Class Project:

 

Description:

An engineering design project incorporating concepts related to power systems will be developed by all students of ECE 4501.  The project will represent 10% of the course grade and should be sized accordingly (not too grand, but not trivial).  Design teams of from 2 to 4 students will work together to develop a topic, determine the project scope and divide the work as they see fit.  A formal paper will be written to describe the project.

 

Deliverables:

1.  A working prototype that demonstrates project goals.

2.  A written paper describing the project and incorporating engineering calculations and design parameters.

3.  (Optional)  An oral presentation of the project may be given in a public forum.  Students who present orally and deliver an acceptable paper will be exempt from the final exam with a base grade of B for the exam. (Exceptional oral presentations and/or papers may earn a higher equivalent exam grade)

 

Teams and Topics: 

Design teams must be a minimum of two students and a maximum of four students.

Teams and Topics must be formed by April 1, 2005.

 

Paper Requirements:

The paper describing your project should be a minimum of 4 pages in length, typewritten.  It should include all design calculations used in developing the project.  Graphs, charts, pictures and other media are also useful in producing a meaningful document.  The paper  should have a cover page with a title and the names of all team members.  It must also include references, appended to the body of the paper.

 

The paper should be organized in a manner which best conveys the information learned.  If no particular method of organization comes to mind, the following outline may be used:

1.0               Abstract (brief summary of the entire paper)

2.0               Project Description (including the reasons for choosing the project, and detailing its major components)

3.0               Design Procedures (describe the process by which the project went from idea to working prototype)

4.0               Testing and Results (describe how the prototype was examined to determine that it did indeed perform as desired)

5.0               Conclusions (summarize what you’ve learned and what could be done to improve future prototypes)

APP     References

 

The paper is due April 22 for review and comment by your Instructor.  Revised papers will be due 1 week after receiving comments.

 

Oral Presentation (Optional):

If a presentation is planned, it must be scheduled for the last week of the Semester.  It can be presented during the normal lecture period for Power Systems or by taking a time slot on the Senior Design Presentation Schedule.  Oral presentations should last approximately 15 minutes and are expected to be of professional quality, incorporating state of the art resources.