Senior Design

Tom Rethard

Courses CSE 4316/4317

Taken by CSE, SE and CS majors CSE 4316

Primarily “Professional Practices” – otherwise known as 3310+

Project from inception through requirements and into architecture

CSE 4317 Primarily ethics, architecture and construction Project from architecture through final delivery

Requirements (may vary) Project (40%)

Team Performance (20%) Individual Performance (20%)

Software Engineering Notebook Exams (50%)

Mostly written Sometimes oral

Attendance and participation (10%) Must Meet ALL ABET Criteria to Pass

ABET Outcomes(a) Ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering

(b) Ability to design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data

(c) Ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs

X

(d) Ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams

X

(e) Ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems

X

(f) Understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

X

More ABET Outcomes(g) Ability to communicate effectively X

(h) Broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context

(i) Recognition of the need for, and the ability to engage in life-long learning

X

(j) Knowledge of contemporary computer science and engineering issues

X

(k) Ability to use techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice

Overall Grading As on the Syllabus, but you must

ALSO pass EVERY ABET and CSE@UTA Outcome

Passing means you are at least minimally satisfactory in every area that applies to that criterion

Bottom Line Do your job every day Work smart Don’t get behind Don’t procrastinate Don’t get stupidly lazy (good

engineers are intelligently lazy – they think long term, not short term)

What’s Easy The technical stuff

If you paid attention in earlier classes If you come to class If you follow instructions If you have solid self-discipline

What’s Hard The people stuff

Working as part of a team Managing conflict Avoiding ego clashes Remembering you have a job to do Staying focused!

The Projects Origins

Some student suggested Some faculty suggested Some industry suggested

Instructor approves all project proposals Must be difficult enough to be real work Must be achievable

Must result in a real product

What We Don’t Do Alarm systems Remote-controlled vehicles (some

exceptions for sponsored projects) Non-sponsored “smart home” projects Larger than 1 cubic yard Existing product Websites Coding projects

What a Project Must Be About 12 man-months’ worth of full-

time work (~2000 man-hours) CSE majors must include major

hardware design/integration CS and SE majors will work with CSE

majors, but will not have primary responsibility for hardware design. BUT, they will have to deal with it.

Teams Minimum 4, maximum 6, students Formed based on the available projects and

distribution of available skills. DON’T team up with your best friend,

girl/boy friend, spouse, etc. (in other words, make sure your instructor knows about your relationships that might violate this) Unless you want to destroy the relationship

Level of Effort Overall (through two semesters)

About 10-15 hours per week per person Hours will vary during the project

Weekly oral status reports Periodic formal reviews Individual presentations And the usual classroom load This is not an easy course

Prior Group Projects A control and reporting system for power

usage measured by a network-attached electric meter

An automatic drink mixer Two different parking garage entry control

system An automated baby monitoring system A parked vehicle monitoring system

Monitoring for children and/or animals left in car

More Prior Projects A saltwater aquarium control

system A hydroponics control system A thermal emergency monitoring

system A cleaning robot A change management system

More Prior Projects DASD Organization Performance

Measurement Testbed A Web-controlled LED

Announcement Board for Room 100 A Computer-Controlled Laser

Display System A DVD Imaging and Duplication

System

More Prior Projects An RFID-based Inventory System A Monitor and Control Backpack for

a Rat A Navigation and Target

Identification Subsystem for the UTA AUV

Current Projects An autonomous submersible (2

teams) AUVSI Contest

An autonomous vehicle (2 teams) AUVSI Contest

An automated guitar player A “slot machine” for the CoE

To be used for prize giveaways during e-week

More Current Projects A flood control monitor for feeder

streams A testbed system for the Heracleia

Lab A network analysis tool (also for

Heracleia)

Discussion Open forum with Senior Design

Students