Friday, 18 October 2013

Poster Display:  Engineering Atrium

Posters will be acknowledged for their work
and successful communication of the author's research

DEADLINES

GradCon is an annual conference of ECE graduate students during which information regarding each graduate student's research is introduced and shared amoungst peers, undergraduates, industry invitees, UofM administrative invitees, and other academics.

The purpose of the GradCon conference is to allow you to

• gain experience in making technical presentations on either research results or a selected topic in your research area
• learn about research being conducted by your peers
• showcase the department's research to undergraduate students, industry, and the university community

GradCon is an ECE Graduate Program Requirement for graduation

• Our ECE graduate program requirements include a presentation at GradCon (see below "PARTICIPATION CRITERIA")
• All FULL-TIME M.Sc. and Ph.D. students are required to give a short presentations of approximately 10 minutes

PARTICIPATION CRITERIA
(all FULL-TIME graduate students are required to present at GradCon)

1. MASTER STUDENTS -- ALL FULL-TIME M.Sc. STUDENTS
   1. ORAL PRESENTATION:
      • Students in the M.Sc. and M.Eng. program must present an Oral Presentation at least once in their program in order to graduate
      •  It is recommended that you present in the second year of your Master's program 
      • Your Supervisor may ask you to present at ALL GradCons while in the program. This option is up to your supervisor
   2. POSTER PRESENTATION:  
      • Not mandatory in the Master's program
        
        
2. DOCTORAL STUDENTS
   1. FULL TIME Ph.D. Students  
      • Oral Presentation:  Present each year at GradCon until they finish their program
      • Poster Presentation:  Ph.D. Students must ALSO submit a poster for presentation at GradCon.
   2. WHEN PRESENTATIONS BEGIN:  Ph.D. students are required to present at GradCon after their first year in the Ph.D. program.
   3. WHEN PRESENTATIONS ARE NO LONGER NECESSARY:  Students within one month of defending their thesis are not required to present
      
      

PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED MATERIAL

• We welcome presentations recently made at a conference   

FUTURE PRESENTATION

• You MUST obtain permission from your supervisor BEFORE presenting materials for a future conference 

CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL

• Students who do not wish to present specific details of their research should make a presentation of background research or a selected topic in their research area.

STUDENTS WHO DO NOT HAVE TO PRESENT?

• Students within one month of defending their thesis are not required to present at GradCon, but may do so if they wish 

PRESENTATION

ORAL PRESENTATION: ~10 minutes

1. Standard Presentation
   1. Usually GradCon presentations are given in PowerPoint
   2. Other formats:
      1. You may use other applications to present your material, however it is UP TO YOU to make sure that application needed to present your material is on your laptop. 
      2. We cannot load software on the laptops we're using for GradCon
         
         
2. Standard to every presentation room
   1. Data Projector
   2. Laser Pointer
   3. Lap-Top (Windows Operating System)
      
      
3. Applications on laptops:  
   1. Microsoft Office (PowerPoint)
   2. Adobe Reader
      
      
4. STORING YOUR PRESENTATION:
   1. USB Drive (preferred)
   2. UofM Unix account with IST http://umanitoba.ca/ist/connect/
      1. All students have a Unix Account -- you created this when you created your ClaimID accounts
      2. You can store data in your Unix Account -- it is safe, in the event your hard-drive goes down
         • When going to a conference store your presentation and/or poster in your Unix Account or other Internet Storage, just in case something happens to your flash drive or computer
      3. FYI -- you can also create a web site in your Unix Account.

1. ABSTRACT -- 
   • please use the WORD template AND save it as a PDF -- Abstract Template
     
     
2. Biographical Form

ABSTRACT GUIDELINES / INSTRUCTIONS

For samples of abstracts submitted to past GradCons, please go to http://www.ee.umanitoba.ca/~gradcon/

Please save your abstract as a PDF, if you can, so that I don't p your figures, images, equations, etc. FREE, Open Source PDF Converter: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

The WORD TEMPLATE uses these guidelines.

1. FORMAT: IEEE style, as found in the main IEEE publications such as "Proceedings of the IEEE" and "The Transactions on ..." of various IEEE societies.
   
