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Multidisciplinary Team Project (called the “PPE”)

Acquire Technological Expertise and Teamwork Capabilities

The multidisciplinary team project at the ECE Graduate School of Engineering organizes the realization of a technological project during 6 months in the second year of the engineering cycle in direct collaboration with a partner company working on a real-world solution development.

6 months for a real-world project

The PPE is an essential component of the second year of the engineering cycle. Milestones and objectives of the multidisciplinary project are presented to the students at the beginning of the academic year in September. The presentation is given at the PPE awards ceremony during which the best projects of the past year are rewarded in recognition of the technical and technological quality of the work, and the management skills of their team members. After the presentation, our students have a month to organize teams of 6, and choose a project in the list provided by our partner companies. The final presentations of the PPE projects take place in March.

6 months in a professional context

Teams are assembled based on the skills sets required to successfully lead the project. The teams act as IT consultants and respond to the offer made by the partner company. As a result, students are confronted with the entire process of conducting a project – specifications, technical and commercial offer, architecture, realization, testing, integration, validation, progress meetings and reports, and cost analysis and scheduling.

The objective is to deliver a prototype to the company. This is done by meeting the requirements of the company, and applying a methodology close to that of a real-world project in the development phase.

The development process breaks down into 8 steps which all require specific documentation to follow the realization of the project. The process relies on specifications and design tools (e.g. Rational Rose) and project management tools (e.g. MS Project); these tools might be the ones used by our partner company.

Educational Added Value of the CNAM Partnership

Project management and software engineering courses

The practical realization of the project is done simultaneously with theoretical courses in project management. They are jointly conducted by the ECE faculty and CNAM faculty members from the Chair of Software engineering. The software engineering course aims at providing solid grounding while applying best practices in the industry (ISO 1207 norms, GAMT17-V2, DOD…).

Learn more about the project management course.

More About the Multidisciplinary Team Project

PPE Awards: the best projects are rewarded

After the viva voce examination, the jury names the best PPE projects of the year. The rewarded teams are invited to present their projects to the companies during the second week of September. If our partner companies desire, the awarded PPEs can add to the set of tools that these firms use to manage their brand capital. Our school can leverage its different available communication media – brochures, website, public relations, project exhibitions during the recruitment sessions, newsletter – to increase the brand power of our partners by reaching the following targets groups: prospective students, students, student parents, alumni, educational network members, partner universities and schools, and the media.

Pursue the relationship with the company

After the PPE project, the company has the option to pursue the collaboration with the students:

o with one or more students of the PPE team in the context of a 4th-year engineering internship during 3 to 4 months from mid-April to mid-August
o with the same team (entire or part) in the context of the final thesis project in the 5th year of the engineering cycle during 1 month if done full-time, with the possibility of signing an internship contract from February to July
o with a new PPE team working on a new PPE project starting in October of the following academic year.