Contents
Assignment 3, ECE400, Spring 2012
"Proposal"
due by 2:30pm, November 14, 2013. Hand in an electronic copy on Blackboard Learn (via safeAssign).
Description
After you graduate and enter the workplace, you may discover some internal problems and want to offer your suggestions for improvement. Typically, these are written in the form of a memo addressed to your supervisor. For the current assignment, you are asked to identify a problem in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue and suggest a plausible solution to it. Your memo should be addressed to Dr. Ragu Balakrishnan, head of ECE. Please note that Dr. Balakrishnan will read these proposals and may choose to act on some of them, so your proposal could benefit current underclass and future ECE students.
Format
The proposal should be one single-spaced page and adhere to the following format. Write in complete sentences and paragraphs using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Assume that you are sending the proposal to Dr. Balakrishnan via interoffice mail.
DATE: 4/1/12
TO: Ragu Balakrishnan
Head, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
FROM: Joe Boilermaker (replace with your name)
ECE 400 student
Subject: Proposal to… (complete this phrase with your proposal topic)
BODY of the proposal:
Introduction (this and the following headings are not used in a memo)
- What is the purpose of this proposal?
- What is the problem that needs to be addressed?
- What are the limitations on this proposal and why?
Discussion
- What is the proposed solution?
- How will the proposal solve the problem?
Resources
- Who will do the work and why are they qualified?
- What physical resources (facilities and equipment) will be used?
Costs
- How much money will the proposed solution require?
- How much time will the proposed solution require?
Summary
- What are the benefits and risks of adopting this proposal?
Contact
- Whom should Dr. Balakrishnan contact for more information?
(adapted from J. Paradis and M. Zimmerman, The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering Communication, 2nd ed., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002.)
Plausible Problems/Solutions
These are ones which are within the scope of ECE, so addressing the problems of high tuition or lack of fun things to do in West Lafayette is not appropriate. Likewise, replacing the EE Building is too complex and costly a problem to address in a brief memo.
Grading Criteria
Your assignment will be graded out of 100 points; if you do not address all the points listed above, you will not receive full credit for the assignment. See the writing rubrique for the grading key.
