Teaching to design with standard components

This paper describes the structure of a course that has been created to help electrical engineering seniors with design. It is expected to make the transition to the capstone design almost effortless. Students take this course after having taken several theoretical courses in the areas of digital signal processing, control theory, electromagnetic theory and so on. The course does not have written examinations but real projects. Students are required to use mathematical and simulation modeling tools before constructing any end product. Thus the emphasis is not on designs that are theoretical in nature but on systems that are physically realized. It begins with designs using operational amplifiers, optimal routing of PCBs and proceeds to the digital area by studying Verilog(R) HDL while designing systems using PLAs and FPGAs. Though an elective, this course has been well received by students