The Tickle College of Engineering Senior Design Showcase is an event celebrating the creative work of our seniors. The projects provide a myriad of challenges that must be overcome to develop solutions effectively balancing the desired system performance with available time and financial resources.

The showcase will provide you with a venue to engage audiences of varying levels of technical literacy and life experiences. You are encouraged to invite your friends and family to the event—after all, they’ve likely been hearing you talk about your experiences for many months now. You can also expect to see project sponsors, potential employers, peers, and underclassmen at the event.

The content on this page is intended to provide guidance in what to prepare and what is expected of you, as well as where to be, and when to be there.

Event Dress Code

Students are expected to wear appropriate business casual attire. Sponsor/department-provided logo polo or button-down shirt/blouse is acceptable as well.

Preparation Timeline

This is a guide. You can always work ahead of the suggested timeline.

• One Month Out
  • Start designing your poster/display. You may use your course-specific template or access TCE-branded templates available here
  • Start designing how you will convey the story of your project. Poster examples are available.
  • Determine what and how you will demonstrate your prototype system, software, simulation or experiment
  • Make sure your advisor/faculty members know what equipment and supporting items you will need
  • Request an excused absence letter from your senior design instructor so you can miss class 1–4 p.m. on May 3
• T-Minus Two Weeks
  • Review and finalize poster/display draft with your teammates, client and advisor
  • Prepare your business professional attire, including getting your suit dry cleaned, if needed
  • Script your presentation and demonstration delivery
  • Get your plan together for gathering the needed support equipment as well as for picking up, dropping off, setting up, knocking down, and returning borrowed support equipment
  • Confirm the ordering process and timeline for your project poster with your instructor, if needed
• T-Minus One Week
  • Make sure your poster has been ordered for print through your department if needed (preference is to have posters mounted on foamboard; however, check with your instructor)
  • Practice your poster and demonstration delivery (all team members!)
• T-Minus Three Days
  • Make sure you have your poster/display ready
  • Rehearse the demonstration and poster/display presentation
  • Final check on your business professional attire (Don’t forget to pick up your dry-cleaned suit!)
  • Verify any equipment you requested for setup will be ready for pick up

Day-of Timeline

• Zeanah Engineering Complex (ZEC) setup: 8 a.m.–1 p.m.
  • Check in at the Ground Floor Lobby
  • Pick up name tags for your group
  • Locate your table—poster stations are grouped by department and major; map (coming soon)
  • Set up your poster/display area and arrange your materials at your station; note that for most projects with posters, table-top easels will be provided rather than floor-standing easels
• Lunch: 11 a.m.–1 p.m.
  • Buffet lunch will be provided for all senior design students, sponsors, and TCE leadership in the Student Union Ballroom 272
  • Be sure your team is checked-in with nametag lanyards before heading to the Student Union Ballroom for lunch
  • Because of the number of students and attendees invited for lunch, this will be a come and go lunch in order to accommodate everyone in the ballroom. Once finished eating, please clean up your area and allow for more students/attendees to sit and eat.
• Main Event: 1–4 p.m.
  • Engage visitors in your project
  • Use your poster/display to walk through the story of the project and your results
  • Demonstrate your prototype system, software or simulation
  • If possible, allow visitors to try it out themselves
  • Ensure that your poster/display always has at least 2 team members present and rotate so that you can visit other posters
• Knock down: 4–5 p.m.
  • Remove all materials from your tabletop
  • Fold up your table cover and place on tabletop
  • Unplug the table from the floor outlet
  • Unlock all the table wheels
  • Your team is responsible for returning any technology or support materials borrowed from your department (computer monitors, cables, power supplies, etc.)
  • Return your posters to your departmental senior design space
  • Throw away any trash
• Night of the showcase
  • Celebrate your accomplishments with family and friends!

Note: Some departments may have an after-showcase event planned. Check with your department beforehand to see if this is the case.