As you near completion of your coursework in engineering, your attention is probably turning to employment. You are probably interested in finding job opportunitites and convincing employers that you have the skills you are claiming. To back up your claims, you need to know what skills they are seeking and you must practice them.
Employers look for both technical and social skills. On the technical side, they want good analytical and design skills plus broad knowledge of information technology. On the social side, they want practical "real world" experience, including experience in projects with customers. They are look for graduates who can listen well to customers, negotiate solutions, establish trust by keeping promises, and work effectively with teammates -- the objective being the complete satisfaction of their customer. They also look for good communication and presentation skills because you must continually sell your projects and exercise leadership.
The Senior Design course will help you achieve these results by placing you in a project environment that has all of the features of real- world projects. You'll be asked to produce a prototype that must satisfy a real customer. You'll be expected to act as a proffessional and learn the skills employers are looking for.
To get a better picture of the proccess of Senior Design, look into How Projects Work. Some general questions you might have about Senior Design are answered below.