COURSE REFLECTION:
The challenge of the AE senior thesis program is the balance between an academic exercise and a real life experience simulation. This is certainly not an easy task. Overall, I believe this distinction may have been blurred too much. It seems the overall goal of the work was to represent a real world situation. However, I found that many of the requirements were outside of a typical real world design situation.

After completing the entire year, the requirements of the fall semester seem like they were work that didn't always contribute to the overall goals. To me, the level of work required for the thesis course sequence is extremely disproportionate to the credits awarded for the courses. I feel that much of the excess work, however, comes from intermediate requirements that do not contribute to the final product.  Putting together many intermediate submissions took away from time that could be spent working on the end product.  For a senior thesis project, I believe more flexibility should be provided for the student to define the work that will be completed rather than having a strict curriculum to follow.  I also believe the course meetings did too much to make sure everyone met deadlines rather than putting the responsibility on the student.

Despite the comments above, I do believe thesis was an excellent opportunity to apply learned material to a large design project.  I appreciate the effort and advice provided by many faculty members that were involved with my thesis.  My previous coursework certainly provided me with the knowledge and skills necessary to complete a successful project.

The CPEP portion of the senior thesis curriculum is an element that I believe is not utilized nearly enough.  In almost all instances the web based content is merely an online version of a paper copy that was also required.  It seems that with current requirements the online content is underutilized and the maintenance of the webpages is an afterthought for most students.  With the continual emphasis on ‘going green,’ I believe moving towards entirely web based data exchange would reduced paper waste and save costs for the student.  Perhaps it is necessary to develop tools such as the ability for advisors to provide comments on student work directly over the web.  This would provide instant feedback and may promote more interaction between students and faculty at points other than formal submission deadlines.

ABET OUTCOMES FOR AE481W/482	Outcome not able to be assesed (Score of 0)	Level of ability demonstrated but below acceptable (Score of 1)	Minimum acceptable level of ability demonstrated (Score of 2)	More than minimum level of ability demonstrated (Score of 3)
A. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering	5	5	5	n
B. An ability to analyze and interpret data	5	5	5	n
C. An ability to design a system, compenent, or process to meet desired needs	5	5	5	n
E. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems	5	5	5	n
F. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility	5	5	5	n
G. An ability to communicate effectively	5	5	5	n
H. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context	5	5	5	n
I. An ability to engage in life-long learning	5	5	5	n
J. A knowledge of contemporary issues	5	5	5	n
K. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice	5	5	5	n
O. Engineering design capabilities in at least (2) of the three (3) basic curriculum areas of architectural engineering, and that design has been integrated across the breadth of the program	5	5	5	n
P. Communication and interaction with other design professionals in the execution of building projects	5	5	5	n