The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering strongly encourages all qualified students to engage in research at some point during their undergraduate education. Active participation in research not only allows students to apply what they have learned in class, it also gives them greater insight into a specific area within ECE and an appreciation for the subtleties and difficulties associated with the production of knowledge and fundamental new applications. Research experience also prepares students for the demands of graduate school and the work force and can serve as a source for future job or graduate school recommendations.

A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher is recommended but not required. Highly motivated students who wish to participate in undergraduate research, but who do not meet the minimum recommended GPA, should contact faculty members they are interested in working with about the possibility of pursuing research under their guidance.

All students must have successfully completed (i.e., with a ‘C’ or higher) all lower-level engineering, science, and mathematics courses required for the major. Certain projects may also require successful completion of specific upper-level ENEE courses. The latter will be determined by the project supervisor.

Students can enroll in ENEE 499 for between 1 – 5 credits, depending on the scope of the project and the time commitment. They should expect to work 3-4 hours a week (or a total of 45-60 hours over the course of a semester) for each credit of ENEE 499.

Students may earn ENEE 499 research credits for projects performed for supervisors outside of the UMCP ECE department. To qualify, all such projects must have a significant academic component and be electrical or computer engineering in nature. If approved, students will register for ENEE 499 under the ECE Associate Chair. In addition to satisfying all other ENEE 499 requirements, non-ECE research supervisors for these projects will have to submit a 1-2 page CV with the project application and will need to formally evaluate their student’s performance by submitting the “ENEE499 Project Assessment” form with the student’s reports at the semester’s end.

Students may receive ENEE 499 credit for participation as an assistant on an on-going research project or they may propose their own research project with a faculty sponsor. The project can be either experimental, computational, or theoretical in nature. If the project is at least 2/3 experimental in nature, senior laboratory credit may be obtained by completing the relevant section on the ENEE 499 application form and registering for ENEE 499L. A completed ENEE499 Application/Approval Form and detailed research proposal must be submitted for review by the Associate Chair, who will then determine if the project meets the necessary requirements for an undergraduate research project. The project description should follow the outline below:

1. Project Title
2. Research Objective(s)
• Explain the primary and any secondary objectives of the research project, i.e. what do you expect to have accomplished by the end of the project?
3. Overview
• Provide background information to place your project in the context of previous studies related to the proposed work and explain your project’s significance.
4. Student Involvement
• List all who will be involved in the project. If more than just the student and the advisor will participate, clearly indicate the role of the other personnel and detail the tasks to be performed by the student.
5. Methodology
• Explain what tools, techniques, and approaches you will use to complete the research project.
6. Project Schedule
• The schedule for the planned project must list all major milestones for the project (with target dates). One milestone must be for a written mid-semester progress report, which must be at least one page (excluding figures and tables). This report is to be submitted by the end of the eighth week of classes.
7. Student Learning Outcomes
• List the knowledge, techniques, skills, and any other competencies that the student will acquire as a result of successfully completing the project.
8. Advanced Laboratory Requirement
• Please indicate if the project is expected to satisfy the Advanced Laboratory Requirement.
• NOTE: The project supervisor MUST also initial the appropriate box on the application form to indicate whether the project will or will not satisfy this requirement.
9. References
• Include an appropriately formatted list of references.

The ENEE 499 application and completed proposal must be submitted to the ECE Office of Undergraduate Studies in 2426 A.V. Williams no later than one week after the start of the semester in which the project will be completed and credit will be awarded. Under no circumstances will credit be awarded for projects that are more than 25% completed at the time of application. The format of the final research project report should be that of a regular journal article and include: abstract, introduction, methodology, results, conclusion, and references. The report should be no shorter than four pages (excluding figures and tables). In order to receive credit for the course, hard and electronic copies of all project reports as well as the supervisor’s project assessment form must be submitted to the ECE Undergraduate Office in 2426 A.V. Williams Building no later than the last day of finals in the semester in which the project is to be completed.

You may download a copy of the ENEE499 Application/Approval Form here or get a hard copy from the ECE Undergraduate Office in 2426 A.V. Willaims Building.

You may download a copy of the ENEE499 Project Assessment Form here or get a hard copy from the ECE Undergraduate Office in 2426 A.V. Willaims Building.

↑ Back to Top