Advice from Previous Students

"The two most important things a group can have are a diverse set of skills and a great project. Make sure you are always two steps ahead of deadlines as unforeseeable problems always occur. Also, pick a project that your team can take an invested interest in besides a good grade. This will provide some extra motivation for your team on those long nights. One important thing for each team to understand going into Senior Design is the raw data you want will never be there. That would be too easy. Your team's ability to create tools that will overcome this problem will separate the great projects from the adequate ones."    - Jason Hoff (Senior Design Fall 2007)



"All the horror stories one hears about Senior Design are most likely true. It will be the most challenging course in the entire IE curriculum, but the most rewarding by far. In picking a group, it is important to find people who have the same drive and a desire to make the project a success. Be upfront with other members of the group if there is a problem. Working with friends can be fun but if you have different ideas of what constitutes a good job, it may not be the best idea. Be mindful of the entire scope of the project. It may seem overwhelming to look ahead, but exhausting all time and effort on one issue will result in an unfinished project. Be clear with the client as to what they can expect from the group. Quick Tips: Be patient! Senior Design takes effort, time and a willingness to learn. You will waste time doing unnecessary tasks. Identify issues in the group quickly, make them known and move on. Try your very best. If the project is successful, you could land a job or first prize! Be will ing to compromise. Hear other group member’s ideas. Do not promise deliverables that are not possible. Listen to your advisor. Try to get some sleep. Good luck!"    - Mary Beth LaHatte



"First, Senior Design is a lot of work. Choose a project that you can get excited about working on. It will make a huge difference in terms of the effort everybody is willing to put into it. The time spent working on our project has probably been one of the best learning experiences of my years in college. It gave me a taste of how difficult and ambiguous real world problems can be. Although this may not have been my opinion at some points in the semester, I think our project was definitely worth all the effort and the late nights that we put into it. Also, I believe respect and communication are the foundations of a successful team. A big part of the success of our project consisted of finding the strengths of each team member and putting them to use for the good of the project. I was luckily part of a very good team filled with very talented individuals who had the willingness and the drive to see this project through."    - Allam Garcia (Fall 2007)



"I wish I had known the level of commitment necessary in order for a project to be successful. It was hard to estimate the amount of work that I would spend on the project every week, and I wish I had been more prepared to dedicate 20+ hours per week. I would not recommend job searching or taking a rigorous course load along with Senior Design. Also, I wish I had been prepared for the overall direction of the project to change several times throughout the course of the semester. As our group learned more about the problem at hand, we had to adjust our approach and ultimately our deliverables to better solve the problem. It will also be important to realize that most of your time during the semester will be spent planning, writing proposals or progress reports, preparing presentations, or coordinating work between team members. You will undoubtedly feel as though you have little time to "actually work on the project," which is where good time management will benefit you greatly. Lastly, often times you will experience difficulty in meeting expectations of both your faculty advisor and client. It is important to find a good balance to make all parties happy with the results. In order for a team to be successful, each team member must be equally dedicated to the success of the project. I would recommend choosing team members that you know the quality of their academic work beforehand, avoiding choosing group members solely because you are friends with them. One weak link in the team will undoubtedly cause frustrations within group members, which will ultimately affect the quality of the results. It is important to realize going into Senior Design that there is a very good chance that you will have a group member issue at one point in the semester, typically in the form of one member not pulling his or her weight. This is one of the biggest challenges in the course because it forces you to deal with team member issues that you might face in the workplace."    - Ashley Thompson (Senior Design Fall 2007)



"In my personal opinion I’d make a huge emphasis in the mastering of diverse software, whether is in the multimedia or in the programming area. Find a project that is really exciting and challenging at the same time. Stay motivated. That will help to keep the project moving. One factor that I find imperative about choosing a project is visualizing the impact that it could bring. Although we had tons of difficulties throughout the project; lots of things that had to be redone, lack of information, lack of time, sacrificing the football game on Saturday and so on, I believe it was totally worth it, because it is at the end that everything comes into place and you witness what you’ve accomplished as a team and that all that time spent contributed to the development of something that will save lives in our case. That is just an amazing feeling."    - Alejandro Leyva (Senior Design Fall 2007)"



"Mold your project according to the director of Senior Design and your advisor while convincing or veering your client towards the goals of your team, advisor, and director of 4106. My team was put together by word of mouth. Three of us already knew each other, but the rest of us did not know anyone. I was recommended to the group by a friend of the group's leader. Doing this allowed all members to have an even ground in the beginning. Also, not knowing each other prevented us from "goofing" off or being timid with comments about the project. It allowed us to be truthful to each other without having feelings hurt. The dynamics mimicked teams in actual jobs, showing the process of meeting each other and working well together. Have an idea of what type of project you want, or type you do not want. Be open about pursuing projects. Make sure you have plenty of options, by searching for companies early. Select the project that has the largest yet completable scope. Make sure the sponsor will be active in y our project by providing information and support, before selecting the project. Do not be concerned about accepting the first project. It is an interview process on both sides. Be selective."    - Alison Kao, (Senior Design Fall 2007)

In 2005, a student team, consisting of Sann-Thidar Aung, Alfredo Fernandez, Desiree Johnson, David Music, Aishwarya Narendran, and Saw-Marlar Soe, was asked to comment on their student design experience. Here is what they said.