Poster Session

Finals Week Poster Presentation

Posters are common formats for technical presentations, and provide an effective way for a large amount of content to be presented. The Poster Presentations will be the final graded MAE156 presentations, and will also be the format during which projects will be judged for departmental awards. During the poster session:

• • Students teams should have some team members standing by their poster at all times to answer questions by MAE156 instructors, judges, and fellow students. Team members should take turns manning their poster, so that other members can view class posters.

  • Hardware prototypes should be setup adjacent to the posters (see Ian Richardson to coordinate special space or power needs).

  • The judges will be a combination of MAE faculty, ASME, and industry representatives.

Poster Content

• • Use PowerPoint and make the dimensions 42x36 inches. You can use this poster as a template and as a good example. Try to use bullets over excessive amounts of text, this is a poster not your a report! Your section may require a rough draft of your poster due before the final poster. The TAs will be responsible for printing the posters.

• • Material from the Executive Summary of the report should form the beginning of the poster.

    • The general public should be able to read this section and get an understanding to the project objective, design solution, and overall success of the project.

  • Make sure to note the sponsor on the poster title (company logos should be included).

  • Include highlights of key features of your report

  • Present one area where analysis was applied to the design process.

  • Conclude with:

    • Summary of hardware performance

    • Clarify MAE156 team contribution, and explain what parts of the project were done prior to the course

    • Recommend future improvements

    • Discuss impact on society and any safety or environmental considerations.

  • Include references and acknowledgements.

  • Figures and graphics are especially important:

    • Figure subtitles should be complete enough so that the project can be mostly understood by just looking at the figure and reading the subtitles.

    • Annotations are critical for effective communication (see example).

Poster Logistics

• 1. Contact Ian Richardson by Friday of week 10, and let him know what your hardware space needs are for the event.

  2. Invite sponsors to poster presentations by Friday of week 9. Arrange parking for any sponsors driving to campus.

Tips for Effective Posters

• https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/posters/gettingstarted

  • Free Poster Templates: http://www.posterpresentations.com/html/free_poster_templates.html

Here are some good references for making a poster:

• At Pimp My Poster, you can have your poster critiqued by members of the community.

• The Conference Mentor has an interview with a poster expert. 

• North Carolina State’s guide to creating and presenting a poster.