EE Design Project Description – For Students and Faculty Supervisors

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Draft (11/27/00)

 

 

The EE Senior Design Project is the capstone design experience for USF BSEE graduates, and is comprised of the following courses:

Ø     EEL 4906 Introduction to Design (3 credit hours)

Ø     EEL 4906L Introduction to Design – Qualifying Exam (1 credit hour)

Ø     EEL 4935 Senior Design Project (3 credit hours).

 

The courses listed above are to be taken by an undergraduate student during his or her final three semesters.  When registering for EEL 4935, students will designate the supervising faculty member by selecting the appropriate section number.  Unless authorized by the EE Department or the supervising faculty member, the pre-requisite sequence must be followed (EEL 4906 before EEL 4935).  At the present time, Introduction to Design – Qualifying Exam serves as the forum in which the EE Design Project Qualifying Exam is to be given.  A passing grade must be achieved on this exam before EEL 4935 can be taken.

 

In combination, EEL 4906 and EEL 4935 provide the opportunity to apply knowledge gained in previous courses, to improve independent design skills, and to address the impact of specific engineering work on a larger process and/or society.  In addition, students can be exposed to practical considerations of which a well-rounded engineer should be aware.  The latter can include:

 

Ø     Tolerances, optimization, yield and sensitivity, design of experiment

Ø     Oral presentation, technical reporting/documentation, testing, standards (e.g., IEEE and FCC)

Ø     Specifications, cost, weight, form factor

Ø     Non-ideal elements, parasitics, EMI/EMC

Ø     Heat sinking, shielding, packaging, power supplies

Ø     Intellectual property, patents, cost of ownership

 

It is anticipated that these topics will be addressed through demonstration, e.g., as a matter of course in describing a particular case-study design, or integrated as a partial requirement in an individual student’s design project.  It is not expected that any or all of these topics become a defining component of course curriculum that is covered in great detail, or that they significantly detract from a student’s opportunity to apply knowledge in a design project.  The objective is to effectively integrate these broader elements to enhance the design project experience.

 

 

Guidelines for the Completion of Senior Design Projects (EEL 4935)

The Senior Design Project can and should represent one of the most valuable educational experiences for an undergraduate student.  The project must require a student to perform independent work either alone, or preferably, as part of a small team.  (Design projects must include a clearly defined individual component, even when the project is performed on a “team-basis.”)  The faculty supervisor and student will mutually select a suitable topic for the design project.  The student should be able to complete the project by working 6-9 hours per week over the course of one 16-week semester. 

 

Required Elements of the Senior Design Project:

 

Ø     PROPOSAL: Students must complete a Design Project Proposal at the start of the design project.  After the faculty supervisor signs the proposal, a copy must be submitted to the department’s design project coordinator.  This requirement must be fulfilled by the end of the second week of the semester.  (A template for this proposal is included at the end of this document.)

 

Ø     REPORTING: Students must submit a written summary of their work at the completion of the design project. 

Þ    This report must follow accepted styles of technical writing, including a well-written abstract and summary, clearly explained technical procedures and graphics, and proper references to previous work in the field.  Where appropriate, a literature search may be requested. 

Þ    A hardcopy of the final project report must be submitted to the department.  (A template for the final report format is included at the end of this document.)  Faculty supervisors may request two copies of the final report, one of which is submitted to the department and the other for grading.

Þ    In addition, an electronic copy of a document (e.g. Microsoft Word) that includes the student’s name, project title, semester of completion and the project abstract and/or objective must be submitted to the department.  It is also desirable, though not required, for students to submit a complete electronic copy of the report (instead of the abbreviated document).

 

Ø     PRESENTATION: Experience in presenting oral summaries is of great value.  For this reason, students are required to participate in the department-wide poster competition to be held during the last week of each semester.  Posters will consist of 6-8, 8.5” by 11” slides mounted on a poster board.  The department will supply poster board material.

 

Suggested Elements of the Senior Design Project:

 

Ø     Students should maintain a professional (patent style) notebook during the design project.  (See, for example, Writing the Laboratory Notebook by H. Kanare, American Chemical Society, 1985.)

Ø     When outlining the design project and in anticipation of the final report and presentation, faculty supervisors and students should review the ABET Engineering & Program Criteria.  Addressing a subset of these criteria should be a primary objective of the work.

Ø     Students should generate a project schedule during the first 1-2 weeks of the semester, and update this schedule on a periodic basis.  (A template for a project schedule is included at the end of this document.)

Ø     In order to highlight or expand upon some of the broader aspects of engineering design listed at the top of this document, students can address one or more of them in detail, and include a summary in their report.  For example, a study can be conducted to investigate the impact of component tolerances on the performance of the design.  Or, as another example, a student may review FCC guidelines and summarize the mandated performance specifications that must be met.

Ø     Interaction with multi-disciplinary teams, either within electrical engineering or the college, should be pursued where possible.  Similarly, integration of on-going research of the faculty supervisor can add great value to the design experience.

Ø     Industry interaction in the development, and possibly the execution, of a senior design project can be of great value.  For example, a student may perform an internship at a company prior to the start of a design project – this presents an excellent opportunity to outline a design project with an industry mentor/manager, which the student can bring back to USF and complete.  It’s also possible for a faculty supervisor to contact an industry colleague directly to generate design project ideas.

 

 

DESIGN PROJECT CHECK-LIST FOR FACULTY SUPERVISORS

 

           

 

 

TASK

Initial

Date

(Grade)

Project Proposal Completed

 

 

 

Project Schedule Maintained (Optional)

 

 

 

Project Notebook Maintained (Optional)

 

 

 

Final Report Completed and Submitted to Dept.1,2

 

 

 

Poster Competition Participation

 

 

 

Semester Grade

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 An electronic copy of a document that lists the student’s name, project title, semester in which the project was completed, and the project abstract and/or objective must be submitted to the department. A student may elect to submit, in addition, a complete electronic copy of his/her report.  This information will be posted on the department web page.

