ELE 800: Engineering Design Project (EDP)
Course Guidelines 2004
Draft
1. Course Objectives
ELE 800 provides a significant opportunity for engineering design in a self-directed
learning environment in contrast to the structured learning normally provided by
organized lectures and programmed laboratory experiments.
In the process of achieving this objective the student will be required to:
(a) Continue the design and implementation work on the engineering
design project undertaken in ELE700, the prerequisite engineering design
course.
(b) Source and select from libraries, the Web, faculty or industrial
contacts, the information required for the design, and working prototype
implementation.
(c) Produce an acceptable, practical embodiment that in most instances
will be a working engineering prototype. Measure its performance and
make observations and recommendations that will be fully fleshed out and
documented in the required formal EDP report. This report may form the
basis of an oral examination.
(d) Submit a formal EDP report for evaluation no later than the published
due date contained herein.
e. Present and discuss the project to the peers and the public by participating in an
afternoon to evening Open House in May 2003.
2. Pre-requisite
ELE 700 Engineering Design Course.
3. Approved Topics List, Component Cost, Equipment and Laboratories
The approved list of EDP topics was available on the ELE 700 course website for
selection in the fall of the preceding year, in accordance with the ELE 700 course
requirements.
Project costs for components and other supplies will be borne by the student. It is
estimated that the average cost per student is about $250. The department may provide
some specialized components. This will be noted in the project description. Students
should carefully assess the cost implications of a particular project before making a
commitment. Requests for equipment or laboratory usage outside of your scheduled lab
hours should be directed to your Faculty Laboratory Coordinator (FLC).
The EDP laboratory allocation will be the same as that employed in ELE 700. If there are
any changes, notices will be posted on the appropriate laboratories prior to the first
laboratory session. Please note that the final FLC and Lab Room number assignment will
be based on the topic you select and faculty loading and not what your timetable may
indicate. This is due to the difficulty to pre-schedule students in accordance with their
individual engineering design topics. In some cases, students may find a conflict between
their ELE 800 schedule and other courses. In such cases, advise your FLC and attend the
other course because EDP labs will be open for extended periods and your FLC will be in
the lab on at least two time slots per week. Please be sure to read the notice on the Main
Bulletin board before starting to attend your weekly lab session.
For projects requiring the use of machine shop and printed circuit board facilities, weekly
3-hour accesses to the Fabrication Lab will be provided, at a time to be posted. This time
slot is restricted for Engineering Design students only. Due to the danger or physical
injury, a technical advisor must be at hand to supervise and advise students on proper use
of the facilities.
4. The Role of Faculty Laboratory Coordinator and Faculty Advisor
This course presents administrators with a major challenge in coordination. There is a
broad topic spectrum as each person, in the entire fourth-year student body, selects a
unique project. Laboratory resources must be managed to ensure their adequacy,
longevity, student safety, and security. Topics are classified into major groups such as
Power, Computer Software, DSP, Control, Communication, and Instrumentation. A
designated FLC coordinates each group. Each student is assigned with a FLC based on
the engineering design topic area and resource requirements. The FLC's role is to:
i. Assist the course coordinator in assessing the acceptability of student
generated topics.
ii. Provide, where feasible, technical advice without unduly removing the
challenge from the student.
iii. Advise the student, where necessary and possible, in the acquisition of
parts, test equipment and specialized laboratory facilities, as required.
iv. Monitor the student's weekly progress during the five hours of
scheduled lab sessions.
v. Evaluate the overall project results based on project demonstration, final
engineering design report, Open House demonstration, and an oral
examination.
vi.
vii.
Be aware of assistance given to the student by a Faculty Advisor (FA) where one
exists. The FA is a faculty member who has voluntarily suggested a topic or is
formally or informally advising the student. When a FA generates a topic, the
advisor is acknowledged in the EDP description. The FA may or may not be
interested in assisting the student beyond the topic generation phase. As a
courtesy, the student should discuss the project with the FA and establish the
nature and extent of any advice the FA wishes to provide. Upon project
completion, it is suggested that the student provides an engineering design report
copy to the FA if the advisor so wishes; this copy does not have to be bound.
