Departmental Honors
Requirements and Procedures
Purpose and Benefits
Getting Started
Thesis Committee
Relationship with Senior Design
Project
Schedule and Discussion of Requirements
Thesis Format
Purpose and Benefits
A large sector of the electrical engineering profession
is regularly involved with planning, performing, managing,
and evaluating both applied and theoretical research. In
academic and government facilities, in the laboratories
of individual consultants and corporate giants alike, success
in research often dictates the overall success of the institution.
Furthermore, while it is not possible to work in each of
the many sub-disciplines of science and engineering, research
techniques in one area are often transferable to another.
Thus, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
believes that involvement in research can begin to prepare
you for a successful and rewarding career.
The honors program at Lafayette College is designed to
give selected students a special opportunity to pursue a
challenging project of their choice at a depth not normally
possible in an undergraduate course. While students work
in close collaboration with a faculty mentor, they are also
guided toward independent investigation and are expected
to formulate and carry out many of their own research ideas.
In the past, this has proven to be a confidence-building
experience for students and richly rewarding for students
and faculty alike. Needless to say, a transcript bearing
the legend “Honors in Electrical Engineering with
Thesis” is of high value on résumés,
graduate school applications, and future job interviews.
Getting Started
Participation in the honors program normally begins with
an invitation from the electrical and computer engineering
department head, generally in April of your junior year.
Ordinarily the Department requires an overall and in-major
GPA of at least 3.0 for consideration in the program. Your
first step should be to identify an area of interest, set
up a time to speak with the professor in that area, and
discuss potential research projects for the upcoming summer
and following year. It is also possible to propose a research
topic of your own, though it is still necessary for you
to find an ECE faculty member who will agree to serve as
your research adviser. The next step is for you to inform
the department head in writing of your intention to pursue
honors, noting the research area and the professor with
whom you will work. This must take place before the deadline
stated in the invitation letter; in addition, you should
register for either ECE 495 or EE 495: Thesis for the following
fall semester. Before leaving campus for the summer, you
should also work with your research adviser to determine
what steps you should take during the summer to begin investigating
your topic in preparation for formal course requirements
in the fall. Ordinarily some background research and preliminary
planning will be required.
Thesis Committee
Your thesis work will be advised and judged by a committee
composed of the research supervisor, another member of the
ECE Department, and one person from outside the department
or even outside the College. While the primary responsibility
of the committee is to determine the merit of your work,
as judged largely by the thesis and final defense, committee
members may also be sought for advice as needed. It is wise
to keep committee members involved in your thesis throughout
the year so that their input can be incorporated as you
go; otherwise you run the risk of being at odds with a committee
member who feels you have not adequately addressed a particular
topic and not having enough time to meet any requirements
they impose.
Ordinarily it is the responsibility of the research adviser
to choose the other members of your committee, though your
input on the matter would be considered (for example, if
you have a good working relationship with another professor
or feel that another professor would be especially able
to help you with a particular aspect of your work). The
thesis committee recommends approval/disapproval of the
honors thesis to the major department. In the end however,
it is the ECE department faculty who must approve the award
of departmental honors.
Relationship with Senior Design Project
Current policy dictates that in fall of senior year, ECE
honors students should register for ECE 495: Thesis in the
place of one free elective. In addition, they should register
for ECE 491: Senior Project, which will be an ECE capstone
experience. In the spring, students should sign up for ECE
496: Thesis but not ECE 492: Senior Project.
College policy requires that all students successfully
completing honors work will receive the grade of A for both
ECE 495 and 495 (or EE 495 and EE 495), with the assumption
that if you are worthy of doing honors, you will do it outstandingly.
However, if for some reason you do not successfully complete
honors requirements, your credits will be transferred to
a free elective for work done in the fall, with an appropriate
grade, and ECE 492 for work done in the spring.
