Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering George Mason University Volgenau School of Engineering

Senior Design Projects

If you are interested in any of the Senior Design Projects I propose below, please contact me.

New Senior Design Projects

I'm interested in advising senior design projects on the following topics.
  • Affordable USB Multi-function Laboratory Instrument
    In recent years student have been required to purchase USB Laboratory Instruments such as the Analog Discovery 2 (AD2) from Digilent Inc or the Advanced Active Learning Module (ADALM 2000) from Analog devices. These devices allow the students to complete Laboratory exercises at home and to experiment on their own time without the need to rely on open lab hours. The COVID pandemic created a high demand for such devices as throughout the US lab classes have been converted to at-home labs. This high demand in concert with the chip crises has propelled the price for these devices to currently $279 (academic price for the AD2) and $240 (ADLM2000).
    This USB Multi-function Laboratory Instrument you will be developing inexpensive and therefor less capable than the AD2 or ADALM 2000 while still fulfilling the requirements for most laboratory exercises in the undergraduate ECE curriculum. This new device should use a microcontroller with analog front ends for the Oscilloscope and Wave Form Generator functionality. It should function as a 2 channel Oscilloscope and Arbitrary Waveform Generator with a Bandwidth of up to 2 MHz and a sample rate of 5 Msps and be controllable via USB from a PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux) as well as offering live waveform viewing on a PC. The total part cost should not exceed $50. A similar project was once offered by the Opencope MZ which has been discontinued.
    A previous senior design project has built a one-channel prototype for of the oscilloscope. However it did not fully meet the requirements. The arbitrary waveform generator function is currently being build by a senior design team and will complete in Fall 2023. The logic analyzer is now a separate project.
    The goal of this project is to learn from the oscilloscope prototype and create one that meets the requirements. Furthermore, the arbitrary waveform generator should be integrated, all with an intuitive and easy to use graphical user interface on the PC using PyQtGraph.
  • Logic Analyzer / Bus Sniffer
    The Logic Analyzer/ Bus Sniffer is a part of the Affordable USB Multi-function Laboratory Instrument. It should support 8 channels with 5V save inputs, and a sample rate of 10MS/s. It should also be able to decode UART (RS232), I2C, and SPI protocols. Unlike a simple logic analyzer, this should also have bus sniffer functionality similar to the Bus Pirate. That means that the user should not just be able to observe the signals but also be able to interact with them. E.g. it should be able to be an I2C host or slave, scan for I2C addresses, acknowledge I2C data, send bytes via I2C, etc. This makes is a powerful debugging tool. One software to look into is PulseView as it already contains many protocol decoders.

Currently in Progress

  • Arbitrary Waveform Generator
    In recent years student have been required to purchase USB Laboratory Instruments such as the Analog Discovery 2 (AD2) from Digilent Inc or the Advanced Active Learning Module (ADALM 2000) from Analog devices. These devices allow the students to complete Laboratory exercises at home and to experiment on their own time without the need to rely on open lab hours. The COVID pandemic created a high demand for such devices as throughout the US lab classes have been converted to at-home labs. This high demand in concert with the chip crises has propelled the price for these devices to currently $279 (academic price for the AD2) and $240 (ADLM2000). The goal of this project is to develop a much less expensive USB Multi-function Laboratory Instrument that is less capable than the AD2 or ADALM 2000 while still fulfilling the requirements for most laboratory exercises in the undergraduate ECE curriculum. This new device should be based on a microcontroller, controllable via SCPI, and the total parts cost should not exceed $50. A similar project was once offered by the Opencope MZ which has been discontinued.
    The Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG) is a part of the Affordable USB Multi-function Laboratory Instrument. It should have a Bandwidth of up to 2 MHz and a sample rate of 5 Msps, Its output voltage should be adjustable to 5V peak to peak with +/- 2.5V offset. It should be able to drive 20mA. It should have fixed waveforms such as sine, triangle, rectangle, and a user programmable arbitrary waveform.
  • Data Center Power Quality Control
    The Data Center Power Quality Control project aims to design and implement a smart solution to ensure optimal power quality, efficiency, and reliability within data centers. The project will focus on developing a centralized control system to actively monitor and manage power quality metrics, such as voltage stability, harmonics, transients, and overall power reliability. The team will design effective power conditioning and filtering techniques to reduce electrical disturbances and maintain a stable and clean power supply. They will develop strategies to minimize voltage sags, surges, and harmonics, ensuring the safe and reliable operation of sensitive IT infrastructure. A functional prototype or a simulation model will be developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control system in maintaining high power quality, efficiency, and reliability standards.

