Project Proposal

Senior Design Proposal (End of Junior Year)

Team Composition

The preferred team size is five members. The team size may differ slightly with instructor permission only.

The proposal should include the names and majors of team members.

Project Alternatives

Each team must submit at least two project ideas (one primary and at least one backup). The following information must be included for the primary project. A subset of this information may be submitted for the backup project idea.

• Project description
  • Give enough detail so the project scope and objectives are clear.
  • Identify and describe your project's client or customer.
  • If the project has a stakeholder, indicate who it is and describe their level of involvement and support.
  • Focus on the necessity of the project and the problem it will solve. Avoid a solution looking for a problem.
  • Show that your proposed project complies with the ABET requirement that students must be prepared for engineering practice through "a culminating major engineering design experience that 1) incorporates appropriate engineering standards and multiple constraints, and 2) is based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work."
  • Demonstrate that your proposed project has appropriate content for all your team members. For example,
    • Any team with a CE member must have a project with significant computing content.
    • Any team with an SE member must have a project with significant software content.
• Project technologies and support facilities
  • Identify the technologies (hardware, software, other) you anticipate may be required for successful project completion.
  • Describe your familiarity with each of the key technologies, and what level of assistance you expect you'll need.
  • Estimated budget (to one significant figure). You budget may include things like:
    • Hardware components
    • Software licenses
    • Hosting for build server
    • Hosting for web app
    • Paid developer accounts (e.g., Apple Developer account)
    • Marketing materials
• Preliminary development plan
  • Initial breakdown of overall project into incrementally delivered pieces
  • Description of functionality to be attempted in each sprint (this is likely to change as the project progresses, but it is useful to have a rough plan that will help set the scope of the project). At a minimum, a sprint goal for each of the eight sprints should be identified.

It is important that your team give early and serious thought to your project alternatives, technologies, and potential development approach. If you don't, the result can be wasted time in the fall, which can have a major negative effect on your team's success (and your senior design grades).

Optional information

Add your comments and suggestions regarding the senior design sequence. Be sure to include any questions about the courses, project, or process.

Submission

Ideally this proposal is due by Friday of week 9 of spring quarter of your junior year; however, this may not be realistic, depending on when your team is finalized. A member of your team must submit a .pdf format of your proposal via email to your senior design advisor.

Final Draft of Proposal (Fall of Senior Year)

The final draft of your senior design proposal must be placed in Teams. The proposal should focus on the primary project (it's likely that no additional attention to your backup project is required, but check with your advisor to confirm).

You should incorporate any additional information that your team learned over the summer. Your proposal should describe, what you intend as the key functionality of your product at the end of the academic year.

In addition, the final draft of the proposal must detail all the work required by your team in order to prepare for the first sprint. It is recommended that you create GitLab issues describing this work and refer to them within your proposal.