Unlike most courses with projects, in 432 you aren't expected to finish your project by the end of the semester. The ECE design requirement calls for a substantial design experience, and the 432 project is intended to satisfy that requirement. You will formulate and begin the design of your project this semseter and complete it next semester in 494. Since you will be free from such distractions as 432 lectures, you will probably make significantly more progress next semester than this semester.

Since this will be a substantial project it will require a substantial amount of effort. Therefore projects will be undertaken by teams of three or four students. Your project team will also be your lab group for the lab exercises.

Your project must be chosen from the list on the Available Projects page. Although some of the projects presented there are described in detail, many are simply outlines of a possible project direction. In either case you must refine the project description into a specific declaration of what your project intends to acomplish.

The way that this happens is that your team prepares a Project Proposal describing briefly but comprehensively what you intend to do. This should be submitted to the 432 instructor by the date shown in the schedule. To avoid the embarassing situation of having your proposal rejected, you should discuss your plans with the instructor before you begin writing.

In preparing your proposal, you should seek to define your project so that, in addition to satisfying the project definition, it meets the following requirements:

• It is of an appropriate level of difficulty.
• There is a reasonable expectation of completion by April of next year.
• It has a well defined goal which defines successful completion.