Timelines for Spring 2025

ECE 496 and 499 students will need to document the progress of their project and thesis development by submitting a sequence of short reports in the form of pdf documents placed in their Box folders in accordance with the timelines shown below. Project/thesis advisors are required to give feedback on these progress reports by using Box notes when visiting their advisee’s Box folder by editing a file named Advisor Comments and Assessment.boxnote. The progress reports written by the students and advisor comments added should clearly address how the engineering design objectives of the project are being fulfilled in consistency with the course goals and instructional objectives of these courses. Student reports and advisor comments will accumulate in student folders throughout ECE 496 and 499 semesters and will not be removed. The folders will remain visible only to the student and advisor (and ECE 496/499 staff) during ECE 496 and 499. Archived folders will become visible to all in the illinois.edu ecosystem after the completion of ECE 499 thesis.

Timeline for ECE 496 – SENIOR PROJECT:

  • Feb. 3 – Feb. 7: Topic statement to advisor (week 3).
  • Feb. 24 – Feb. 28: Literature search complete (week 6).
  • Mar. 17 – Mar. 21: Progress Report #1 to advisor (week 9).
  • Apr 7 – Apr 11:Progress Report #2 to advisor (week 12).
  • Apr 28 – May 2: Progress Report #3 to advisor (week 15).

Timeline for ECE 499 – SENIOR THESIS:

  • Feb. 3 – Feb. 7: Progress report to advisor (week 3).
  • Feb. 24 – Feb. 28: Progress report to advisor (week 6).
  • Mar. 10 – Mar. 14: Submit a draft of your thesis to your advisor. (week 8). 
  • Mar. 10 – Mar. 14: Sign up for a presentation time for the ECE Undergraduate Research Symposium and email presentation abstract to Krysten Gardner at kwharto2@illinois.edu. Krysten must have your abstract before a symposium presentation date and time can be assigned.  (week 8).
  • Apr. 21:  Submit a draft of your Senior Thesis to ECE Editorial Services by emailing the thesis PDF to Aaron Geiger at ageiger2@illinois.edu and Editorial Services ece-thesis@illinois.edu for grammar and format check — you will receive back an edited version requiring revisions. The draft should be formatted as explained in guidelines for Senior Thesis in accordance with thesis template for ECE 499.  (week  14) **PLEASE NOTE- IF YOU ARE ABLE TO SEND YOUR THESIS BEFORE APRIL 21ST, THIS IS PREFERRED. APRIL 21ST IS A HARD DEADLINE.** 
  • Apr. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30: ECE Undergraduate Research Symposium, 5–7 pm via Zoom — you will be sharing your screen with your presentation on zoom. Place your ppt file in your Box folder after the presentation.
  • May 9: Deposit the final version of your Senior Thesis in the Box folder by the 4th day of the final’s week (Wed.) while emailing the approval form signed by your advisor to Krysten Gardner at kwharto2@illinois.edu – the approval form is the completed version of Advisor Comments and Assessment.boxnote maintained in the Box folder. (week 16).

If the fully completed thesis is not deposited — and any required final corrections made — by the 4th day of the final’s week, then you will not receive a grade for the course. The grade will be recorded only on completion of the thesis to the satisfaction of ECE Undergraduate Advising.