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Electronic System Design: A Hands-on Course on Creating a Professional Electronic Product

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Conference

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Publication Date

June 22, 2025

Start Date

June 22, 2025

End Date

August 15, 2025

Conference Session

ECE-Student Learning and Academic Performance

Tagged Division

Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)

Page Count

15

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/56327

Paper Authors

biography

Ilya Mikhelson Northwestern University

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Dr. Ilya Mikhelson is an Associate Professor of Instruction in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northwestern University. His technical work focuses on signal processing and embedded systems. Besides teaching, Dr. Mikhelson has worked with dozens of students on independent projects, and has created 3 brand new, projects-heavy courses in Electrical Engineering. He is constantly experimenting with pedagogical innovations, and is very passionate about engineering education.

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Abstract

A new curriculum has been developed for an advanced embedded systems course. In this course, students construct a webcam from the ground up, resulting in a professional, aesthetic product. Along the way, they practice surface-mount soldering, PCB design, web design, 3D design, and embedded programming. The course is a guided journey in creating a device at the level of a minimal viable product at a startup company, and feeds into a followup class where students pursue the journey without constraints, with novel projects. To assess the efficacy of the curriculum, several markers were analyzed. First, results of anonymous surveys were reviewed. Second, anecdotal evidence was reviewed. Third, the success of students in the followup course was evaluated. Overall, the findings show that the course is effective in empowering the students to be independent designers who have valuable skills to industry.

Mikhelson, I. (2025, June), Electronic System Design: A Hands-on Course on Creating a Professional Electronic Product Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56327

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