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What differentiates this class from others is the fact that a chip has to be designed and sent for fabrication. In addition to designing the circuit, simulating it to verify its operation, and laying out the circuit, many things need to be done in order to "finish" the chip so that it is ready for fabrication. So it is extremely important to have a realistic target that can be finished in 3-3.5 months. Designing a simple circuit, fabricating it, and seeing it work in the lab is far more motivating than doing a 'paper design' of a more complicated circuit, but one for which you lack time to fabricate and measure. You can see broad details of an example project here and here. That is what I implemented when I was a student in Spring 1997.
The first step is to choose a project. You can choose a project that interests you or you can choose one from the list below. I have listed some ideas below. The number of people listed against each project is only tentative and can change based on detailed assessment of the project. It is essential to start the design right away and you should choose what you want to do in the first week of classes.