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Electronic Technology (SCN2430)
 
The official course web site for Electronic Technology is available through http://blackboard.babson.edu/. The most up-to-date version of this document will always be posted there.
Syllabus version 1.0, modified 4-Sep-13
Course Instructor Chuck Winrich Email: cwinrich@babson.edu  Office: Kriebel 203 Phone: 781-239-5583 Office Hours: Mondays, 1:30-2:30pm Wednesdays, 11am-Noon
 And by appointment 
 Course Description Study of the application of basic scientific principles and computational skills that allow the understanding of current and potential future thrusts in electronics, computing, microsystems and nanotechnologies. (From the Undergraduate Catalog) Course Objectives This course is an introduction to the electronic technologies associated with things like computers and telecommunications. It is intended to provide a foundation in a few basic areas that should prove invaluable to students who intend to pursue careers in business:
 
sound, logical, scientific reasoning
 
familiarity with quantitative estimation
 
basic principles of physical science that enable technology Course Organization The majority of meetings will be in the classroom. During these meetings, we will discuss current and emerging technologies, as well as the fundamental scientific principles operating behind these technologies. Since technology will continue to develop through the semester (and presumably in the future as well) each student will make one brief "current events" presentation to the class about a recent technological development or a novel application of technology. This presentation is not intended to be a research project; you need only find one recent news article and present it to the class. Please plan your presentation to less than four minutes. This length will allow enough time to present the article and explain the major points addressed. If your article is not available on line, you will be required to turn in a hardcopy of the source you used in your presentation, including your name and the citation to the article. Please submit your article to me two days in advance of your presentation so I can post the reference or link to Blackboard and avoid any conflicts where people have chosen the same article. A schedule for these presentations will be posted shortly.
 
Through the course of the semester, we will be in the labs six times.
 All lab meetings are scheduled for 90 minutes.
 In the lab, you will work with a partner on directed experiments related to course material. Along with each experiment, a "lab report guide" will be posted consisting of questions to be answered for the lab report. One week following the completion of the experiment, you will be required to turn in a lab report consisting of all data collected, all calculations performed, all charts produced, and answers to these questions. You may do this report on your own or with your partner from lab. In either case, you will work with the data you and your partner collected. There will be no opportunity for makeup in the event of a missed lab, but your lowest lab report score will be dropped at the end of the semester. Group Project: Prepare a technology-based business plan As an additional exploration of emerging technologies, every member of the class will be assigned to a group that will undertake a project in "virtual entrepreneurship." You and your group will design a new and different technological product or application that you believe will be commercially useful and successful. Next, you will create a fictional company based upon your newly designed product and its corresponding technology and methodology, and prepare a business plan for this company. Your audience for this work is composed of your classmates, who will act as VC investors when you present your work. You can assume that any potential investors will have some background in your topic from class, but will not be an expert. For this audience, you can review material covered in class without referencing/citing the source of the information. Because this is a research project, you are expected to go beyond the course text and notes, thus the course text and notes are inappropriate resources for your final project. Encyclopedias should also be avoided as reference sources as they are not primary sources of information (although they can be useful for a quick background on your chosen topic, see the Wikipedia Disclaimer on Academic use - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academic_use). As a research project, the paper should include a bibliography and in-text citations as well. The Endnote citation management system is available from the Babson portal. Mendeley is also a useful citation management tool that allows for the sharing of papers among a group. For both the bibliography and in-text citations, you should use the APA format. The groups will consist of 4-6 people. If you would like request a particular group, please let me know (via email to cwinrich@babson.edu) 
by 5:00 pm on Friday, September 13
. I will do my best to honor all requests, but be aware that if your proposed group has fewer than six members, I may assign additional people to the group. The final product for each business will ultimately rest with the members of each group. The technology or application should relate to the course material. Groups will be required to prepare a proposal for their topic,
due in class on Tuesday, October 8
. This proposal will be brief: a few sentences describing your approach to your topic, and at least one credible source. A form for the proposal will be posted to the group project section of Blackboard. Once the group's topic is approved, any topic changes will require a new proposal. Each member of the group will also be individually responsible for turning in an
 
annotated bibliography for his or her section of the project by
Tuesday, October 29
. Details about the annotated bibliography will posted in the project section of Blackboard. You will create a "Rocket Pitch" to be presented in class on
Tuesday, November 19
. During the presentations of the other groups, you will review and evaluate other students' presentations as a potential investor. The project will be graded on presentation (both the video presentation and the paper), content, and research. Each member of the group will receive the same grade on the project, but that grade may be adjusted up or down based on the results of a confidential survey of each group. These surveys will be posted in the project section of Blackboard, and will be due with the final project on
Friday, December 6
. The project is designed to be a group effort.
 All group members are responsible for the content and timely submission of the project.
 Everyone should review the project before the due date; do not submit anything that you have not reviewed. If you have any problems with this project - technical, logistical, a lax group member, etc. - please see me well before the due date so that I will have an opportunity to help you. Lastly, any student who does not contribute to the work of the project yet includes his or her name on the final project, may be brought before the Babson College Honor Board. Course Policies
Grading
 Final grades will be determined by the following breakdown: 3 Exams 15% each Best exam +5% Homework 8% News article presentation 7% Class Participation 5% Group project (proposal, presentation, & paper) 15% Lab reports 15%
 Academic Honesty
 It is assumed that all students in this course are familiar with Babson College's policy on academic honesty, found in the undergraduate student handbook. Your in-class presentation and homework are to be your own work. You may discuss your article with other students, but no other student should find your article or prepare your presentation for you. Similarly for homework, you may discuss the assignment with other students, but each person should independently write their own answer to be turned in. Under no circumstances should one student verbally dictate or electronically share his or her answers or solutions with another student. Exams are to be an individual effort. During the exam, you may not discuss questions with other people, you may not look at another student's exam, and you may not have another person write your answers for you. For the group project, only members of the group should be involved in producing the proposal, paper, and presentation. You may discuss your topic with people outside the group. For all

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