1. Technical information specific enough to allow the parties named on your project agreement to commit to the project scope and delivered capabilities;
2. Schedule planning specific enough for the team members to plan their project work and other 4A academic responsibilities; and
3. Budget planning specific enough for the team to plan its material acquisition and purchasing activities, including for the purpose of applying to the Student Project Fund (SPF) or other sources.

You will need to apply some judgement in deciding what details are required to fulfill these planning roles. The supplied example shows the format we require for communicating the information, and the level of detail we expect for the example application.

The following may earn a student an exemption from the ECE 391/492A/B course series:

• A substantially similar course or course series completed successfully while studying on exchange at another institution during any or all of the student's 3B, 4A, or 4B terms.

Issuance of any exemption from the ECE 391/492A/B course series is subject to approval by the Department's undergraduate officers in consultation with the Design Project Coordinator and the Engineering Exchange Program Director, or their designate.

Students anticipating the need for an exemption should notify the Design Project Coordinator as soon as possible, and make the necessary arrangements during their last on-campus term, before departing for their exchange terms.

Students who will be away for only ECE 391 are advised to select a student team and topic before they leave, and complete ECE 391 from a distance. These students can complete the ECE 492A and ECE 492B on campus when they return. (See Team, outlined below.)

• The team normally comprise of four student members. Teams with five student members are permissible but the need for a 5th member must be justified by the group and approved by the Design Project Coordinator.
• Each student member must be enrolled in ECE 391/492A/B, or in substantially equivalent courses from another engineering department (e.g., Mechatronics Option GENE 461/462). The student teams are free to choose an electrical, computer, mechatronics, or systems design engineering topic, reflective of their team members' interests.
• Individual team members can be away on exchange for any of ECE 391, ECE 492A or ECE 492B, but this must be noted in the Project Agreement and acknowledged with signatures by all team members.
• Students who will be away on exchange for more than one of the three courses in ECE 391/492A/B, are advised to consider earning an exemption from the course series by completing equivalent course(s) at the foreign institution. (See Grading, outlined above.)

• Enroll in ECE 391 during the term that you normally would, attend lectures, and critique other teams' proposal presentations.
• Decide whether your team will present the proposal presentation in the Fall or Winter session of ECE 391.
• Inform the Coordinator of your mixed-stream team status, and your decision about the proposal presentation.

• Join a project team.
• Notify the course instuctor and the course coordinator by email that they will be or are enrolled in ECE 391 from a distance.
• Sign the project agreement (PA). We suggest having the distant member sign the Project Agreement first, then fax or mail it to an on-campus team member who collects the other student and consultant signatures. We need a legal signature on the agreement. However, it is acceptable for another student to sign on behalf of the distant student provided that an e-mail is sent to both the course instructor and the course coordinator indicating this will occur.
• For the proposal presentation (PP), the distant student earns the same mark as their presenting team. The team is responsible for acquiring whatever contribution the distant member may make in the project work or presentation preparation.
• For the proposal critique (PC), the distant student completes two reviews of other project specification documents selected by the course instructor and the student submits these reviews by email to the course instructor. For more information on the critique, click here.

For example, Stewart is away on exchange in the Fall and Winter. He paid his UW tuition fees for both terms before he left. The course instructors enrolled Stewart in ECE 391 during the Fall. However, he is working with a group of Winter-stream students. Consequently, his Fall transcript shows INC for ECE 391. When he and his teammates complete the ECE 391 requirements in March, the course instructors will convert his INC to CR.

• Be a licensed Professional Engineer, or
• Be a University of Waterloo faculty member (e.g., professor, lecturer, etc.), or
• Be a University of Waterloo Lab Instructor, or
• Possess equivalent qualifications to any of the three titles listed above. Evaluating equivalence rests solely with the discretion of the Fourth Year Design Project Coordinator.
• Have expertise in the project topic area.
• Be willing and able to meet with the student design team on a regular basis (i.e., be located no further than an hour or two from campus).
• Be willing to provide feedback on the project.
• Sign the Project Agreement (PA).

• The topic must include a significant design experience, i.e., not just analysis.
• The project requirements must include objective and quantitative goals.
• The project goals must represent a realistic scope and effort, i.e., 4 persons x 120 person-hours = 480 person-hours during ECE 492A.
• The project must aim to produce a working prototype by the demonstration milestone of ECE 492A.

• The project should be fun for the student team.
• Software-only projects should include some realistic computational resource constraints.

• The project might aim for a practical, commercial or research application.

• Parts and material for the protoype
• Shipping costs for acquiring the material
• Brokerage fees for shipping across the U.S. border (typically ~$60 CDN)
• Printing costs for the hardcopy final report
• Production costs for the Symposium poster and seminar

• Under no circumstances should a project group solicit funds or equipment from any organization or individual!
• Sponsorship via cash or in-kind donations,
• ECE project inventory
  (Please return the parts in the same condition as you received them, e.g., do not use glue to mount components.)
• Student Project Fund, and
• Self, i.e., team members

• Material purchases qualifying for educational discounts often require endorsement from University staff. Please inform the Lab Director ahead of time before making any purchases that may include educational discounts. Often, the Director can realize significant savings through pre-arranged purchase programs between the supplier and the University.

• Cash or material donations directly to the students do not require involvement from the University.
• Cash or material donations requiring a receipt need to be arranged through the UW Office of Development, Faculty of Engineering officer.

