ECE 4512 (EE Design I): C or better in Micro, Signals, and Advanced Electronics/Circuits, plus C or better in either E-Mag II or Energy Systems, plus co-registration with Tech Writing, plus permission from instructor.
ECE 4532 (CPE Design I): C or better in DSD and Client/Server Programming, plus C or better in either Signals or Advanced Electronics/Circuits, plus co-registration with Tech Writing, plus permission from instructor
You must also be a member of a team that has a project registered in the Project Proposal database.
Registration in the ECE-only section of GE 3513 - Technical Writing. This section of course will focus on the development of the design document in parallel with this course.
In compliance with and in the spirit of the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations are made for any student with a documented disability. Students should register with the Office of Student Support Services in Montgomery Hall at (662) 325-3335 as soon as possible to better ensure such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion and comply with their policies. Any student who believes they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Student Support Services If Student Support Services has a prescribed course of action for you with regard to this class, please visit the course instructor during office hours so we can make the proper arrangements.
MSU is committed to complying with Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination, including violence and harassment, based on sex. This means that MSU’s educational programs and activities must be free from sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct. If you or someone you know has experienced sex discrimination, sexual violence and/or harassment by any member of the University community, you are encouraged to report the conduct to MSU's Director of Title IX/EEO Programs at 325-8124 or by e-mail to titleix@msstate.edu. Additional resources are available at http://www.msstate.edu/web/security/title9-12.pdf, or at http://students.msstate.edu/sexualmisconduct.
Mississippi State University has an approved Honor Code that applies to all students. The code is as follows:
"As a Mississippi State University student I will conduct myself with honor and integrity at all times. I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor will I accept the actions of those who do."
Upon accepting admission to Mississippi State University, a student immediately assumes a commitment to uphold the Honor Code, to accept responsibility for learning, and to follow the philosophy and rules of the Honor Code. Students will be required to state their commitment on examinations, research papers, and other academic work. Ignorance of the rules does not exclude any member of the MSU community from the requirements or the processes of the Honor Code. For additional information please visit the MSU Honor code website.
Grades are calculated using the following weights:
Letter grades will be assigned according to the following distribution:
The goal of our two semester sequence is to provide you with a realistic design experience, and teach you the tools and methodologies that can help you be successful. Demonstration of a fully functional prototype is required. Receiving a passing grade is not a guarantee that you will be allowed to proceed to Senior Design II. You must first demonstrate a fully functional prototype to your advisor and the course instructor. In the event that your prototype doesn't work at the end of the semester, you should plan on making up the work over the semester break. Without this approval, you will not be allowed to enroll in the second semester of this course.
In order that each team member be motivated to participate fully in the team, teams are allowed to vote members out of the group at the end of semester. For the member voted out, this might mean you have to retake this course, so you need to work to avoid this at all costs. Communication between team members and the project advisor about expectations and performance is essential. Far too often, students voted out complain that no one in the group appreciated how much work they really did.
To be considered for a passing grade in this portion of the class, your design review must convince the committee this project is ready for the fabrication stage (the following course in the two-course sequence). You also must convince the committee that you have done a sufficient amount of simulation and prototyping of your system, and that all critical design questions have been answered.
Demonstration of a fully working prototype by the end of the semester is the most critical piece of this course. Hence, a major portion of your grade is based on a binary decision about your prototype. The course instruction team and the project advisor will be involved in this decision. You cannot pass the course without completing this component of the course.
The design document is a comprehensive description of the entire project including: requirements, test specification, design, and test certification. It presents both simulation data and hardware measurements (for the packaged version of the hardware!), demonstrating that your design has met its goals. This document should address most of the points listed on the cover page of the course web site. Templates for this document are available on-line. The writing component of the design document will be coordinated with GE 3513, Technical Writing.
The mid-semester design review is a checkpoint that reports on project progress to this point in the semester. At this presentation, any deficiencies that are documented must be rectified in your final design review. At this stage of the course, you will be expected to show solid design constraints, a preliminary design, and a comprehensive implementation plan.
