Written Resources

Design Methods Reference Books

"Electronics, Project Management and Design", by D. Joseph Stadtmiller, published by Prentice Hall, 2001.
(Paperback w/ CD-ROM: ISBN 0-13-012729-9)

"Engineering Design Methods", by Nigel Cross, published by Wiley
(ISBN 0-471-94228-6)

"Engineering Design for Electrical Engineers" by Alan D. Wilcox, published by Prentice Hall
(ISBN 0-13-278136-0)

"Strategies for Creative Problem Solving" by H. Scott Fogler and Steven E. LeBlanc, published by Prentice Hall
(ISBN 0-13-179318-7)

Sensors and Instrumentation Reference Books

"Measurement, Instrumentation and Sensors Handbook", ed. John Webster, published by CRC Press and IEEE Press, 1999.
(ISBN 0-8493-8347-1)

"Electronic Instrument Handbook", by Clyde Coombs, published by McGraw Hill, 1999.
(Hardcover: ISBN 0071350160, Paperback: ISBN 007026186)

"Capacitive Sensors", by L. Baxter, IEEE Series on Electronic Technology, 1997.
(ISBN 0-7803-1130-2)

High Speed Design Issues

High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic by Howard W. Johnson & Martin Graham, published by Prentice Hall
(ISBN 0-13-395724-1)

Growing Degree Day Monitor

Anthony De Roo, John Habegger, Jay Zhaoyu Yao

Featured Project

The purpose is to create an inexpensive growing degree day monitor that records temperature and computes growing degree days for a specific farming field during a growing season. This monitor will be placed near a farm field where it will monitor temperature conditions during the growing season. It will record both the ambient air and soil temperatures over the course of day. These temperatures will then be used to calculate the growing degree days. The cumulative number of degree days will then be displayed on either a seven-segment display or this can be downloaded to a computer. This monitor will be powered through a combination of both solar and battery power.