Week 2, Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Each team gives a 6-minute status report on a variety of things such as the status of contact with their project sponsor, project sponsor meeting schedules, team meeting schedules, team organization, computer systems and software, development systems and software, a brief description of the project, the status of their project plan, and the initial identification of risks.

A PowerPoint slide deck template is provided on our Downloads page.

The status report slide deck is due by 11:59 p.m. the day before this date.

Submission instructions are included in the slide deck template. In addition to submitting the slide deck to the instructors, each team must submit their slide deck to their project sponsors by the same deadline.

For a complete listing of meetings, due dates and events, see our Weekly Schedule.

Week 4, Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Each team gives a formal 14-minute presentation about their project including the functional specifications, design specifications, technical specifications, risks, and proposed project schedule.

The purpose of the Project Plan Presentation is to convince everyone that the team has scoped their project, understands the functional, design and technical specifications, and that the team has a crafted plan to develop, debug and deliver your project to your client on time (Week 15, Wednesday, December 3, 2025) and on budget ($0).

The Project Plan Presentations are given over the course of several meeting dates. The schedule of presentations is posted on our Weekly Schedule page the evening prior to this date.

A PowerPoint slide deck template is provided on our Downloads page. Carefully read and follow the instructions in the READ ME slides.

For examples of past Project Plan Presentation slide decks, visit course web sites from previous semesters by following links from our Archives page, noting that requirements may change from semester to semester.

In addition to the presentation slide deck, each team also submits a project plan document. For examples of project plan documents, see the examples on our Downloads page.

While Project Plan Presentations are made over multiple meetings, all teams must submit their slide decks and project plan document by 11:59 p.m. the day before this date and be ready to present on this date, regardless of when they are scheduled to present.

Submission instructions are included in the READ ME slides in the slide deck template. In addition to submitting their Project Plan slide deck to the instructors, each team must submit their slide deck and project proposal document to their project sponsors by the same deadline.

The dress code for the members of the presenting team is business casual. Business casual does not include jeans, sneakers, tennis shoes, hats, coats, hoodies, t-shirts or shirts that are not tucked into pants. Google “what is business casual.”

Each team will present using their own laptop. Teams will be provided with a wireless presenter and adapters to connect their laptop to the audio/visual equipment in their presentation room. Teams must request the adapters they require at least one week prior to the presentation date. Teams must test the audio/visual equipment in advance in the room in which they will be presenting.

Project sponsors are invited to attend Project Plan Presentations.

On some presentation days, our meetings may take longer than the scheduled time due to a variety of factors including teams experiencing issues setting up their equipment to present. Everyone is required to stay in the meeting until the meeting is ended by the meeting host.

For a complete listing of meetings, due dates and events, see our Weekly Schedule.

Week 7, Thursday, October 9, 2025

Each team gives a formal 14-minute presentation demonstrating an alpha version of their system. The purpose of Alpha Presentation is to demonstrate that the team can complete their project to specifications and on time. While the software is not expected to be feature complete, all high priority risks should be mitigated.

The Alpha Presentations are given over the course of several meeting dates. The schedule of presentations is posted on our Weekly Schedule page the evening prior to this date.

A PowerPoint slide deck template is provided on our Downloads page. Carefully read and follow the instructions in the READ ME slides.

For examples of Alpha Presentation slide decks, visit course web sites from previous semesters by following links from our Archives page, noting that requirements may change from semester to semester.

While Alpha Presentations are made over multiple meetings, all teams must submit their slide decks by 11:59 p.m. the day before this date and be ready to present on this date, regardless of when they are scheduled to present.

Submission instructions are included in the READ ME slides in the slide deck template. In addition to submitting their Alpha slide deck to the instructors, each team must submit their slide deck and Word document to their project sponsors by the same deadline.

The dress code for the members of the presenting team is business casual. Business casual does not include jeans, sneakers, tennis shoes, hats, coats, hoodies, t-shirts or shirts that are not tucked into pants. Google “what is business casual.”

