SPRING SEMESTER OVERVIEW

SEMESTER OVERVIEW & ESSENTIALS

Welcome to the Spring semester of the ELECOMP Capstone Program! This section contains essential information about roadmaps, schedules, and resources for the spring semester.

Spring Semester Roadmap

Complete timeline of project milestones and deadlines for the entire spring semester (January 12th – April 1st). Includes all deliverable due dates, presentation schedules, and Capstone Summit preparation.

Grading Breakdown

Detailed description of how spring semester grades are calculated, including weights for each assignment, presentation, and final deliverable.

GENERAL RESOURCES

Access essential program resources including guidelines and support documents that will help you throughout the spring semester.

HOMEWORKS

SPRING SEMESTER HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

Access all homework assignments for the spring semester.

PROGRESS REPORTS/FORMATS

SPRING PROGRESS REPORTING TEMPLATES

Templates and formats for all progress reports required during the spring semester.

SCHEDULE & WEEKLY REPORTS

TUESDAY PROGRESS SUMMARIES (TPS)

MAJOR PROGRESS REPORT #3 (MPR#3) – Due March 8, 2026

COMPREHENSIVE PROGRESS REPORT (CPR) – Final Due April 19, 2026

DIGITAL LOGBOOK & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

To help you stay organized and streamline the documentation process throughout the year, we have implemented a dedicated digital management system using Google Drive. This guide will explain how it works.

How It Works:

1. Your Project Folder: Your team will be given a dedicated, shared Google Drive folder. This is your team’s central hub. You will have access to this folder when the teams have been decided.
2. Your Personal Sub-Folder: Inside your team’s folder, you will find a personal sub-folder with your name on it. This is your private workspace.
3. Your Logbook & Timesheet: Inside your personal folder, you will find two pre-configured files waiting for you:
   • Student Logbook (Google Doc): This document is your comprehensive digital record for the project. It should contain detailed, long-form entries about your technical progress, challenges, and design decisions. You are encouraged to embed a wide range of media to fully document your work, including figures, photos, tables, equations, and links to your code repositories on platforms like GitHub.
   • Automated Timesheet (Google Sheet): A spreadsheet to log your work hours. You only need to enter the Date, Start Time, and End Time. The sheet will automatically calculate the day of the week, your weekly hours, and your cumulative total for the semester.

The final column, Logbook Document Link, connects your timesheet entry to your detailed notes. Instead of just linking to the main Google Doc, you can link to the specific section for that day’s work. To do this, simply use “Bookmarks” in your Google Doc to mark where a new entry begins (e.g., “October 7th – PCB Design”). You can then copy the direct link to that heading and paste it into the timesheet. This method turns your timesheet into an interactive table of contents for your logbook, making it easy for you and your professor to jump directly from a time entry to the detailed notes about the work accomplished, like going straight to “pages 5-10.”

Your Responsibilities:

• Save individual work (logbooks, homeworks) in your personal sub-folder
• Save group work (reports – Weekly Progress Reports and Major Progress Reports) in the main team folder
• Keep your timesheet and logbook updated on a weekly basis – crucial part of your grade and project success

This structured approach ensures all your work is organized, easily accessible for grading, and creates a professional record of your capstone journey.

SUMMIT RESOURCES

CAPSTONE SUMMIT RESOURCES

Everything you need to prepare for the Final Capstone Summit, including templates, submission guidelines, and examples for posters and presentations.

Final Video Presentation – Due Date TBD

Each team submits ONE combined video presentation. Each team member presents their individual technical contributions within the video (maximum 5 minutes per person). This video can be more comprehensive than your live Summit presentation and will be posted on YouTube as a showcase of your work.