New Course: ECE 498LG Fall 2009
Principles of Experimental Research was offered for the first time in Fall 2008 and will be offered again in Fall 2009. This interdisciplinary course is designed for first year engineering and science graduate students and for advanced undergraduates. The course draws on laboratory problems in engineering and covers topics in: (1) design of experiment, (2) prevalent experimental techniques and instrumentation, (3) data collection, organization, and statistical analysis techniques, (4) oral and written presentation of scientific material, and (5) scientific computing languages and software. Students develop technical and critical thinking skills by carrying out four open-ended labs and an experimental project of their own design. They also present their project results and papers from the literature in three common formats: at a poster session, at a conference talk, and in a journal paper. The main course objective is for students to develop the basic skills needed for pursuing a career or an advanced degree involving experimental research. The course prerequisites are: ECE 313 or equivalent and Senior or Graduate standing in an engineering or science curriculum, or by permission of the instructor.