Step 2: Before filling out the application, please read the information below.

Overview: This course is offered every semester. Space in the course is limited. Students will be accepted on a first come first served basis. However, priority will be given to students who are enrolled in Mobility projects during the current semester, and who wish to continue in the course during the subsequent semester. In addition, the student's level of preparation for the course will be considered. Each student who is enrolled in the course, will be given a handheld or pocket computer for their use during the semester. All computers and other hardware assigned to students must be returned at the end of the semester. Students are fully responsible for all equipment that has been signed out to them. This is a design course. As such, it will require extensive use of a subset of software tools (e.g. C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, SQL, or PHP) depending on the project, and also some work with hardware.

For further information: See the Vertically Integrated Projects website at http://shay.ecn.purdue.edu/~mobility or contact Prof. Jan P. Allebach (allebach@ecn.purdue.edu).

Credits: 2 Credits: Lec. 1, Lab. 1

Prerequisites: Sophomore, Junior, and Senior standing

Corequisites: None

Format: All students will meet together every Wednesday from 4:30p until 5:20p in MSEE 184. In addition, each student will be assigned to a lab section that will meet weekly for 1 hr. and 50 min.

Course Description: This course provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to explore and develop comprehensive applications of electrical and computer engineering technologies, especially as they relate to active research areas of Purdue faculty members. Students will learn about the underlying research, and will work on teams to formulate applications of the research that address real-world needs. Students will attend a weekly lecture that provides an introduction to a broad range of applicable technologies and development tools - some associated with the activities of specific teams, and some addressing topics of more general value to students enrolled in the course. These lecture will be drawn from a pool of 36 different lectures; so students can register for VIP courses as many as three times and still see new lecture material each semester.
Together, the VIP courses ECE 495T, ECE 495U, and ECE 495V in ECE create a vertical project track under which students work in multidisciplinary teams on long-term engineering projects. Each team consists of a mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Projects of at least one year in duration are intended to solve real problems that are defined in consultation with advisors who are Purdue faculty members, graduate students, or representatives of industry or the end-user population. Students are encouraged to participate in a VIP team for two or more semesters via enrollment in ECE 495T while a sophomore, ECE 495U while a junior, and ECE 495V while a senior. Projects that serve customers from community service or educational organizations will be conducted within the EPICS framework rather than VIP.

Justification for the Course: There is a continuing need to provide for our undergraduate students a real-world applications design experience in a team environment. There is also a major need to get undergraduate students more closely involved in research. This course addresses both of these needs. It represents a natural evolution of the Mobile Communications Project course ECE 495M to encompass a broader scope of topics and to support vertically integrated long-term project teams. It puts students at the cutting edge of electrical and computer engineering technologies. It provides a tightly managed design and teamwork experience, and it puts students at the interface between research and applications. The Mobile Communications Project course was offered every semester for 3 years with average enrollments of roughly 30 students.
The current Fall 2005 semester is the first semester that we have offered the course in its new format as ECE 495 TUV Vertically Integrated Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Currently, there are four active projects: e-Stadium (Colye, Glotzbach, Computer Technology), Multimedia Applications (Delp, Lu), WTRANS (Wireless Tansportation) (Bullock, CE), and Digital Publishing (Allebach). We are in the process of updating the Mobility course website at shay.ecn.purdue.edu/~mobility to reflect the new course structure and content. Current registration is as follows: ECE 495T (Sophomore) 6 students, ECE 495U (Junion) 3 students, and ECE 495V (Senior) 24 students. So we have a total enrollment of 33 students. The registration of Sophomores and Juniors is an encouraging sign that we are beginning to achieve the objectives of vertical integration across classes.

If you have not yet read the description of all the current projects, please do it now. Otherwise you may click "Next" to complete your application.