Why Should You Participate?

1. Why Should You Participate? Dr. Farid Farahmand 6/22/2006

2. Why Participate? • A real-world project can provide a transition from being a student to becoming a professional • Use this project as your capstone project and receive credit for it • Have an opportunity to visit and talk to industry representatives sponsoring the project • Be recognized by the Dean’s office and offer university representatives • Gain a chance to improve your knowledge and skills • Learn to apply your knowledge to real problems • Have the opportunity to work in a team and learn from your peers • Challenge your skills and abilities • Learn how to take responsibility for your successes and mistakes • Understand a real design cycle • Add this experience to your resume Employers hire students with real working skills!

3. Who Should Participate? • Motivated and persistent students who are not afraid of trying new challenges • Interested students who enjoy solving open-ended problems • Self-starting and curious students who can work with minimal guidance • Students with good working attitude and desire to work in a team

4. What Should You Do? • Talk to your advisor and sign-up for the project • Limited funding may be available • Make sure you can dedicate sufficient time and effort • Choose your team • Having a good team is very important • No more than three people per team • Start a personal project web page • Update your page weekly • Prepare a schedule indicating your projected times to complete each Milestone

5. What Are You Expected to Present? • Have a brief presentation explaining your achievements • Explain your design approach and results • Describe how your design can be improved • Demonstrate your working prototype • Provide a document explaining your design steps and results

6. What Else? Any Questions?