Integrating design into undergraduate honors theses in a computer engineering program: an experiment

ABET recognizes the practical component or design as a key ingredient of any successful engineering program and mandates its inclusion in every engineering curricula. However, many educators feel that the undergraduate (UG) engineering program should concentrate on the theories and principles and that the focus on engineering design takes the students away from the fundamental concepts. Also, many educators are deeply concerned that the current faculty reward structure in the US universities focus primarily on grants and publications which, in turn, tend to emphasize research in graduate programs over teaching in undergraduate programs. This paper is the result of a seven-year long experiment by the author that was initiated in 1989 as an attempt to integrate the tradition of undergraduate honors research at Brown University with the emerging ABET requirement of engineering design in the computer engineering program. The paper presents the philosophical principles, the underlying assumptions and goals of the experiment, and the character of the experiences learned at the conclusion of the experiment. The experiment involves a total of seventeen students between 1989 and 1995, all of whom successfully complete their honors thesis and most of the theses have been published in refereed conferences and journals. This paper explains the nature of the design inherent in a few of these problems and presents three projects in detail. Key experiences gained by the author include the realization that every student, regardless of their prior grades in the conventional courses, holds unlimited potential. This potential may be manifested in the form of high-quality research by encouraging independent and creative thoughts in the students, providing constant challenges, and a close one-on-one working relationship, and instilling in them trust and self-confidence. This experiment witnesses the development of an amazingly sincere motivation and superior commitment when the advisor demonstrates his/her genuine belief in their capabilities and expresses his/her gratitude to them for the value of their work and for the opportunity to collaborate.