Drexel University

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

Senior Design 2007-08

Wireless Innovation. Public Service. Carbon Footprint.

ECE Senior Design
Approaching Deadlines  View All Deadlines
Proposal Draft11-14-2007
Proposal Final11-30-2007
What is Senior Design?
The Senior Design Sequence is the most important challenge of the Senior Year. This three-term sequence is intended to simulate a professional work environment, to provide experience working in a group on an open-ended problem, and to refine skills in information-gathering and communication.

The culmination of this sequence is the Senior Design Project. During the Fall, students form teams, select an area of interest, and create and present design proposals to the faculty advisors. After spending the Winter and Spring terms working on solutions to their design problems, student teams assemble a formal report which they present at the Senior Project Design Conference held in the Spring term.

This conference benefits students in two ways: it provides a forum for them to communicate their results to the community, and it gives students an opportunity to demonstrate in an integrated fashion the skills and knowledge they have acquired during their undergraduate education.

Curriculum
The Senior Design Sequence is a three-term sequence which culminates in project competitions in the spring. In the Fall term, there will be weekly meetings at which attendance is required. These meetings will be, in part, organizational meetings and, in part, seminars on topics such as:

  • Aspects of Design Process
  • Engineering Case Studies
  • What makes a good Proposal
  • The Engineer as a Manager
  • Engineering Economics
  • The use of PERT/CPM in Design
  • Marketing your Ideas
  • Engineering Ethics and Professionalism
  • Patents and Copyrights
  • Professional and Engineering License
  • Graduate School--Better Jobs and the Stepping Stone to your own Business
  • Presentation Skills
In the Fall term, students will be required to form a team, and select a project, select an advisor, and submit a preproposal. The preproposal must be approved by the team's advisor and the ECE Senior Design Committee (SDC). All ECE students, regardless of the home department of their project advisor, must submit a pre-proposal to the ECE SDC. The SDC will review every submission, and must give their approval for your participation in a project.

Please note that the approval of the SDC is required for participation in a senior design project.

The teams will begin research into their projects during the Fall term and, at the end of the term, make a 10-15 minute presentation on their topic to their advisor and representatives from the Senior Design Committee. Written proposals are due at the time of the presentation.

In the Winter term, students will continue project development. At the end of the term, teams will make a 15-20 minute presentation on their progress to their advisor and Senior Design Committee representatives. Written proposals are due prior to the time of the presentation.

In the Spring term, teams will complete their projects. The term will culminate in a 25-30 minute oral presentation of the project to the department. Selected teams will then proceed to the College of Engineering Senior Design Competition.

The ECE Senior Design Committee will review all senior design proposals and reports, and will participate in the assignment of grades for all ECE students.

Selecting a Team and Topic
  1. Form a team of 3 to 4 students, not necessarily from the same discipline.
  2. Search for several realistic problems; use you team members' experiences and contacts, e.g. from co-op or other employment, friends, faculty. Check the various senior design bulletin boards around campus, etc.
  3. Brainstorm as a team in order to determine which of those problems seem most interesting to the team, and which ones seem most amenable to solution within the time constraints of the design course.
  4. Do some research to narrow the problem choices to one or two good problems.
  5. Find a Faculty Advisor who would be willing to act as your team's "consultant" for the chosen problem areas; work with the Faculty Advisor to identify the single best problem for the team to address.
  6. Do more focused research to establish the real problem to be tackled, what the constraints on its solution might be, what tasks are required to be completed in order to solve that problem, etc.
  7. Write the proposal and present it orally and in written formats.