The final design review must address all design deficiencies noted in your mid-semester review, and review all aspects of the project (with technical details supporting your claims). This will be a 15-minute presentation. At the time of the design review, a project web site must be available containing all information about the project, including the documents described above and the design review presentation.
Concurrent with the design review, we will host a conference-style prototype hardware demonstration. This will be set up in a room adjacent to the presentations, and consist of a conference booth type format where each team is allocated a table at which they will demonstrate their hardware. Each team will be responsible for constructing a poster providing an overview of the project. Faculty, student, and industrial representatives will visit each project and provide a detailed evaluation of the hardware. This portion of the final design review will last about two hours and run concurrently with the design presentations.
Another significant component of your grade is derived from your advisor's evaluation of the team, peer review, and team self-assessment. Remember a prime directive: "Keep your advisor happy." The rationale your advisor uses to arrive at your grade is at his or her discretion. Be sure to communicate with your advisor to fully understand his or her expectations. Also, your exchanges with fellow team members should involve good listening skills, the distribution of the responsibility and, most important, follow through. Good teamwork requires care, skill, and effort.
The project web site will be graded according to its comprehensiveness and professional appearance. A good site will contain a complete archive of the project, including all documents, presentations, data sheets, schematics, source code, data, measurements, etc. It will use colors, fonts, and web features in tasteful and meaningful ways to advance your ideas and product in a manner that is reasonably compatible with existing sites within the market. Human factors such as legibility and ease of navigation are important. WARNING: If your website does not contain your complete design data (datasheets, schematics, PCBs, code, etc.) then it will be assigned a maximum of 1 point out of 5 possible points.
Your course grade will be computed using the categories and weights described above. Final grades can be adjusted by plus or minus 10% based on feedback collected from a peer review or self-assessment process. Ideally, all team members contribute equally and, as a result, the team achieves their grade goals. Occasionally, peer review reveals that contributions are markedly uneven, despite all efforts to address the project as a team. As a part of self-assessment process, team members will submit a written evaluation of their fellow team members. All claims of mutiny, insurgency, poor performance, etc., must be documented in sufficient detail to be given consideration.
We will attend some entrepreneurship lectures this semester in coordination with GE 3011; attendance at these is worth 5% of your grade. Developing an appreciation of those issues discussed in the entrepreneurship series offers the opportunity to distinguish yourself from other job applicants. The entrepreneurship lectures are one means by which we encourage you to start thinking about important non-technical aspects of your career.
Please note that the dates below are fixed since they have been arranged to optimize a number of constraints. You need to adjust your schedules, including job interviews and site visits, accordingly. Lecture notes will be posted as they become available. (Existing notes are subject to changes up through the afternoon of each class.)
* Be available at least 5 minutes before your scheduled time. Meet in the break room across from Dr. Jones' office (Simrall 231).
** Consult the GE 3513 schedule for exact due dates. Both product specs are due before class.
Presentations and hardware demonstrations are due at times shown above. Unless otherwise specified, the weekly deliverables shown in the table below are to be placed on your website. The documents in the table are prepared in conjunction with Technical Writing (GE 3513). For these documents, use the due date and time specified in the GE 3513 syllabus; the dates for these documents in the table only correspond to the week that they are due, not the specific day. The presentation material for the preliminary and final design reviews are due on the day that they are given. All document assignments posted to the team website must be in .docx format. Do not post both Word and PDF formats as posting two versions introduces the possibility of inconsistencies between versions. Note that the GE 3513 instructors will accept GE 3513 assignments either in Word or PDF, either posted to the website or emailed. However, assignments for ECE 4512/4532 must be posted to the website (not emailed), and in .docx format. Presentation material for the mid-term and final presentations must be posted in native format, such as PowerPoint.
To assist in grading, team should name their files TeamName_AssignmentName_Phase, such as CookSmart_ProblemStatement_Draft.docx.