Exhibition:

Finally! You'll be glad to reach this stage of the project. At this point your customer will have said that they are satisfied with what you have produced and you can exhibit it to your peers. This is a suit and tie affair, so look sharp. You will exhibit your project to the other senior design students, all of the senior design customers and your faculty advisor.

You'll give a professional explanation of your project . Some presentations must be in electronic or slide form. This doesn't mean it must to be stiff. Even in the real work world, people have a sense of humor. So, if you can find a catchy way to explain what you accomplished, go for it. You may want to add a statement of "lessons learned"because it's likely to provide some comic relief.

Guidelines for giving an effective presentation:

Presentation Skills:

Keep these things in mind when giving your presentation.

• Make eye contact and look at everyone in the audience. If you are showing slides, it's tempting to read directly from them. Practice looking at the audience rather than your slides.
• Interact with your audience. You may do this by finding a creative way to get your point accross through audience participation. You might also try asking them questions that lead into your next topic.
• Know your audience. If you don't know your audience's level of technical knowledge ahead of time, asking questions to get them involved is a quick way to find out. Practice your presentation at least once with someone who doesn't know all of your buzzwords and technical talk.

Slide Show :

• Slide Show Format: When doing a slide presentation, your slide show should follow this format: title slide, outline, body, lessons learned and concluding remarks.
• Figures: Use lots of figures instead of text to get your point accross. Diagrams and figures are easier to remember and understand at a glance. They are also easier to see from a distance.
• Simplicity: Use bullets to outline ideas. Keep the text simple and short so your audience spends their time listening to you rather than reading your slides.
• Extra Tip: As you flow through your presentation, return frequently to your "outline" slide to orient the audience. Let them know where you are in the presentation. You may want to highlight the topic area that you are presently convering.

Demonstration:

The second part of your exhibition is a showing of your finished product. if the product is a diagram, this diagram should be explained in detail, justifying your design descisions. If your product is a working software or hardware model, its functionality must be demonstrated.

Documentation:

Your exhibition must include proper documentation in addition to the verbal presentation and product demonstration that you will give to your peers. The following is a format for a typical technical document.

1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. List of Figures
4. List of Tables
5. Executive Summery
6. Introduction
7. Problem Description(s)
8. Requirements and Analysis Specification
9. System Design
10. Program Design
11. Project Implementation
12. System Tests
13. Conclusion/Closing Remarks

You've come to the end of the blue line. Now, that you know what to expect from a project - take a look at the yellow line or the green line. The yellow line will provide you with specific information on senior design projects in your department. The green line on the other hand, displays a listing of projects in the SITE school at George Mason University.