Previous Senior Design Projects

  • P. Duong, D. Luong, J.A.J.M. Alsaei, B. Phan, G. Nguyen, and T.V.M. Nguyen, Affordable USB oscilloscope, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2023, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • J.T. Riggs, B.A. Corbett, A.T. Tang, S.K. Kebadu, and A. Paniagua, NES handheld emulation breakout board for the BASYS-3, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, Dec, 2022, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex] (Outstanding ECE Senior Design Project Award)
  • C. Martinez, J. Gaspar-Zapata, T. Singh, and D. Hosek, Lab power supply, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, Dec, 2022, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • H. Turner, A. Scanlan, C. Hassak, and O. Bates, Programmable two channel lab power supply, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2021, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • T. Nguyen, J. Rodriguez, V. Guevara, and B. Webb, Side channel analysis on microcontrollers, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2020, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • T. Bullock, A. Ali, E. Hoffman, U. Aslam, and Z. Gauher, Open source high-speed oscilloscope (oshO), George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2019, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • S. Lombardo, R. Minter, J. Samuels, and J. Whitesell, Gmu logic analyzer, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, Dec, 2019 [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • A. Wozneak, R. Nagpal, and R. Meruvia, High-speed analog capture device (hacD), George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2019, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • K. Riley, S. Afrad, S. Kim, and D. Phelps, Rf detector for shielding effectiveness testing (rf dseT), George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2019, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • S. Iqbal, G.R.D. Cardozo, and R. Thomas, Over the air updates for an iot security device, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, Dec, 2018, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • I. Nur, L. Robson, J. Esquivel, M. Marjan, H. Tran, and I. Malik, FPGA enhanced wireless sensor node for IoT applications, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2017, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • T. Cao, D. Jin, S. Kiflemariam, M. Mekonnen, and B. Pierre, Secure USB storage, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2015, Senior Design Project Report [Bibtex]
  • K. Briggs, S. Carlson, C. Gibbons, J. Page, A. Paris, and D. Wernli, Vocal command recognition utilizing parallel processing of multiple confidence-weighted algorithms in an FPGA, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2015, Senior Design Project Report [Bibtex] (Outstanding ECE Senior Design Project Award)
  • M. Damico, C. Bacon, and D. Luu, Nanogigapixel, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2014, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • D. Nguyen, G. Kidanu, D. Pham, T. Zewdie, Controlling a Temperature Controller, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, May, 2014, Senior Design Project Report
  • M. Nasri, M. Shabbir, M. Mehta, and G. Tewelde, Smart living room LED, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, Dec, 2012, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • E. Andia, F. Ta, and M. McGivern, Benchmarking hash functions on the MSP430, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, May, 2011, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • P. Adams and L. Walton, Differential power analysis testbed, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, May, 2011, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • K. Sato and G. Paudel, EducáTable: An interactive multitouch table for young children, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, May, 2010, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex] (Outstanding ECE Senior Design Project Award) (advised with Dr. Jill Nelson)
  • M. A. Huynh, J. Lapato, D. Burtner, and A. Morsy, Design of a FPGA-Based Hardware Platform to Support Software-Defined Radio, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, May, 2010, Senior Design Project Report (advised with Dr. Brian Mark)
  • A. V. Nguyen, S. Flood, D. Pham, and C. Nguyen, FPGA Integrated Sensor Node, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, May, 2010, Senior Design Project Report
  • A. Behnaz, B. Loop, E. Foroudi, and S. Dhawan, Behavioral algorithm sensor suite, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, Dec, 2009, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • K. Rizvi, J. Pham, M. McDermott, and R. Brown, Energy and power comparison of cryptographic algorithms on sensor nodes, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, May, 2009, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • B. Thomson, J. McCall, and S. Kaur, Cryptographic coprocessor for wireless sensors, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, December, 2008, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex]
  • J. Higgins, P. Patel, and P. Anderson, PDIS – Print data insertion system, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, April, 2008, Senior Design Project Report [pdf] [Bibtex] (Outstanding ECE Senior Design Project Award)