Welcome to the webpage for Senior Design in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. Senior Design is a two-part, two-semester required course (Cpr E/E E/S E 491/492) designed to help students in their professional formation by providing a team-based design, implementation, and review experience.

During the first semester (Cpr E/E E/S E 491), students work in project teams to create a design solution to an industry, faculty, or student proposed engineering problem, and use their technical writing skills to produce a project plan and design report. 491 also includes several learning modules on professionalism. During the second semester (Cpr E/E E/S E 492), students create a design prototype and deliver a final report, a project poster, and an oral presentation.

Use the links on the left to navigate to the various sub-pages. While much of the course material will be found here, we will also be using Canvas to facilitate online discussion, to handle assignment submission, and for grading.

The Coordinating Team

The two Senior Design courses are managed by Instructors, a Senior Design Committee, and an Industry Review Panel (IRP). The Committee meets on a weekly basis and deals with administrative issues. It is also the responsibility of the Committee to evaluate the project plans and the design reports at the end of Cpr E/E E/S E 491. The Industry Review Panel meets at the end of Cpr E/Cyb E/E E/S E 492, to evaluate the final prototypes, as well as the design process, and to provide constructive criticism to the Senior Design Committee.

491 Instructors (Spring 2024)

  • Nick Fila
  • Room: 343 Durham Hall
  • Phone:515-294-3779
  • Email: nfila@iastate.edu
  • Office Hours: Email or By Appointment

    • Rachel Shannon
    • Room: 0371E Durham Hall
    • Phone: 515-294-2664
    • Email: rshannon@iastate.edu
    • Office Hours: Email or By Appointment

    • 491 Lecture: Tu 2:10-4:00PM; Marston 2155
    • 491 TAs: Mahmoud Gshash (mmgshash@iastate.edu)
      Gregory Matson (gwmatson@iastate.edu)

    492 Instructors (Spring 2024)