Mastering standard curricula, chosen for you by someone else, is the weakest form of preparation for your future: the strategy being to simply deal with whatever is thrown at you. The problem is that approach is that when your formal education ends, the script ends and all you have are terrific passenger skills. The world has enough passengers; finding success in the new world requires drivers. Drivers are proactive, productive, efficient, adaptable, self-starting and have the broadest of technical skill sets. To have a chance of acquiring the assets mentioned above you must condition yourself, before you get to university, to take control of your own learning. TEI4M is focused squarely on this opportunity.

By the time school starts in September, it will be too late to start focusing on what we hope to accomplish this year in TEI4M. In addition to the other courses you'll be busy getting your head around, university concerns, heightened leadership expectations and a general sense of apprehension about life after high school will be a few of the issues that will distract you. I would ask that you consider the aspects of the course I am planning for you, today, and provide me with some feedback so we all know what we're heading into.

1. Add the TEI4M and TEI4MForum FirstClass conferences to your Desktop. Post any questions, concerns or discoveries to the Forum conference starting today.
2. Take the quiz one more time at http://www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/undergraduate/quiz/ and send me your results to my personal email account by August 15. This will help me customize the course for you, somewhat.
3. Undergraduate engineers need to know the C language. Consequently, starting in 2015-2016, the TEI4M course, the capstone of our ACES program is about Embedded System Design and the ANSI C programming language using AVR microcontrollers. The primary text will be Introduction to Embedded Systems Using ANSI C and the Arduino Development Environment, by David Russell.
4. TEI4M is organized as a project-based course designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop the skills indicated in the opening sentence of this page. You'll get out of it precisely what you put in. You will be expected to undertake independent microcontroller-based projects this year lasting 4, 6 and 8 weeks, respectively, in duration. These outcomes will form 45% (10%-15%-20%) of your mark in the course.
5. The process of selecting a project to undertake should not be considered casually. This takes time and that it why I'm asking you to put it into your consciousness, today. Here are a number of considerations you need to be aware of.
   • Our new DES is evidence of growing awareness on campus that the application of concepts is being encouraged in all subject disciplines, both the Junior and Senior schools. Faculty and students outside the ACES program are going to need assistance in their own project pursuits. Working with a 'client' is such a valuable experience that credit can be awarded for adding this dimension to your year.
   • If you have a 'big' idea that would take even more than the long 8 week timeframe, consider breaking it into smaller modules to satisfy the total of 18 weeks you have for project space. Be aware of the dangers however of 'putting all your eggs in one basket'.
   • Consider the team approach of working with one of your peers. Although some students like to work alone as it offers them complete control over their final outcome, partnering is essential to complete tasks of significant consequence in the future and these skills need to be developed as soon as possible.
   • The evaluation of your project will be based on three major categories as presented below. You will want to consider all of them, as best you can, in your project identification process.

     Area	Details
     Identification	Inspiration, Conception, Idea, Originality, Creativity, Realistic
     Execution	Independence, Research, Time-Management (regular, incremental progress) Focus, Efficiency, Productivity Thinks before acting, Economical use of parts, Deadlines, Punctuality, Organization (leaves components behind, tools in disarray, misplaced assets, resources)
     Post Op	Presentation, Communication Usability, Robustness, Maintenance, Support/Instruction for Users

6. Three specific areas of your projects you must factor into your project identification process include,
   • firmware
   • circuitry, and,
   • housing
   Your projects are to be more than simple experiments; they are to have a sense of finality and polish.
7. Below is a compilation of the areas you may wish to select for possible investigation. Choose wisely, as it is quite likely that you will use the projects you undertake in this course as a basis for further investigation as an undergrad.

   Area	Possible Considerations
   Digital Gates	Combination and Sequential Logic
   Signal Processing	Oscilloscope, Function Generator
   Mechanical	Motors, Gears, Levers
   Optical	Infrared, Visible, Ultraviolet, LED Display Research: Forrest M. Mims III Spectral Analysis: Earth 2.0 this summer? (Wavelength to RGB: Dan Brunton's Algorithm)
   Communications	Wired: TWI, I2C, SPI, etc. Wireless: IR, RF, Bluetooth Project: Microcontroller Networks
   Electromagnetism	Coils, Inductors
   Consumer	Gecko II, Wearables
   Audio	Preamp, Amp, Speaker
   Sensors	ADC, DAC, transducers, timing, light, distance temperature, flex, pressure, speed tilt (accelerometer), twist (gyroscope) direction (magnometer)
   Motion	Robotics
   Power	DC, AC, Conversion
   Algorithm-based	Triangulation: Project: Dr. Newton suggested a spotlight that follows an actor's movements on stage
   Art, BioChemical, Thermal	Compliment another course you're passionate about

8. With the DES in place, faculty have been encouraged to make use of the resource and ACES' talent. Consequently, one of your projects will require you to partner with a group within our community to provide a technical support for their project focus.
9. The valuable takeaways from the Gecko class project last year are worth reinforcing again this year. As you experienced first hand, group projects introduce a host of issues beyond individual control thereby conditioning you to adaptability and resourcefulness. I have two projects in mind for this year that require a team approach: The Dragon (the wall-mounted data center installed in as many classrooms as there is interest) and WAMS (RSGC's Weather and Atmospheric Monitoring Station). Your contribution to either project will contribute as much 25% to your mark in this course.

Finally, remember to send me the results of you quiz by August 15th. Here are the results to date:

See you in September.