   
2. PAGE LENGTH: The abstract must be one (1) page in length, using the standard letter size page of 8.5 inches wide x 11 inches high
   
   
3. REFERENCES: The one-page abstract could be followed by references
   
   
4. MAIN TEXT:
   1. FONT: 10 or 12-point Times or Times New Roman
   2. PARAGRAPH: Justified
   3. LINE SPACING: single spaced
   4. LOCATION: Approx. 1 - 2 lines below the Author's Name/Affiliation line(s)
      
      
5. MARGINS: The page must have a 1-inch margin at the top, bottom, left and right.
   
   
6. ABSTRACT TITLE:
   1. TITLE PLACEMENT: the title must be centered and placed below the top margin
   2. TITLE STYLE: Bold style
   3. TITLE CASE: either “All Uppercase” or in “Mixed or Title Case”
   4. FONT SIZE: 14-point
   5. FONT FAMILY Times or Times New Roman
      
      
7. AUTHOR INFORMATION :
   1. leave one (1) blank line below the paper title before including author information
   2. centre the author's name, affiliation(s), and email address after a blank line
      • name, affiliation, email may be on one (1) line or several
   3. the author's name should be in italics
   4. Font: Times Roman or Times
   5. Font Size: 10-11 pts.
      
      
8. REFERENCES: follow the IEEE format, except for the numbering of the references which can be substituted with reference code formed from four (4) letters of the author(s) and two (2) digits from the year of publication.

EXAMPLE:

Reference: 
[Pedr89] W. Pedrycz, Fuzzy Control and Fuzzy Systems.
New York, NY: Wiley, 1989, 258 pp.
Use in the text of the abstract: Use [Pedr89] in the text of the abstract.

9. TABLE & FIGURE CAPTIONS (if any): Must follow the IEEE format.
   
   
10. BIOGRAPHY: Your biography must be on a separate page from the abstract and submitted as a separate file (you may use the form provided in the forms area of this page).
    
    
11. ADVISOR'S NAME: On the left, above the bottom margin, provide the name of your advisor(s) in the following format: ADVISOR: Name.
    
    
12. PAGE NUMBERS:
    1. In the center of the header of the page
    2. approximately half an inch (½ inch) above the main text
    3. type in page number in the following format:  - 1 -   
       
       
13. ANNOTATION:
    1. In the center of the footer of the page
    2. approximately a quarter (¼") of an inch below the main text
    3. provide the following centered annotation in 9-point type:

Proceedings of the 2013 Graduate Students Conference, GRADCON 2013
Winnipeg, MB, Canada; October 18, 2013  
© Copyright retained by the author and collaborators.

14. FINAL OR SUBMISSION FORMAT: PDF
    • Your final, electronic version which you will send to Amy Dario (Amy.Dario@ad.umanitoba.ca) must be a PDF. 
    • FREE, Open Source PDF Converter: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
    • If you are really having problems converting a file to PDF please contact Amy

1. SEND YOUR POSTER 
   1. A PDF of your poster must be submitted, via email, by ... for evaluation by Judges 
   2. All posters will be copied to a CD and distributed to the Judges for evaluation
      
      
2. CRITERIA:
   1. Required from Ph.D. students who have been in the Ph.D. program for more than 1 year.
   2. Optional for M.Sc. students
      
      
3. POSTER
   1. DIMENSIONS
      1. Soft Posters which will be mounted on bulletin boards
         1. Maximum Width:  32 inches
         2. Maximum Height: 20 inches
            
            
      2. Posters mounted on foamcore/poster board which can be mounted on easels
         1. Maximum Width:  42 inches
         2. Maximum Height:  30 inches
            
            
      3. YOU MUST PAY for your own poster and mounting -- neither the Department nor your Advisor is responsible for supplying your poster or mounting.   
         
