Courses:

Your 15.578 term project is intended to give you the opportunity to pursue the ideas discussed in class in more depth. The term project may be done individually or in groups of up to 3 people. There are many forms that it can take. Some examples are:

1. Case Study: A case study can be written regarding an organization faced with Connectivity issues (e.g., like J&J, FXX). The case should provide some generalizable concepts, drawing from frameworks used in 15.578 (e.g., interlinked value chains, levels of business transformation, etc.).
   
   
2. Comparative Analysis: There are many strategic, physical, logical, and organizational connectivity concepts being developed. A comparative analysis of 2 or more approaches could be interesting (e.g., homogenous vs heterogeneous distributed database systems; FDDI vs Gigabit Ethernet, XML and Web Services, etc.)
   
   
3. Computer Project: If you wish, you can participate in the Computer Project being done by 15.565 students. If so, please let the TA know since there are multiple parts to this assignment - some starting very soon.

Term Project Proposal:

Your term project proposal should be brief (about one page in length) but be sufficiently specific so that the term project goals and any related issues (such as project risks) are clearly stated. Be sure to: (1) give a name to your project and (2) list the group members. We recommend that you turn in your proposal early to get feedback and approval.

Term Project:

In general, anything that relates to the topics of 15.578 is likely to be a viable term project. There is no set length to the term project since it will depend upon the topic you pick. In previous terms, typical lengths were 10-20 pages double-spaced. Every term project should address strategic, technical, and organizational issues - though not necessarily equal emphasis since this would depend upon topic.

Term Project Presentation:

As part of your term project assignment, you are to prepare a brief 10-15 minute presentation (probably 4-5 slides) to be turned in as an Appendix to your report. A few representative projects will be selected (by Lecture #24) to give their presentation on the day of Lecture #25.

Sample Term Projects (from previous terms):

• "LAN for CAES Advanced Study Program"
• "Engineering Change Process at McDonnell"
• "Data Communications for Comm. Of Massachusetts"
• "Connectivity Issues in the Dry Cleaning Industry"
• "IT Strategy for an Israel-based High-Tech Firm"
• "Strategic Implications of EDI"
• "Transborder Data Flow"
• "Comm Technology at Boston Stock Exchange"
• "Connectivity at Goldman Sachs & Co."
• "Use of Fiber Optics in Local Area Networks"
• "Inter-Org Systems in a Japanese Auto Company"
• "Knowledge Management"
• "Virtual Private Networks"
• "Communications & Connectivity at Ford"
• "Microsoft's Digital Nervous System"
• "Bringing Broadband to your Neighborhood"
• "ERP and Connectivity"
• "The Automotive Network Exchange"
• "How the Internet May Change the Music Industry"
• "Data Warehouse as Integration Tool for Retail Banks"

Functional Overview:

As an MIT student, it would be nice to have a Placement Assistant System (PAS) to help decide on potential companies and prepare for interviews. There are many distributed sources for vital information. e.g., open company positions, interview dates, Alumni working in the company, contact information for relevant alumni, company industry and location information, stock performance, and current news (see range of sources below). The student is limited by the distributed nature of this information. The goal of this project is to integrate several of these sources using a web browser front-end interface to make it easier for the student make better and more informed decisions. The PAS application is to be modular so it can be scaled according to individual needs and to make it easier to incorporate new information sources. Although we will define the basic functional overview and most of the project will be along the same lines, we would like you to come up with ideas on what information should be incorporated and other technologies that might further enhance such a project.

15.565 Project Background (PDF)