L38 — Final Project Work Day

L38 — Final Project Work Day#

No new theory today. The period belongs to your paper: get the IEEE template compiling, learn what AI may and may not do inside it, cite the course, and write. The complete draft is due as a PDF through Teams at the start of L39, where your classmates review it against the rubric.

Where you stand#

L35 — checkpoint (feedback only): your approach, a first T1 laydown figure, and the four lessons you plan to cite with the claim each supports. Act on its feedback first.
L38 — today: work day.
L39, start of class — complete draft (PDF, through Teams); peer review #1 in class.
Before the start of L40 — peer review #2 (PDF, through Teams).
L40: revision work day.
L41, start of class: final paper, response-to-reviewers table, code, and any AI transcripts, through Teams.

A complete draft has every section written, every figure in place, and a lesson from every block cited for its claim. Rough prose is fine at L39; missing pieces are not, because your reviewers can only review what is there.

The IEEE template#

Start on Overleaf#

Download FinalProject_IEEE_Template.zip (below, or from the Final Project page).
In Overleaf: New Project → Upload Project, and choose the zip.
In the Overleaf menu, set the compiler to pdfLaTeX and the main document to main.tex.
Recompile. A PDF of placeholders — title, seven sections, references, an optional Appendix A — means it works.

Local MacTeX works too: pdflatex main, bibtex main, then pdflatex main twice (or latexmk -pdf main). The zip’s README.txt has both routes.

File	What it is
`main.tex`	The paper on the `IEEEtran` journal class, pre-sectioned; the `%` lines are guidance — delete them as you write
`refs.bib`	Your references: two course-lesson entries to copy, and optional external-source examples
`figures/`	Two placeholder figures, one-column and two-column, to replace
`ResponseToReviewers.tex`	The one-page response table, due with the final paper at L41

What each section reports#

Section	What it reports	Tasks
Abstract, Index Terms	The problem, your method, your key numbers, your recommendation — write it last	—
I Introduction	The problem, why it matters, your contribution, a roadmap	—
II Background and Related Work	The models you stand on, each cited to the lesson that taught it	lessons
III Scenario and Threat Model	The scenario in your own words; the models, stated as models; the threat picture; each site’s chain to \(\lambda\)	T1, T2
IV Route-Planning Method	The directed grid, the edge cost, the sweep and the fuel limit, the aspect-blind comparison; the methods behind T4–T6	T3
V Results	\(P_S\) by leg and the binding threat; the Pareto front and the fuel-limited choice; DRMS along the route; the support package and \(\Delta P_S\); the pop-up	T2–T6
VI Discussion and Limitations	What the results mean and where your models break, including one L37 trend	R
VII Conclusion and Recommendation	The route to fly and the residual risk you accept	R
References, Appendix A	Your citations; Appendix A only if you cite an external source	lessons

Page rule: 4–5 pages in the two-column format, excluding the References and any appendix. Do not change the class options, fonts or margins to make it fit — cut words instead.

Figures, equations and references#

The template carries one worked example of each element; copy the pattern.

Figures. Export from MATLAB as vector PDF into figures/ (exportgraphics(gcf,'figures/map.pdf','ContentType','vector')), with no spaces in the file name. Use figure for one column and figure* for a figure that needs both — it floats to the top of a later page. Label every axis with its quantity and unit, and write a caption that says what the reader should see.
Equations. Number every equation you refer to, \label it, and point at it with \eqref. Define every symbol right after the equation.
References. Each lesson or source is one entry in refs.bib; cite it by its key with \cite. BibTeX numbers the list in the order you cite, and only entries you cite are printed. An online source needs its URL and the date you opened it.
Units. Write quantities with siunitx: \qty{123.4}{km}, and units in table headers in brackets.

\begin{figure}[t]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{map}
  \caption{What the reader should see in this figure.}
  \label{fig:map}
\end{figure}
... as Fig.~\ref{fig:map} shows, from \eqref{eq:survival}~\cite{lesson34}.

