Catalog Description

A summative computer engineering design project, carried out either individually or in small groups, building upon previous engineering, science, mathematics and communication course work focusing on professional practice in computer science and engineering. Prerequisite: Must complete a course in one of the four CEG Electives packages.

Textbook     

 None

References  

Several volumes of previous Design Experience documents.

Home Page

http://gozer.cs.wright.edu/classes/ceg498/ceg498.html

Course Goals

1. The practice of engineering on a short-term project.
2. Being part of a team.
3. Researching for the knowledge relevant to the project.
4. Assigning priorities to various tasks in order to meet deadlines.
5. Good style in technical report writing.
6. Professional speaking.

Prerequisites by Topic

1. Fluency in an object-oriented language, e.g., C++.
2. Programming environments: development tools, Unix, and Windows.
3. Data structures and algorithms: trees, graphs, hash tables, sorting and searching
4. Interprocess communication mechanisms.
5. Digital computer hardware design and interfaces.

Major Topics Covered in the Course

There are no formally scheduled lecture/discussion periods.  Lectures, if any, are driven by the observed progress of the students on their projects.  Through project work, team coordination, meetings and presentations, the students would have learned the following.

• Overview of projects, teamwork, and expected technical reports. 
• The practice of engineering on a short-term project.  The making of a successful product.
• Being part of a team.  Recognition of strengths and weaknesses in team members. Assigning priorities to various tasks in order to meet deadlines.   
• Researching the background material. Applying the technical knowledge accumulated through various courses to the design and construction of a product.  Leveraged use of Unix and Windows program development environments.
• Documenting the development of a product. Requirements Document and Users Manual.  Specification Document.  Design Document. Good style in technical report writing. 
• Professional speaking.  Presentation of a project to peers and superiors.  Successful demonstrations of working prototypes.

Laboratory Projects

CEG 498 is a wholly project-based course.   There are no examinations.

Students work in groups to complete some significant engineering project of their choosing. Each group is required to manage its own efforts, but are guided to consider and address the seven goals listed earlier in the course goals section. Student efforts toward meeting those goals are assessed by reading their personal engineering journals, their group documents, attending their final project presentations, and by a formal course debriefing at the end of the term.

Typically, weekly meetings with the instructor are scheduled for each group. Additional meetings are held as necessary. It is required that each member of the group attend.  There are no formally scheduled lecture/discussion periods.  Lectures, if any, are driven by the observed progress of the students on their projects.

There is no scheduled lab. Each student is expected to work in open labs for no less than 8 hours a week.  The chosen project is expected to be finished in the 10 week term.

Estimate CSAB Category Content

Oral and Written Communications

Students participate in a weekly group meeting where they are expected to orally explain their efforts to both the instructor and to other group members. All students are also required to participate in the oral project presentation at the end of the course. Students must maintain personal engineering notebooks that serve as both documentation of their individual efforts and as an assessment tool for the instructor. Every group is required to prepare a number of design documents and manuals explaining how to use and/or modify their product(s).

Social and Ethical Issues

Specific social and ethical issues vary from project to project. However, all students are encouraged and expected to consider both the potential social impacts of the products they design as well as the ethical issues raised by working in a group environment. Students are asked to comment on both issues, in writing and during the oral debriefing at the end of the term. Students are also encouraged to record their observations on both topics in their engineering journals and are provided with topical readings via the course WWW page.

Theoretical Content

Specific theoretical content varies from project to project. However, at least half of the projects undertaken in 2000-2001 required the students to augment their core CS knowledge with basic theoretical content drawn from various faculty members' research. Included were topics in evolutionary algorithms, pattern recognition, machine olfactation, and analysis of non-linear dynamical systems. We intend to encourage projects that expose students to theory beyond that included in core areas whenever possible.

Problem Analysis

This course has a strong component of problem analysis. Students are required to assess needs and requirements, propose and implement a solution, and then determine how well their solution meets those needs. Some projects also have a large component of scientific analysis, requiring students to experimentally verify properties of either their design environment or their design materials before proceeding onto the design phase.

Solution Design

The final product of the course is a design and implementation of a solution to an engineering problem subject to time, economic, moral, and social constraints. Solution design is, therefore, a strong component of what is expected of students.