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2.7. Getting Help
(a) Your Segment or project group: You are all working together, so split up the learning task in a way
that makes sense to you and then teach each other what you know.
(b) Your classmates: Many of you come into this with a great deal of knowledge and talent. Make
it your business to find out which of your classmates is already an expert in something and tap into that
expertise.
(c) The Prof and TA: Each of us will spend time in the laboratory outside of class time, randomizing our
hours to try to cover all the times used by groups and teams. If you need to meet with us, have a member
of your group arrange a time for one of us to be here when your group or team is. Personal problems of
individual students can be handled in my office, by arrangement.
(d) Other experts: One advantage in being in a place where a lot of building is going on is that somebody
usually knows the answer to your question. We will be calling on some of the local experts to share their
expertise in certain areas and to serve on the design reviews for your projects. Sometimes, these folks
can be helpful before you get to that stage by getting you started on something, giving you a reference,
or telling you your idea won't work. These folks can be found on the 15th to 17th floors of RLM. Here is a
partial list.
Optics: Phillip MacQueen, Gary Hill, John Lacy, Marsha Wolf.
Electronics: Al Mitchell, Phillip MacQueen, Gary Hansen, Fred Harvey, Joe Tufts.
Computer Interfacing: Mark Cornell, Bill Spiesman.
Mechanical Design: John Booth, Gordon Wesley, George Barczak, Jimmy Wellborn.
(f) (Heaven Forbid!) A book. There are tons of books out there. Some of them are even helpful.
Also, check out parts catalogs. They often have little tutorials in them. The parts themselves sometimes give
you ideas. Individual segments will contain some specific references to relevant reading material.
2.8. Evaluation of Your Performance
We intend your grade in this course to reflect the amount of skill you acquire and the strength of your
contribution to the efforts of your group to learn the material and your team to build the instrument. Items
we will include in setting your grade are: (1) Attendance (including coming on time) (~15%) (2) Individual
problem sets and group segment reports (~25%) (3) The completeness, thoughtfulness and insight displayed
in your evaluations of the segments and the project (~10%) (4) Your writeup of the instrument for the preliminary
review (~10%) (5) Your performance and that of your team at the preliminary review (~5%) (6) The level of
mastery you display when you (individually and as a team) exhibit and demonstrate your instrument at the
end of the course (~35%). To carry out this last point, during the last week of class, your team will demonstrate
your instrument. Each of you will have a private discussion with the prof. and TA in which you explain the
workings of the various elements of your system. Your evaluation on item (6) will depend equally on how
well your team did on the project, and on how well you did yourself.
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