Using AI inside the rules#

The handout’s Use of AI paragraph governs the paper. In short: AI may typeset your own work — turn your text, equations, tables and figures into LaTeX, fix compile errors, format BibTeX entries — and may point out errors in your writing that you then fix yourself. It may not write or rewrite your prose, analysis, conclusions, recommendation, or source vetting. AI is not a source. If you use AI in any way, a copy of (or a link to) every transcript goes in with your code. The handout’s appendix of sample AI prompts shows allowed requests, including ones for the MATLAB toolkit, FPToolkit.m.

Allowed	Not allowed
“Turn this table I wrote into a LaTeX table.”	“Write my Results section.”
“Why won’t this compile?”	“Rewrite this paragraph to sound better.”
“Format this reference as a BibTeX entry.”	“Summarize these papers for my Background.”
“Point out the grammar errors in my paragraph.” — then you fix them	“Write the paragraph that explains my Pareto front.”

The words and the judgments in the paper are yours.

Citing the course#

The paper’s source requirement is the course itself: cite at least one lesson from each block — so at least four lesson citations — and cite each one in the sentence whose specific claim it supports. A lesson cited once in a closing “this work builds on” sentence supports nothing a reader can check.

Block	Lessons you can cite
Block 1 — Radar Fundamentals	L1–L8
Block 2 — RF Electronic Warfare	L11–L18
Block 3 — IR EW and Signature Management	L21–L28
Block 4 — Aircraft Survivability and Mission Planning	L31–L37

Cite a lesson in the IEEE form below; the template’s refs.bib has two lesson entries (L3 and L34) to copy. Title each one “Lesson N:” followed by the lesson’s name — “Lesson 34: Optimal Path Planning” — and open the URL to check it.

J. Jurado, “Lesson 34: Optimal Path Planning,” ECE 495: Electromagnetic Warfare and Survivability, U.S. Air Force Academy, Fall 2026. [Online]. Available: https://usafa-ece.github.io/ece-495-ew/block04/L34.html

External sources are optional#

You may also cite sources beyond the course — a textbook, a journal or conference paper, documentation. If you do:

Publicly released sources only — no classified, CUI or export-controlled material, wherever you found it. Every scenario number in the project is notional.
Cite only what you have opened and read, and only for a claim it actually supports. AI is not a source.
Give each one a one-line vetting in Appendix A (what it is, who wrote or published it, its date, and that it is publicly released). Course lessons need no row; with no external sources, leave Appendix A out.

An external source can add to your lesson citations; it never replaces a block.

The rubric#

Line	Points
Threat picture (T1, T4, T6)	15
Route method and cost design (T3)	20
Survivability, support package, sensitivity and recommendation (T2, T5, R)	20
Writing, figures and IEEE form	15
Course citations and sources (≥1 lesson per block)	10
Peer reviews given (specific, accurate, rubric-anchored)	10
Response to reviewers	5
Code reproducibility	5
Total	100

There is no innovation bonus. The peer-review form you will use at L39 carries these same eight lines.

Materials#

Work the pre-flight before class — anyone can be called to the board.

Lesson slides (HTML deck)

FinalProject_IEEE_Template.zip — the IEEE paper template, ready to upload to Overleaf

Final Project - Sample Paper.pdf — every section at the depth expected, on a toy problem: a model of format and depth, not an answer

Final Project - Peer Review Form.pdf — the form your reviewers will use at L39

Final Project handout (PDF)

MATLAB bundle · L38_FinalProjectStarter.m↓

The starter, L38_FinalProjectStarter.m, is the plumbing — it reads the scenario, draws the map and runs a first route — and FPToolkit.m is the course’s MATLAB toolkit; the handout says what each provides. The analysis and every judgment in the paper are yours. The Final Project page has every scenario file on its own. The Sample Paper works a notional toy — one transit leg past two SAM sites — that is unrelated to the Final Project scenario: copy its structure and depth, not its numbers.

How to use the work day#

First 15 minutes — the brief, and your template compiling on Overleaf with your title and name.
Next 30 minutes — write the section you are furthest from, with its figure.
Last 5 minutes — check your draft against the list above: every section, every figure, a lesson from every block. Name your blocker before L39.

Next lesson: L39 — Peer Review. Your complete draft is due as a PDF through Teams at the start of class.

Table of Contents