Senior Design Project: Undergraduate Thesis

Abstract-Engineering design has become a critical element of the undergraduate engineering curriculum. To become accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requires that at least 24 credits of design content be included in the four-year undergraduate engineering curriculum. Senior design is the principal course in which students apply their knowledge in several disciplines to one project assignment and is a significant step towards meeting ABET requirements. Engineering experience acquired in the senior design course is a valuable aid to students as they learn how to apply theory to an actual design project. The senior design course develops project management and oral and written communication skills and enables students to learn scheduling, team coordination and cooperation, parts ordering, and cost/performance trade-offs. Ten senior design projects that have won IEEE and SME student paper contests are presented herein as a guide in the difficult selection of suitable design topics. The unique nature of the senior design course requires certain departures from usual engineering course organization if students are to derive the maximum benefit. Senior design is nearly equivalent to an industrial internship and may be more valuable as the first step a student takes in making the transition to working engineer. I