         
   2. MATERIALS
      1. Thick, stand-alone poster board OR foam core (can be purchased at the UofM Bookstore)
         1. can be mounted on easels
         2. Boards
            1. foam core
            2. gatorfoam
            3. mat board
            4. ryno foam
         3. DO NOT USE Coroplast
      2. Thinner poster boards
         • can be mounted on bulletin boards
         • Boards
           • poster board (various thicknesses)
      3. The student is responsible for all costs incurred in creating the poster
         
         
   3. IMAGES:
      • Bitmap
        
        
   4. ORIENTATION:
      • Landscape  (e.g. 32 inches wide (not mounted on form-core or poster-board), 42 inches wide (mounted on form-core or poster-board )
        
        
   5. MOUNTING
      1. rubber cement, glue, or tape your papers to the poster board
      2. also available -- self adhesive boards -- may be a bit difficult for first time users
      3. do NOT use tacks, pins or push pins
         
         
4. DEADLINE to submit the title of the poster:
   • September 2013  via e-mail to Amy Dario. darioa@cc.umanitoba.ca
     
     
5. DEADLINE to display or put up poster:
   • ~9:00 a.m., Friday, October 18 2013, the morning of GradCon
   • on display boards
   • in the designated poster area EITC Atrium

Posters will be judged before lunch and announced at the luncheon

1. Abstract Template  (Fillable WORD file)
   1. This is a 2 page documents
   2. the first page is the TEMPLATE
   3. the second page are explanations of the template
   4. Instructions
      1. You may cut & paste your info into the body of the template
      2. or you may key directly into the body
      3. please remember to insert your Advisor's Name at the bottom of the abstract
         
         
2. Biographical Form (Fillable PDF -- Use the latest Acrobat Reader to fill-in and save this file)
   1. Why are we asking this information?
      • This form will be given to your Session Orgranizer so that he/she can properly introduce you to the audience 
   2. How do I fill-in this form
      1. Click on the link
      2. a pop-up window will appear
      3. SAVE the PDF form to your computer
      4. Fill-in the info
      5. Save it
      6. Attach it to an email and send to darioa@cc.umanitoba.ca

• http://umanitoba.ca/campus/special_functions/media/UC2.pdf
• http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html

1. The title of the poster session should be displayed in large font, 36 - 60 point, to help the audience find your paper.
   Your main point or conclusion should be in large font if it is not covered in the title.
   
   
2. A font below 18 point is difficult for the audience to read. Try not to use fonts smaller than 18 pts in your presentation.
   
   
3. Avoid large sections of text in all capitals; it can be difficult to read. Use capitals and/or BOLD to emphasize your points
   
   
4. Display the highlights of your presentation in larger font, 24 - 40. Use color to emphasize the important points.
   
   
5. Pictures, charts and graphs are very effective when kept simple. Too much detail will obscure the main points. Use color!
   
   
6. Information flow is most effective if it is from left to right and top to bottom.
   
   
7. Your posted materials should be as self explanatory as possible. Attract the audience's attention and then answer detailed questions.
   
   
8. Consider that the viewers will be two to three meters away from your material and adjust the print font, charts, graphs, and figures accordingly. The audience will not have the time or the space to read pages of text.
   
   
9. The audience at poster sessions moves! They may want to visit several posters during the session. If you are planning to give a presentation of your material it will probably have to be repeated several times as the audience changes. Keep it short, hit the high points and invite questions.
   
   
10. Some visitors may be very interested in your topic and will want to monopolize your session time with questions. This may turn away other visitors that are also interested. Recognize this as a factor and be prepared to acknowledge all visitors.
    
    
11. If you want to interact with certain audience members later, have cards with your contact information available.
    
    
12. The complete paper is available in the Conference Proceedings (for GradCon, online) that all attendees will have. Refer the audience to the paper for detailed information.

1. Beyond the Bulletpoints
   Groups are beginning to believe that bulletpoint presentations are getting a bit old.  This site shows you how corporations are beginning to present PowerPoint presentations
   1. http://www.m62.net/presentation-theory/presentation-book-reviews/beyond-bullet-points-2/ 
   2. http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/000993   
   3. Beyond the Bulletpoint Story Template:  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/the-beyond-bullet-points-story-template-TC001192765.aspx
   4. PowerPoint Presentation:  http://www.m62.net/presentation-theory/bullet-points-dont-work/beyond-bullet-points/
      
      
2. Presentation Zen -- http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/whats_good_powe.html
   
   
3. 3 Rules -- http://desktoppub.about.com/od/microsoft/bb/powerpointrules.htm
   
   
4. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly -- http://www.shkaminski.com/Classes/Handouts/powerpoint.htm