The Senior Project Proposal represents the most important part of Course EE 413. Successful completion of a proposal and its approval is a requirement for passing EE 413 which, in turn, is prerequisite to registering for the senior project itself, either under EE 415 (self-generated project, to be conducted in a laboratory course setting) or EE 416 (project generated by a faculty member and to be conducted under his/her supervision). Format and requirements of the Senior Project Proposal are the same for either EE 415 or EE 416 projects. The Senior Project Proposal is to be considered a formal document. The checklist below presents items that must be included in the Senior Project Proposal.

• Objective: Brief description of the design objective. This must include the preliminary (USER) specifications, to be presented, if possible, in tabular form.

• Breakdown into Blocks and Sub-Blocks: For each block in the system, preliminary specifications must be presented, including input and output data. Remember, they have to be compatible to each other.

• Design Effort must be outlined. Remember that the senior project deals with DESIGN. Building a circuit described in some magazine or book is not permissible, except as part(s) of an overall system that must include elements (blocks) of your own design. You may borrow design concepts from the literature, but you must identify the sources and include them in your bibliography.

• Preliminary Cost and Labor Estimate: It is difficult to make a cost estimate compatible to one done in industry (which would have to include such items as overhead, profit etc.). Here, we shall limit ourselves to two items, namely: (a) Cost of parts (rough breakdown, as best as possible); (b) Hours (to be) spent, including breakdown into tasks (see "Project Plan" below).

• A Project Plan must be provided, in terms of your timetable. Present the project plan in a suitable tabular form and/or in the format of a "time-line". This plan should be based on the estimated hours for each task (see "Preliminary Cost and Labor Estimate", above)

• Bibliography: Use format used in IEEE Transactions (not Spectrum which uses a different format). Include page numbers, especially those for relevant pages of books or manuals. Attach copies of all references used (e.g., articles, data sheets or relevant pages from books or manuals). Make sure to identify each copy in terms of the reference entry in this and any subsequent report. (e.g. by numbers [1], [2], etc.).

Please observe the following considerations:

• Scope: The project requires DESIGN and building of some PRODUCT to meet certain SPECIFICATIONS (i.e., specifications must come first, before any implementation is discussed).

• Realism: Your project must be doable (in the given time) but, at the same time, not trivial.

• Clarity: Your presentation should be brief but clear. Tables and figures will help.

• Format: All figures, including block diagrams, should be numbered and include captions. All pages should be numbered.

A Note on the First Draft, Subsequent Drafts and the Final Proposal:

Turn in copies of the first draft of the report, as well as of all subsequent revised versions. Keep the originals. It is strongly suggested that you use a word processor. Keep in mind that the completed (and approved) Senior Project Proposal will serve as the basis for your senior project EE 415 or EE 416. Most, if not all, of the content will, with some editing, become part of the final report of your senior project.