Management

SDP Management


To have an effective senior design projects program, there is a layer of management that provides uniformity and assistance. The following figure shows the management structure:

SDP management is available to assist teams and advisors with funding and purchasing questions and with resources that you might need for successful completion of your project. Note that it is important that you always copy your project advisor on all your communications.


Advisor Roles


Faculty advisors are ultimately in charge of all aspects of your project. Just like with regular classes there will always be differences with the way that faculty manage your project. Nonetheless, all faculty advisors will:

  • Provide guidance during the project scoping process
  • Help determine goals and objectives based on available time and resources
  • Steer the team towards goal and adjust scope as necessary
  • Communicate expectations and deliverables and the associated grading criteria
  • Provide tactful, honest, and constructive feedback on performance
  • Facilitate design analysis and discussions
  • Support team decision making
  • Promote self-directed learning
  • Recommend resources and materials valuable to the project’s completion
  • Mediate conflicts
  • Help team focus on value-added activities
  • Assign grades to individual team members

Team Management


The management of your project team plays a critical role in the success of your project as well as the positive experiences that you will carry with you into your future endeavors.

Team management does not simply mean picking a team lead. There needs to be a clear decision-making process that provides everyone with the ability to contribute. There needs to be agreement among all team members that they will treat each other with respect and work together to achieve common goals. Throughout this process, ethical standards for both the profession and society must be maintained.

Once you’ve picked a team lead, your team will need to create a first pass overview of your project. Collecting information below will provide your team with a better understanding of your project:

  • Title and tagline – provide the title and tagline for the project
  • Project Picture – 1920 x 1080 px of original content
  • Background – provide introduction and context for the project
  • Goal and Objectives – describe the purpose (what are you’re trying to achieve). List objectives that support the goal
  • Innovation – highlight the new, inspiring, creative methods, ideas, concepts, and/or designs for your project (what you want people to notice)
  • The Bigger Picture – describe the business, competitive, economic, environmental, social, scientific, and/or academic impact and significance for your project
  • Timeline – show a simple straightforward schedule with major milestones
  • Budget – provide the budget estimate for the project
  • Subsystem Breakdown – for larger teams, show how your project is divided
  • Primary Contacts – provide the email and mobile numbers for the following:
    • Team Manager – primary contact person
    • Purchasing Manager – person trained to submit purchase orders and receive shipments
    • Safety Officer – person trained to monitor and identify safety concerns
    • Document Manager – person trained to manage project documentation
  • Advisor(s) – list the advisor(s) for the project. Provide their email address and the link to their page at uci.edu
  • Team Members – list the team members for the project. Provide a photo for each member (500 x 500 px). Provide their email addresses and the links to linkedin.com or resume website

Once you have the information above, you’ll be able to create your project’s webpage. Click here to start this process.