Each team will present using their own laptop. Teams will be provided with a wireless presenter and adapters to connect their laptop to the audio/visual equipment in their presentation room. Teams must request the adapters they require at least one week prior to the presentation date. Teams must test the audio/visual equipment in advance in the room in which they will be presenting.

Project sponsors are invited to attend Alpha Presentations.

On some presentation days, our meetings may take longer than the scheduled time due to a variety of factors including teams experiencing issues setting up their equipment to present. Everyone is required to stay in the meeting until the meeting is ended by the meeting host.

For a complete listing of meetings, due dates and events, see our Weekly Schedule.

Week 12, Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Each team gives a formal 14-minute presentation demonstrating a beta version of their system. The purpose of the Beta Presentation is to demonstrate that their project is feature complete. While the system may not be totally bug free, the software is expected to be feature complete.

The Beta Presentations are given over the course of several meeting dates. The schedule of presentations is posted on our Weekly Schedule page the evening prior to this date.

A PowerPoint slide deck template is provided on our Downloads page. Carefully read and follow the instructions in the READ ME slides.

For examples of Beta Presentation slide decks, visit course web sites from previous semesters by following links from our Archives page, noting that requirements may change from semester to semester.

While Beta Presentations are made over multiple meetings, all teams must submit their slide decks by 11:59 p.m. the day before this date and be ready to present on this date, regardless of when they are scheduled to present.

Submission instructions are included in the READ ME slides in the slide deck template. In addition to submitting their Beta slide deck to the instructors, each team must submit their slide deck and Word document to their project sponsors by the same deadline.

The dress code for the members of the presenting team is business casual. Business casual does not include jeans, sneakers, tennis shoes, hats, coats, hoodies, t-shirts or shirts that are not tucked into pants. Google “what is business casual.”

Each team will present using their own laptop. Teams will be provided with a wireless presenter and adapters to connect their laptop to the audio/visual equipment in their presentation room. Teams must request the adapters they require at least one week prior to the presentation date. Teams must test the audio/visual equipment in advance in the room in which they will be presenting.

Project sponsors are invited to attend Beta Presentations.

On some presentation days, our meetings may take longer than the scheduled time due to a variety of factors including teams experiencing issues setting up their equipment to present. Everyone is required to stay in the meeting until the meeting is ended by the meeting host.

For a complete listing of meetings, due dates and events, see our Weekly Schedule.

Week 15, Sunday, November 30, 2025

As part of the course deliverables, each team creates a video demonstrating their project. Among other things, the videos introduce their project sponsor, explain the purpose of their software, and show use cases that demonstrate how their sponsor uses their system.

The project videos are posted on each team’s project page on our website.

We watch the videos during the meetings of the last week of the semester and during the regularly scheduled exam time.

For examples of project videos, visit course web sites from previous semesters by following links from our Archives page, noting that requirements may change from semester to semester.

All of the videos are due by 11:59 p.m. on this date. Submission instructions are given during a group meeting.

Week 15, Wednesday, December 3, 2025

All project deliverables are due by 11:59 p.m. on this date.

Each team must submit all deliverables including all source code checked out of any repositories, the project plan document, team presentation slide decks, and the project video, organized appropriately in folders.

Submission instructions are given by email from Professor Mariani..

Teams that miss the submission deadline may lose some or all of their points from their Project Software grade.

Week 15, Thursday, December 4, 2025

Setup for Design Day (see below) takes place in the Engineering Building on the afternoon of the day before Design Day. All teams and every team member must participate in setup until the setup is complete.

Week 15, Friday, December 5, 2025

At the end of each semester, the College of Engineering sponsors Design Day, a college-wide event at which student teams from throughout the college showcase their capstone course projects for the general public in the Engineering Building.

All teams and every team member must participate in Design Day from 7:00 a.m. until the end of the Design Day activities, approximately 2:30 p.m.