 

2 The student must submit one hardcopy of the entire final project report to the department.

DESIGN PROJECT PROPOSAL

 

Title:

 

Prepared by:

 

Semester:

 

Faculty Supervisor:

 

 

Summary of Proposed Project (1 paragraph)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Goals (include electrical specifications you will try to meet or exceed)

 

 

 

 

 

Project Tasks (should have 1:1 correspondence with Project Schedule)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Required Instrumentation and Parts List  (very important – indicate what is available at USF and what we may need to order or borrow for use in your project – suggest you maximize use of available components)

 

 

 

DESIGN PROJECT SCHEDULE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABET ENGINEERING & PROGRAM CRITERIA

 

 

Below is a table that should provide ideas about how to incorporate important aspects which ABET and  the USF EE Faculty would like you to include in your senior design project experience.  We fully realize that all projects cannot address all criteria, however, we do expect you to attempt to include as many aspects as are reasonably feasible to address in your design reports.  We want you to do this without making your report excessively long.

 

ABET Related Goal

For your project report.  As a goal try to touch on as many of these as you can.  Examples of how you might do so are given in the comments below.

Knowledge of mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and advanced topics in differential equations, linear algebra, and complex variables

Have a short section in your report outlining mathematical descriptions of key aspects of your design.

Knowledge of core electrical topics

Your design will likely involve some basic electrical engineering principles.

An ability to use modern engineering techniques, skills and tools, including ABET Criterion 3(k) computer-based tools for analysis and design

All of you will likely have a CAD simulation section and some comparison of measured to simulated results.

An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to the ABET Criterion 3(a) analysis of electrical engineering problems

Nothing specific on this, should be obvious from the success of your design.

An ability to design and conduct scientific and engineering experiments, as well as ABET Criterion 3(b) to analyze and interpret data

The measured portion of your project, suitably documented and interpreted should satisfy this goal.

Knowledge of probability and statistics, including electrical engineering applications

Think about how the statistics of the components making up your design and the uncertainties of the measurements might influence your design results.   Discuss how tolerances on components that comprise your design could affect the variation in performance of future circuits built to the same schematic of your design.

An ability to identify, formulate, and solve novel electrical engineering problems, ABET Criterion 3(c,e) including the planning, specification, design, implementation, and operation of systems, components, and/or processes that meet performance, cost, time, safety and quality requirements

Identify aspects of your design that you believe are new or different than, at least, other USF projects you are familiar with.   In your introduction, refer to key references that relate to your design, including those that would represent prior work.    Discuss the maximum RF power levels being used in your design in the context of information you can find on RF safety standards. 

An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams, where possible ABET Criterion 3(d)

Discuss the interaction you had with other students in your design and its relationship to other projects (if any) that are being completed simultaneously.

An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility ABET Criterion 3(f)

N/A  for project report unless you cheated.

Should be discussed in Intro. To Design.

An ability to communicate effectively in writing and to convey technical material ABET Criterion 3(g) through oral presentation and interaction with an audience

The  quality of your written report and poster presentation will reflect on your abilities in this area.

The broad education and knowledge of contemporary issues necessary to ABET Criterion 3(h,j) understand the impact of electrical engineering solutions in a global and societal context

Discuss how your design might be useful by commercial consumers.  Discuss FCC frequency allocations in the context of your RF frequencies.

A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning ABET Criterion 3(i)

It could be addressed briefly by discussing the self-study self-learning aspects of your design experience in contrast to the traditional classroom experience of most of your other EE courses.


EE DESIGN PROJECT FINAL WRITTEN REPORT

 

 

[Your sections may be titled differently and some may not be appropriate for your particular work.]

 

TITLE PAGE (include project title author, faculty supervisor(s))

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PAGE (Optional) - Discuss the helpful interactions you had with students, faculty and where applicable company representatives in performing this work.   Put this in the context of expressing appreciation for the help.

 

ABSTRACT (200 – 500 words or ½ page max) - This should be a “reader’s digest” version of the project report, emphasizing what was done and the results achieved in concise summary fashion.   This is the most often read part of an engineering report or paper and consequently should be the most well written.  It also should probably be written last.

 

INTRODUCTION - Briefly discuss the general motivation or application area for your design.  Discuss the goals for your design.  The use of a Table for your design specifications is recommended.   Discuss your basic approach and related literature (citing references numbers for references listed in the back.)   Discuss the specific contributions you make with this work and why they might be of interest to the reader. The introduction sets the stage for understanding of your design, what you did, and why it is important or interesting, as well as puts the work in proper context compared to the state-of-the-art.   You are not expected to fully understand the state-of-the-art in this area or make a novel contribution, but you should be able to at least point to relevant background literature.

 

THEORY/DISCUSSION OF SIMULATION AND DESIGN METHODS - Discuss the relevant theory, and the simulation approaches used in arriving at your design.   Cite relevant references where appropriate.  Outline the design approach and the areas that required careful attention.   Assume you are writing for another student to be able to perform a similar design.

 

DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN - Provide and discuss schematics, diagrams and /or pictures of your design. 

 

MEASUREMENT METHODS - Discuss your measurement methods.

 

MEASURED AND SIMULATED RESULTS - Compare measured and simulated results for your design. Discuss possible reasons for discrepancies.

 

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS - Discuss the conclusions reached regarding the degree of success of your design approach, important lessons learned, and recommendations for others who may try a similar design.