The following Professors are the FLCs for this academic year:
R. Cheung, K. Clowes, V. Geurkov, P. Hiscocks, M. Kassam, L. Kirischian, R. Sedaghat.
Course Coordinator: Dr. Cheung, Rm. T316, email: rcheung@ee.ryerson.ca, 979-5000
ext-6112.
5. Scope of the Engineering Design Project
ELE 800 will make significant demands on the students' time. The key, therefore, to
completing all aspects of this course is to carefully define reasonable limits to what is
being undertaken and to budget time on a regular basis to minimize last minute rushes. In
order to help spread out the time spent on the engineering design project evenly over the
winter term, a 5 hour per week lab sessions will be assigned to the student. In these lab
sessions, the student has the chance to discuss challenges that arise and log their progress
with their FLC. As stated earlier, the intended value of the Engineering Design Project is
to provide a major experience in self-directed learning. Therefore it is important that the
topic is thoroughly researched and well under way in ELE 700 during the Fall Term, and
a plan of actions for the Winter Term is carefully drawn up. Your FLC may refuse to
assist the student who has not made a reasonable effort to solve their problem. Ultimately,
the successful completion of the project is the sole responsibility of the student.
6. Course Evaluation
Students are evaluated based on the following components.
(a) Oral Examination: Students are required to demonstrate a working prototype and a
thorough knowledge of their EDP through an oral examination by their assigned FLC.
Failure to do so will automatically result in a failed grade. Students who do not keep
their FLC advised of their progress on at least a biweekly basis may be refused an oral
examination because authorship and contribution to the project is questionable.
(b) Open House Presentation: Students are required to participate in an "Open House"
exhibition scheduled for Thursday May 2nd, 2003. Open House is scheduled from 3:30
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to facilitate visitors and working students. Please advise prospective
employers of this requirement. At the Open House, students will demonstrate and discuss
their project with visitors from the academic community, their peers, and visitors from
industry. Participation in this exhibit may result in a grade revision for enhancements or
improvements to the project. Students absent from the Open House will have their grade
reflect this.
(c) Final Engineering Design report: One unbound copy of your final Engineering
Design report is required to submit to your FLC by noon, Monday in the week following
the oral examination date. Reports will be accepted at Room T200. A report submitted
without prior satisfactory demonstration of your project will automatically be given a
failed grade. The format of the report should conform to professional standards. The
length of the report will vary depending on the topic. However, it need not be more than
50 pages in total, including appendices. If the project includes software, a floppy disk
containing the source code must be included with the report.
The unbound final report will be returned to the student during the first week of May
together with corrections and suggestions for improvement. The student must make the
necessary revisions and submit to T200 by noon on May 9, 2003 for binding. A checklist
that specifies how the report is to be physically organized for binding will be available in
T200 in April. Two bound Engineering Design reports must be submitted to the
Department. If the May deadline is not met for Engineering Design Report submission,
the student will not be eligible to graduate.
Theory and Design Sections: By February 7, 2003 the Theory and Design sections, in
draft form, for the Engineering Design Report are to be submitted by the student to their
FLC for assessment and comments. This document will be reviewed and returned for
individual discussion with the student within about three weeks. This report will
influence the final course grade.
7. Summary of Important Dates and Deadlines
The essential dates are tabulated below. Please see the appropriate section in this
document for details. The FLCs may change the date with advance notice to the students
in their section.
January 24, 2003 Two milestones to be individually established
February 7, 2003 Theory and design sections of report submission
February 14, 2003 First milestone completion deadline
March 14, 2003 Second milestone completion deadline
April 7 & 11, 2003 Oral examination
April 11, 2003 Final EDP report submission deadline, noon Monday T200
May 2, 2003 Open house exhibition
May 9, 2003 Two EDP final reports submitted for binding
8. Engineering Design Project Grading Considerations
The EDP grade awarded to a student who has completed all the requirements, including a
successful and timely project demonstration and oral examination, is based on an
assessment made by their FLC. Though the wide variation in EDP topic, approach, and
challenges encountered by the student does not allow a precise marking scheme to be
uniformly applied, the factors described below will be weighted by the FLC in determine
the student grade.
