SENSOR NETWORKS PROJECTS IN AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CAPSTONE COURSE

Abstract

Engineers must be prepared to approach a widerange of interdisciplinary problems that blur the traditionalboundaries within the computer science curriculum. To helpour students develop a broader view of the computer sciencediscipline in automation and engineering, senior InformaticsEngineering students at University of Buenos Aires, arerequired to take a capstone industrial applicationsworkshop. This course helps students learn soft andexperimental skills that are not introduced in previouslaboratories and also provides an interdisciplinaryexperience that combines design, analysis, implementation,and testing. Students working in a professional likeenvironment design and deploy a wide range of industrialsystems for our university research laboratories. In thispaper, we describe the experiences and outcomes usingsensor networks. The deployment of the sensor networksmotes provides strong student motivation for learning, offerscomprehensive and valuable educational experiences,enhances student performance, and is well suited for asemester course.Index Terms ⎯ Capstone course, Design, InterdisciplinaryEducation, Wireless Sensor Networks.