The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering recently held senior design presentations on February 24th, which was attended by a large number of alumni and industry professionals. During the presentations, students had the chance to exhibit their projects, improve their public speaking skills, and receive valuable feedback from their peers, faculty members, alumni, and industry professionals.
One of the students who presented, Duncan Marshall, found the experience extremely useful in terms of presenting ideas. Despite feeling a bit nervous at first, he was confident in the progress his group had made during the project. Marshall also noted that they received unexpected but important questions specific to their project, which helped them prepare for future presentations.
Daniel Schwartz, an alumnus and lead electrical engineer at Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, praised the teams for their ability to effectively summarize their design work from the past semester and a half. He highlighted this event as a valuable opportunity to assess students for potential employment and identify parallels between their projects and work in industry.
Presenting at the event taught Marshall important lessons about patience, clear communication and quick problem solving. Despite some security issues they planned to address later, feedback from experienced professionals underscores the importance of starting early with such critical aspects of the project.
Arielle Williams, supervisory engineering manager for Marshalltown and a graduate of the department, expressed her pleasure in attending the presentations. She applauded the presenters for a great job and reflected on her own nervousness during presentations as a student. Williams also appreciated the opportunity to support current students and see her former interns present their projects.
The next opportunity for students to showcase their projects will be at the annual Engineering Fair on April 25 in Bud Walton Arena. This event provides another platform for students to share their work with a wider audience and further hone their presentation skills.