Students are encouraged to inform their FLC as to the grade they are aspiring to. When
requested the FLC will be able to advise the student whether or not they are on target to
the desired grade.
a. Laboratory Work
All EDPs require that a concept, an idea, bounded by specifications in the EDP topic
description be researched to provide sufficient knowledge to enable a realistic design be
fleshed out. This design is implemented in the laboratory.
The foundations for the EDP grade rest on the design and implementation process. Unless
the design is sound and based on solid engineering, the laboratory time will be
inefficiently used and the effort frustrating to all involved including the FLC.
Even with a good design, the student will be challenged with implementation and
bringing the design to life. Here the key aspect is the process by which the student tackles
the challenges encountered. Is a problem analyzed to thoroughly understand its root and a
logical decision made as to what options are viable and a strategy devised to confirm the
diagnosis and attempt a solution, or is a trial and error quick-fix method employed? How
systematic and skilled are the trouble shooting procedures employed; for instance, are
waveforms studied carefully or program flow examined, or does the investigator simply
"stab in the dark" in the hope of success, with little or no understanding?
Other factors used in evaluating lab performance include time and project management
skills. How well did the student meet milestone and GANT chart schedules, and the
consistency with which the project was tackled, and ongoing technical documentation?
The variations in project topic and approach, student creativity, ingenuity, novelty and
complexity of implementation or success in meeting practical implementation challenges
are all factors in grading decisions.
Although a project that has been demonstrated as meeting or exceeding the initial
requirements is fundamental for a good grade, the FLC will consider all the aspects in
establishing the final grade.
b. EDP Report
The EDP report, an essential course component, is the document on which anyone not
intimately involved with the laboratory work assesses the project. In addition, the project
value to future investigators is contained within the final report.
A good EDP report will improve the primary assessment based on the laboratory work. In
general, a good EDP report is required to consolidate the laboratory and project
development work performed by the student.
A poor EDP report will certainly demerit even excellent laboratory performance and will
be reflected in the overall course grade. Students should make every effort to prepare at
least a good EDP report, and for those wishing to achieve an "A" grade or win awards, an
excellent Engineering Design report is essential.
The EDP report will normally contain the standard sections: Introduction,
Acknowledgements, Certification of Authorship, Index, Abstract, Objectives, Theory,
Design, Documentation including Schematics and Parts Lists, Measurement Procedure,
Performance Measurements, Analysis of Performance, Conclusions, Appendices, and
References.
Although a seminar on the EDP report writing is scheduled for February, a few key
suggestions are offered:
Particularly in engineering, it is essential that a project be properly designed. A designer
must satisfy the examiner, the FLC, that the program or circuit will perform its tasks to
specification under all or at least the usual, variations in the operating or manufacturing
environment. Such issues as component tolerance, voltage variations, maximum and
minimum computer cycle times and data throughputs are examples of variables. In other
words, the examiner must be convinced that the project is battle-proof and its operation at
the demonstration is not an unusual event.
Another guide used to assess whether the design is competent is to consider the mass
production of this prototype. Could one anticipate a reasonable yield and customer
satisfaction?
The working prototype performance must be measured to quantify the extent to which it
meets the design specifications. The procedure used to measure performance is to be
described in sufficient detail that the reader can repeat it. The measured results must be
documented in conjunction with appropriate schematics or flow charts. The results should
be analyzed to ensure that they fit the anticipated performance and if not an explanation
is called for.
The abstract must accurately précis the entire report contents in half a page or less.
The conclusions should address the project's objectives; to what extent were they met?
Where schematics and quotations are taken verbatim from other sources, these sources
must be acknowledged to avoid the potentially serious charges of plagiarism.
It is recommended that the hardware be photographed with a digital camera along with a
photograph of the student author. These photographs are to be included in the final report.
Dr. R. Cheung, EDP Course Coordinator