• National Instruments, Southern Ontario representative, Kent.Leung at ni.com
• Microsoft

• Environmental Quescence
  Components recovered from discarded equipment for sale.
  182 Islington Avenue, Kitchener, 519-743-0187
• Sayal Electronics
  1040 Fountain Street, Unit 3-4, Cambridge, 519-650-0186

• A fourth year design project room (E2-3339) is available for student use in terms when ECE 492A is offered.
• To request equipment and bench space, contact Ed Spike (spike at ece.uwaterloo.ca).
• Include precise specifications with any requests for equipment (e.g., AC voltmeter with 100 ohms/V, 10 V to 100 V range, 60 Hz to 40 kHz frequency response).
• ECE lab equipment may not leave the assigned room or campus without written permission from Ed Spike (spike at ece.uwaterloo.ca).
• ECE lab equipment may not be booked through the parts inventory.
• Prior to using the soldering stations in the project room, you must be trained in the proper and safe use of the stations by Ed Spike.
• Any student caught violating the safety procedures for the use of the lab equipment will lose their bench privileges for one week.
• Each bench kit includes safety glasses. Team members are jointly responsible for returning all safety glasses in good condition.
• Get prior approval from Ed Spike for any circuits that connect to wall power.
• To request a specific computer configuration, contact Eric Praetzel (praetzel at uwaterloo.ca).
• Inform Ed Spike (spike at ece.uwaterloo.ca) of any computer requests so that he can allocate bench space accordingly.
• Computers are not available for loan to students.
• Include your group number in all correspondence.

• See this instruction sheet.

• As your first step in determining whether you should seek patent protection for your project ideas, follow the tips given in this email from a patent agent.

• Consider joining the UW Entrepreneurs Association. Attend Communitech events. Contact the UW Technology Transfer and Licensing Office (TTLO).

The Student Project Fund (SPF) has been established by the ECE Department to offset a portion of the cost of purchasing equipment used by students in the completion of their design projects. The remaining cost of a student design project should be split among all members of the design project group in a fair and equitable manner.

SPF money is allocated by a committee of peers. Reasonable requests for equipment purchases will likely be supported by the committee. Unreasonable requests will likely be denied. The criteria and procedures for obtaining SPF funding aim to maximize the benefit realized by the funds.

The authority for allocating SPF funds to project teams rests with the SPF Committee, which forms and meets during each term that ECE 391 is offered. The SPF Commitee comprises the following members:

• Student Academic Representatives from each ECE class on campus
• ECE 391 Instructors
• Lab Director
• Fourth Year Design Project Coordinator

Decisions are reached by majority vote. Each class gets one vote, except the class enrolled in ECE 391, which does not vote. The Coordinator chairs the meeting and only votes when necessary to break a tie. The Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that the Committee reaches decisions that are consistent with University policy, and with the principles and criteria listed here.

All materials purchased, in whole or in part, using SPF funds are the property of the University of Waterloo, regardless of whether other monies are applied towards the same purchase. After completion of the ECE 492B Symposium, material purchased using SPF funds enter the ECE Inventory for use by future students. Such material are not for use by project consultants, professors or University research groups.

The SPF operates strictly on a reimbursement basis in exchange for returned material. Student teams purchase any material using their own money. The SPF fund only reimburses the students after they return the purchased material following the completion of the Symposium in 4B, up to the limit approved from their funding request, and only for the material for which the approval was originally issued. In no case will the SPF provide funds without obtaining the corresponding material for deposit into the ECE Inventory.

Student project teams seeking SPF support submit their requests as part of the project documentation prepared during ECE 391. The requests must:

• Identify the specific material that the team plans to use the SPF funds to purchase
• Identify the source or vendor from which the team expects to obtain the material
• Substantiate the material costs, using vendor-supplied information if possible, or reasonable estimates with supporting evidence
• Summarize how the material relates to their design
• Summarize the other material that the team anticipates using in the design, as well as the associated vendors, costs and sources of funding

The ECE 391 course instructors may supply a template for the teams to use in preparing their funding requests. The template includes the requirements listed above. Requests which do not follow the template may be rejected due to incomplete information or unclear presentation. Requests that follow the template and provide complete and concise information are more likely to realize a favourable decision.

Only funding requests that satisfy the criteria listed below may be granted support from the Student Project Fund. However, satisfying these criteria does not assure support, as specific funding levels depend on supply and demand during each term.

SPF funds may only be used to purchase durable material, and to cover reasonable costs incurred in obtaining or fabricating such material. Typical permitted uses include components, printed circuit boards, development kits, mechanical casings and related hardware. SPF funds can be used to pay for shipping and brokerage fees involved in obtaining material.

SPF funds cannot be used for purchasing service agreements or intellectual property such as wireless air time, telephone charges, software licenses, books, or journals. Similarly, the costs of printing reports, binding reports, and printing posters are the responsibility of the student group members. SPF funds may only be used to purchase equipment that may be placed into the design project inventory and used in subsequent terms.

SPF funds can only be used to purchase material that cannot otherwise be reasonably acquired or borrowed from other sources. Other sources to consider include:

• Existing ECE Project Inventory
• ECE undergraduate laboratory equipment
• Corporate sponsors and in-kind donations or loans
• Co-op employer resources
• Consultants' research resources
• Project team members

Purchases made with SPF funds must represent good value, such that material are obtained at competitive prices from reputable vendors.

About half of the project teams in any given class request SPF support. Of those, the vast majority of teams request no more than a few hundred dollars. One or two teams per term typically request amounts approaching or exceeding one thousand dollars. The Committee has never approved a request larger than eighteen hundred dollars. Most requests receive some support. Support levels for specific teams are often reduced from the submitted request, being adjusted according to the SPF Committee's assessment of the request's justification and the availability of material from other sources.