Electrical and Computer Engineering

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Electrical engineering and computer engineering majors may fulfill the requirements for the Honors Research Project in one of two ways

• by using the senior design project that is the capstone experience of their engineering degree, or
• by using undergraduate research in the department.

Using Senior Design for the Honors Research Project

Honors Project Course Information

ELEN/CPEN401—Senior Design Project I - Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering (3 credit hours)
Prerequisite: ELEN/CPEN:309, senior standing

Design and preparation phase of an engineering team project. System specification, design, and simulations; ordering of components; subsystem implementations. Requires project presentations and report.

ELEN/CPEN:402—Senior Design Project II - Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering (3 credit hours)
Prerequisite: ELEN/CPEN:401, senior standing

Implementation and evaluation phases of an engineering design project. Requires a project presentation and report.

General Comments

In the third week of ELEN/CPEN:401 Senior Design I, each senior design team submits a preliminary design report. Once an Honors student’s preliminary design report has been accepted by the ECE department, it is ready for submission to the Honors College and should include

• the Honors Research Project Proposal form listing the team's assigned department faculty advisor for senior design as the Honors Project Sponsor, other department faculty (including the senior design instructor) as the Readers, and the student's academic advisor as the Honors Faculty Advisor;
• a cover document describing the student’s individual responsibilities on the project; and
• the senior design preliminary design report document.

Submission deadlines for the Honors College are available online.

At the end of the Fall of the senior year, each senior design team submits a design report. During the Spring semester of the senior year, the design report is refined and revised by the Honors student with feedback from the faculty, and the result is submitted to the Honors College as the Honors Research Project report. (Note that this is different from the final senior design report, which includes additional information on testing and verification of the design.) While the Honors Research Project report should document the entire design, and be co-authored by the entire senior design team, a separate Honors Summary inserted after the signature page must clearly describe the Honors student's individual contribution and conclusions. The process for revision is similar to the process for a MS thesis

• The student submits a full version of the Honors Research Project report to the Honors Project Sponsor, and responds to any requested revisions and edits. (eleventh week of Spring semester)
• When both student and advisor are satisfied with the revised document, the student submits the document to the Readers, and again responds to any requested revisions and edits. (twelfth week of Spring semester)
• When the Readers are satisfied with the revised document, signatures of the Sponsor and the Readers are obtained, and the full report is submitted to the Department Chair for signature.
• The report and signature page are submitted to the Honors College (thirteenth week of the Spring semester).

Students should expect reports to require significant revision at each step, and will need to start the process well in advance of the Honors College's deadlines to allow time for the faculty to read and edit the document.

Using Undergraduate Research for the Honors Research Project

Honors Project Course Information

ELEN/CPEN:301—Undergraduate Research I - Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering (1 credit hours)
Prerequisite: ELEN/CPEN:332

Research project, supervised by faculty member of the department; requires oral research presentation and written report.

ELEN/CPEN:302—Undergraduate Research II - Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering (1 credit hours)
Prerequisite: ELEN/CPEN:301

Research project, supervised by faculty member of the department; requires oral research presentation and written report.

ELEN/CEPN:303—Undergraduate Research III - Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering (1 credit hours)
Prerequisite: ELEN/CPEN:302

Research project, supervised by faculty member of the department; requires oral research presentation and written report to the department, and presentation of work in a research venue outside the department.

All three courses, for a total of three credit hours, must be completed on a single project in order to count undergraduate research for the Honors Research Project.

General Comments

During ELEN/CPEN:302 Undergraduate Research II, a proposal describing the research project is submitted to the Honors College. The Honors Research Project: Proposal form lists the research faculty advisor for undergraduate research as the Honors Project Sponsor, other department faculty as the Readers, and the student’s academic advisor as the Honors Faculty Advisor. The proposal must be received by the Honors College before their deadline.

Before receiving credit for ELEN/CPEN:303 Undergraduate Research III, a written report is submitted to the department. This report (and any technical papers written as a result of the research work) may be used as the basis for the Honors Research Project report, which should be an expanded version that covers the full three-semester span of the research work. If the Honors Research Project report is coauthored by multiple members of a research team, a separate Honors Summary inserted after the signature page must clearly describe the Honors student’s individual contribution and conclusions. The process for revision is similar to the process for a MS thesis

• The student submits a full version of the Honors Research Project report to the Honors Project Sponsor, and responds to any requested revisions and edits. (eleventh week of Spring semester)
• When both student and advisor are satisfied with the revised document, the student submits the document to the Readers, and again responds to any requested revisions and edits. (twelfth week of Spring semester)
• When the Readers are satisfied with the revised document, signatures of the Sponsor and the Readers are obtained, and the full report is submitted to the Department Chair for signature.
• The report and signature page are submitted to the Honors College (thirteenth week of the Spring semester).

Students should expect reports to require significant revision at each step, and will need to start the process well in advance of the Honors College's deadlines to allow time for the faculty to read and edit the document.

General Guidelines

• You must receive a grade of "B" or higher on your Honors Research Project to graduate as an Honors Scholar. If you do not achieve this grade you may still meet the requirements to graduate as an undergraduate student in your major. Please contact your Honors Advisor for more information.
• When there are multiple students involved in an Honors Research Project, each student should be included as authors on the final report, even if they are not part of the Williams Honors College. Every student should receive the proper recognition for thier contributions.
• Every committee must be composed of a Sponsor and two Readers. More information on these roles is available here.
• Students expecting to work on an honors project involving the use of human subjects should be aware that such projects may need to be evaluated by the University of Akron Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB reviews all proposals for research involving human participants to insure appropriate ethical and safety standards are observed. Depending on the nature of the proposed research, IRB review and approval may be required prior to moving forward with your study. In the same way, any research involving live animals will require review by the University of Akron Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC). Please communicate with your project sponsor regarding the need for IRB or ACUC consideration as it relates to your specific project. Information concerning research applications and review procedures can be obtained via the University of Akron Office of Research Administration (ORA).