Advancements in instrumentation for communication technologies such as Antennas have led to significant improvements in signal quality and reliability, but there remains a substantial need for cost-effective and efficient antenna solutions, particularly for military applications and terrestrial point-to-point communication. These systems often require complex specialized materials and precise manufacturing processes. Enhancing student ‘Success’ by using improved student engagement strategies in high-impact practices, specifically Capstone courses, is akin to our university’s strategic planning processes. Example-Project titled ‘DESIGN BUILD & TEST: A COST-EFFECTIVE & EFFICIENT 2X2 ANTENNA ARRAY’ represents a Capstone course in which training in Instrumentation design has become very necessary and relevant. The Senior Project course, a Design, Build & Test exercise, also often referred to as ‘Training in Research and Research Methods’, enjoys regular evaluation and redesign, because it is an important exit course that all graduating engineering students must take, and it is a gateway course to the workforce and graduate school opportunities. Unlike most other courses, it is based on Open-Ended Problem-Solving requirements for which skills in specialized Instrumentation selection is required, and so is Training in Research & Research Methods where students learn to Find Information, analyze these, plot them, interpret what they see, Draw Conclusions and Make Decisions to impact the Design Objective. The measured Student successes which form important institutional yardsticks, included high measures of student engagement and positive outcomes that were influenced by measured factors likes self-efficacy, academic achievement, completion, retention, and career preparation. The grading in the course is based on a combination of “objective” and “subjective” evaluations. The objective part involves regular presentations of work in progress (35% of the overall grade) and a paper/Final report and final presentation (25%), each based on work performed and published articles on the subject matter. The more subjective components are 20% of the overall grade and 20% for peer evaluations of participation in small group discussions based mostly on completed work, cited articles and Class-Design Expo Presentations.
The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025