverables  Project plan  Requirement specification  Business proposal  Risk analyses  Periodic status reports  Project demonstration  Technical paper  Final project report. Senior Design Overview

Instructor  Weekly lectures  Assigns teams  Initiates concept phase  Assesses progress and deliverables Teams  Propose project  ‘Select’ faculty advisors Faculty Advisor  Meets regularly with team  Provides technical guidance to team  Helps keep teams on track Funding  Significant donated value  ~$1,000 per team Structure

Teamwork Resume Writing and Interviewing Oral Presentations The Design Process Design for … Project Planning and Management Writing Project Proposals Writing Requirement Specifications Writing Technical Papers Standards Software Engineering Ethical and Legal Considerations Patents, Copyrights and Trade Secrets …. Lecture Topics

Teamwork  Teams develop ‘interesting’ dynamics at times Planning and reporting Writing  Project proposal  Requirements specification  Reports  Technical papers Designing  Risk Analysis  Proof-of-Concept Implementation  Procurement  Fabrication/assembly  Debug Demonstration Primary Challenges

Instructors’ Hot Buttons Can we put Design back into Senior Design?  Much time is spent preparing proposal, report, etc.  Little time remains in which to learn good design habits Can we include economic, environmental, sustainability, manufacturability, ethical, health and safety, social and political constraints and still teach design?  2002 “Program Weakness”, later reduced to a “Concern” Can we develop a proven set design problems?  Not integration exercises  Without a mechanical engineering black hole  With an appropriately challenging ECE component