All assignments must be submitted in writing (hard copy) and by email. Assignments that are submitted via email should have subject lines of the form "SeniorDesignI: assignment name". For example, the subject line for the Project Description would be: "SeniorDesignI: Initial Proposal". The assignment itself should be provided as an attachment. Unless otherwise indicated in the assignment, the preferred file format is *.pdf (Adobe Acrobat). These files can be created using Adobe Distiller as the print device on MOSAIC computers. The file name of the attached file should have the form xxxxxx_AssignmentFileName.ext, where xxxxx is your MOSAIC user id, AssignmentFileName is the file name that follows the assignment name in angled brackets in its description and ext is the appropriate file extension for the software application being used (.doc, .xls, .ppt, mpp, etc.) . For example, if I were submitting a Microsoft Word file for the first (Initial Proposal) assignment, the attached file name would be Hocken_InitialProposal.doc. Please do not submit HTML files or send email in HTML format. If the assignment is a team assignment rather than an individual assignment, use the team id in place of personal ID. These assignments should conform to normally accepted practice for engineering reports. PLEASE NOTE: You must copy your advisors on ALL assignments!
The initial proposal is a single page document that provides a brief overview of the project that you propose to pursue for senior design credit. The document should address the following aspects of your proposed project in order to allow the instructor to make a determination of its appropriateness to senior design:
For team projects, list the members of the team and, if possible, explain how the work of the project will be divided among the members. Explain what you expect your individual contribution to the project to be. This assignment may be executed cooperatively among a team, but the individual contribution portions should reflect individual skills, desires and circumstances, as appropriate.
The assignment will be graded on the basis of its professonalism and effectiveness in communication. The technical merit of the proposed project will not be a factor in grading.
The project plan, also submitted in hard copy and email format, is a Microsoft Project .mpp file that contains a project plan for both semesters (i.e., complete through the end of the project). The Mosaic ID used for submission should be that of the team leader or the individual designated by the team to submit the assignment. Only one plan per project is expected.
The email to which the project plan is attached should contain a brief report on the progress of the project to date. If necessary, you can attach the progress report as an attached file. But I am mostly interested in a short and to the point statement of progress with highlights of any problems that you may have encountered.
Progress Report <Progress> team assignment
Progress reports are prepared monthly and submitted to both the course instructor and advisor. The reports should be concise summaries of the progress which has occured since the last report, any issues that have arisen and action items that have been determined to address issues. You should address both technical and schedule progress. Again, written and electronic versions (email) are required.
The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Peer_Evaluator.xls is to be used for this assignment. I am looking for insight into the roles played by team members that would be of interest to me as a supervisor if I was making decisions about promotion, pay raise or assignment to a new team.
The conceptual design presentation is a formal presentation of 15-18 minutes length in which the project team presents its proposed project design to an engineering audience. There are not strict guidelines associated with this presentation other than the length. As a professional engineer, you are expected to decide what material is appropriate and how to best communicate it. In an industrial setting for product design, the conceptual design review/presentation would be associated with a decision to proceed into detail design and prototype fabrication. In making such a presentation, you may wish to consider a number of things:
An overhead projector and computer/projector with Microsoft PowerPoint will be available. In the event of hardware failure, you will still be responsible for carrying out the presentation (this is realistic...has happened several times to me). If you choose to use the computer presentation tools, please plan to include any set-up time required in your time allotment. If you need any other presentation aids, please see me or arrange them yourselves.
The conceptual design report is the companion to the presentation. The goals of the report are the same as the presentation. Only the communications media are different. That means that all of the considerations above (except for presentation-specific issues such as time allocation) apply equally to the report. You should take advantage of the differences in media to include features in the report that the time limit did not allow in the presentation. The report is a stand-alone document. It should be possible to review and approve the project based on the report alone, even if one was not present at the presentation. A single report is desired for each project. If the project is a large team project with multiple subteams, the the subteam reports should be combined into a single, coherent report that describes the overall project.
Two copies of the conceptual design report are required: one copy is turned in to your advisor and one copy is turned in to me (if I am also your advisor, only one copy is required). My copy should be submitted electronically and in hard copy, your advisor will determine his/her own requirements for the advisor copy.
If you choose to submit electronically, the following restrictions apply: