EE 481 - Fall 2022

EE 481:  Capstone Design I - Fall 2022

Instructor:  Kevin Wedeward (Workman Center 221, 835-5708, kevin.wedeward@nmt.edu, https://sites.google.com/nmt.edu/kevin-wedeward/)

Class Day, Time and Place:  MW 12:00pm-12:50pm in Workman Center 113

Office Hours:  TWR 02:30pm-04:00pm, by appointment, and any time office door is open

Textbook:  None

Prerequisites:  EE 311 (Signals & Linear Systems), EE 332 (Electricity & Magnetism), EE 372 (Modeling & Simulation), and have declared electrical engineering as a major

Course Description:  Student design teams begin an academic year long capstone design project under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Topics include: team building, design requirements and documentation, detailed planning, identification of project needs and establishment of goals leading toward the successful completion of the project, periodic design reviews and reports, applications of engineering skills, project management and formal presentations. Successful completion of the project requires the application of electronics, applied physics, numerical computation, signal processing, other electrical engineering techniques to real world engineering problems, and related topics.

Topics:

• Engineering design

• Problem definition and requirements (specifications, features, constraints, considerations)

• Engineering standards

• Conceptual design(s)

• Technical design(s)

• Selection of a "best" design

• Construct prototypes/proof-of-concepts

• Test and evaluate prototypes/proof-of-concepts

• Project planning and management (schedule, budget, work breakdown, tasks, monitor, adjust)

• Teams (dynamics, roles, social skills, constructive conflict)

• Communications (diagrams, presentations, reports, audience)

Course Outcomes:  Students will be able to

• identify relevant topics from earlier courses and then apply knowledge of those topics to their design project;

• identify and specify design requirements, constraints and considerations from general problem descriptions;

• develop options for conceptual and technical designs, and critically evaluate them;

• plan and manage a project to include plans for a prototype, testing, evaluation, documentation and project's end in the following semester;

• clearly communicate concepts and information; and

• work collaboratively and responsibly as an effective team.

Student Outcomes:

• (2) an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors

• (7) an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Grading:

• Attendance, participation and contributions

• Statement of Work

• Designs (conceptual and technical)

• Presentations (updates, conceptual design(s), technical design(s))

• Development, testing and evaluation of a "rough" prototype

• Reports (design document)

Academic Honesty:  New Mexico Tech’s Academic Honesty Policy for undergraduate and graduate students is found in the catalog - https://www.nmt.edu/registrar/catalogs.php/. Further information about academic honesty can be found on the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs website -  https://www.nmt.edu/academicaffairs/avpaa/academic_honesty.php. You are responsible for knowing, understanding, and following this policy.

Reasonable Accommodations:  New Mexico Tech is committed to protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities and providing access and full participation in the educational experience.  Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations are invited to make their needs known to the Office for Student Access Services (SAS) as soon as possible.  Accommodations are not retroactive and may take some time to implement. Contact SAS in person at Fidel Center Room 245, call 575-835-6209, email access@nmt.edu or through the website - https://www.nmt.edu/ds/academicaccommodations.php. 

Counseling Services:  New Mexico Tech offers individual and couples counseling, safety assessments, crisis intervention, outreach and consultations through the Counseling Center. These confidential services are provided free of charge by licensed professionals. For more information on how to access services, please call 575-835-6619, email counseling@nmt.edu or visit the website - https://www.nmt.edu/cds/ .

Respect Statement:  New Mexico Tech supports freedom of expression within the parameters of a respectful learning environment.  As stated in the New Mexico Tech Guide to Conduct and Citizenship:  “New Mexico Tech’s primary purpose is education, which includes teaching, research, discussion, learning, and service. An atmosphere of free and open inquiry is essential to the pursuit of education. Tech seeks to protect academic freedom and build on individual responsibility to create and maintain an academic atmosphere that is a purposeful, just, open, disciplined, and caring community.”

COVID-19 Safety Issues for Face-to-Face Instruction:  Provisions on masks, vaccines or other possible COVID-related requirements are subject to change as the situation evolves, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, the State of New Mexico, and university officials (i.e., the President and the Board of Regents).  For the most up-to-date guidelines, please consult NMT’s COVID-19 information page - https://www.nmt.edu/covid19/. As of the beginning of Fall semester, NMT classes are under the following constraints, which may change with COVID conditions and/or New Mexico Governor’s orders:

1. Students are required to officially go through the Fall 2022 Check-in process and obtain a Designated Campus Access Lanyard (DCAL) before entering Tech-owned buildings and attending face-to-face classes and labs.

2. Students should not come to class if they are feeling ill and should follow any quarantine guidelines that they are given in the event of exposure to COVID-19. If you do miss class, please contact the instructor for missed assignments, contact the Student Health Center, and consider getting tested for COVID-19. Please note the Student Health Center does not provide Sick Notes to students who are not seen by them.

Title IX Reporting:  Sexual misconduct, sexual violence and other forms of sexual misconduct and gender-based discrimination are contrary to the University’s mission and core values, violate university policies, and may also violate state and federal law (Title IX).  Faculty members are considered “Responsible Employees” and are required to report incidents of these prohibited behaviors.  Any such reports should be directed to Tech’s Title IX Coordinator (Dr. Peter Phaiah, 122 West Hall, 575-835-5953 (O), 575-322-0001 (C), titleixcoordinator@nmt.edu) or filed online. Please visit the website - https://www.nmt.edu/titleix - for additional information and resources.

Student Success: New Mexico Tech offers numerous free peer tutoring services that include those from the Office of Student Learning (Skeen Library, https://www.nmt.edu/osl/), the Writing and Communication Lab (Skeen Library, https://www.nmt.edu/academics/class/center.php), and numerous department-run centers such as those provided in Workman Center 116 by the Department of Electrical Engineering. To read about the services a student will need to be successful, visit the website - https://www.nmt.edu/mynmt.php.