Lectures :: ECE 445 - Senior Design Laboratory

Lectures

Fall 2025 Lecture Material:

 

Pre-Lecture #1:


(before the first lecture)

 

 

Brainstorming and Ideation

  • Brainstorming and Ideation slides (pptx)
  • Videos (watch before coming to class)

 

 

Lecture #1:


(August 26th )

 

Getting Started

  • Course Overview and Requests for Approval (slides)- Prof. Arne Fliflet
  • Conflict Management Workshop (slides)- Prof. Olga Mironenko (olgamiro@illinois.edu)
  • Pitches
    • Sound Asleep (slides) - Maggie Li
    • Double Sequential External defibrillation (slides) - Varun Gopal
    • Neuroguard (slides) - Meenakshi Singhal
    • Fadex (slides) - Shrey Patel
    • Lab Escape - spinning LED globe (website) - Paul Kwait
    • Smart Home for MS (slides) - Dr. Manuel Hernandez
    • Ant-weight, 3D Printed Battlebot Challenge (slides)- Prof. Viktor Gruev (vgruev@illinois.edu)
  • Brainstorming

 

Pre-Lecture #2:


(before the second lecture)

 

 

Beyond Ideation

 

 

Lecture #2:


(September 2nd)

 

 

Moving Forward

  • Introduction - A. Fliflet (slides)
  • IP - Dr. Michelle Chitambar (slides)
  • Pitches
    • Skin integrated pace maker (slides) - Shiyuan Duan
    • Wearable neuro-modulation (slides) - Shiyuan Duan
    • Adherascent (slides) - Brian Mehdian
    • Suction Sense (slides) - Sharon Chao
    • Underground root imaging (slides) - John Hart
  • Proposal and design doc - Jason Jung (slides)
  • Modular design - Weiman Yan (slides)
  • Lab notebook - Wesley Pang (slides)
  • Requirements & Verification Table - Jason Zhang (slides)
  • PCB Tips - Jason Jung (slides)
  • Comments on Web Board - Prof. Rakesh Kumar (notes)

 

Pre-Lecture #3:


(before the third lecture)

 

 

Design and Writing Tips

 

 

Lecture #3:

(September 9th)

 

 

Last Stop Before RFA

  • Introduction - A. Fliflet (slides)
  • Communications - Dr. Laura Stegrim (slides)
  • Lab Safety - Casey Smith (slides)
  • Machine shop - Gregg Bennet (slides)
  • Writing - Aaron Greiger (slides)
  • Ethics - A. Fliflet (slides)

Spring 2023 Video Lectures:

Brainstorming

Finding a Problem (Video)
Generating Solutions (Video)
Diving Deeper (Video)
Voting (Video)
Reverse Brainstorming (Video)
Homework for Everyone (Video)

Important Information

Using the ECE 445 Website (Video)
Lab Notebook (Video , Slides)
Modular Design (Video, Slides)
Circuit Tips and Debugging (Video , Slides)
Eagle CAD Tutorial (Video)
Spring 2018 IEEE Eagle Workshop (Slides)
Spring 2018 IEEE Soldering Workshop (Slides)

Major Assignments and Milestones

Request for Approval (Video, Slides)
Project Proposal (Video, slides)
Design Document (Video, slides)
Design Review (Video, slides)
Writing Tips (Video, slides)

RFI Detector

Jamie Brunskill, Tyler Shaw, Kyle Stevens

RFI Detector

Featured Project

Problem Statement:

Radio frequency interference from cell phones disrupts measurements at the radio observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Many visitors do not comply when asked to turn their phones off or put them in airplane mode.

Description:

We are planning to design a handheld device that will be able to detect radio frequency interference from cell phones from approximately one meter away. This will allow someone to determine if a phone has been turned off or is in airplane mode.

The device will feature an RF front end consisting of antennas, filters, and matching networks. Multiple receiver chains may be used for different bands if necessary. They will feed into a detection circuit that will determine if the power within a given band is above a certain threshold. This information will be sent to a microcontroller that will provide visual/audible user feedback.

Project Videos