Discussion of Requirements
- Qualifying Oral Presentation
A gathering of honors students and ECE faculty will be
called within the first week or two of classes. Students
will describe the preliminary research they performed
during the summer in preparation for the thesis, present
an overview of the research topic, propose specific research
goals, and show a tentative flow diagram (with projected
dates) for meeting the research goals. Presentations will
be roughly 15 minutes plus extra time for questions.
- Thesis Proposal
This is to be a written recap of the qualifying oral presentation.
Three to five pages minimum, due to the honors coordinator,
with a copy to your research adviser. (Note that writing
more on the background while it is fresh in your mind
is a good idea, especially since it will mean less writing
later, when you are busier.) This written recap will be
made available to all ECE department faculty.
- First-Semester Report to Academic Progress
Committee
In mid-October, each candidate for honors should receive
a form in campus mail entitled “Report to the Academic
Progress Committee.” This form should be completed
and delivered to the thesis adviser immediately. The adviser
will write a brief assessment of the student’s capacity
to complete the thesis, and send it on for department
head signature. The department head, in turn, forwards
this form to the College’s Academic Progress Committee.
- Mid-Semester Demonstration
At the end of October, students will present to the faculty
the results of their work to date. The format will be
informal in nature and conducted in an appropriate laboratory,
ECE conference room, or wherever the students can best
demonstrate their progress. A single-page outline should
be prepared for each Department member to help guide the
presentation. The goal is to convey what has been done
in the roughly seven weeks since the qualifying presentation,
and could include a demonstration of working software,
hardware, system model, design, etc.
- Mid-Year Presentation
At the end of the first semester, students and faculty
will again convene. Students are to report on their progress,
presenting their findings and research results to date.
It is normally expected that at least part of the talk
will be devoted to reviewing any background material resulting
from a literature survey on their topic. Talks will be
15 minutes plus questions. Following this talk, the ECE
faculty will assess the appropriateness of the student
continuing with EE 496 in spring semester. Outside readers
will be invited to the mid-year presentations, and will
be consulted regarding this assessment (enerally held
on Reading Day).
- Mid-Spring Paper
Students will write a technical paper which reviews the
theory and results of their project and which is appropriate
for submission to a professional conference or a regional
paper contest. Consult your adviser as to the exact content
and format, but the paper should be prepared in such a
way as to facilitate oral presentation at the conference
or contest (due the first day after Spring Break).
- Thesis Draft Due to Committee Members
Your adviser and other committee members should each receive
a draft copy of your thesis. The thesis text should be
completed using the guidelines set forth below, including
such details as page numbers, figures, figure captions,
references, etc. Although this is a draft, it should appear
essentially in its final form so that committee members
can fairly judge your level of effort and results over
the year, as well as your ability to present your work.
Minor items like acknowledgements, final table of contents,
etc. may be omitted at the discretion of your adviser.
Be sure to arrange with the committee members how and
when you are to receive the thesis after they have marked
it with corrections and suggestions, i.e., campus mail,
you pick it up on a certain date, etc. (due on Tuesday
of the second to the last week of classes).
- Final Thesis Defense
Honors students will present the final results of their
research to their peers, committee members, and ECE department
faculty; an open invitation to the College community is
sometimes extended as well. Each student will be given
20 minutes plus time for questions (Held on Tuesday of
the last week of classes).
- Completed Thesis Due to Research Adviser
The final version of the thesis is due to your adviser
on this date. A copy should also be sent or taken to Skillman
Library for their permanent archives. A courtesy copy
should be offered to the committee members (due the last
day of final exams).
Thesis Format
Your thesis committee has ultimate authority as to the
exact format of your thesis. However, in the absence of
specific direction, the following guidelines should be used.
A properly written thesis usually includes at least the
following components:
- Title Page (see sample at end)
- Abstract (see sample)
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introductory Chapter
- Body (including several chapters as needed)
- Concluding or Summary Chapter
- Bibliography/References
Suggestions for dealing with figures, equations, and tables,
as well as references and grammatical constructs in technical
reports may be found in the handout entitled “Tips
on Formal Technical Writing,” available from the honors
coordinator (Professor Bennett), and in a number of good
references on the topic. |
