MEng projects 2012 week 10 update Stuart Hillmansen Project coordinator s.hillmansen@bham.ac.uk

Contents Some hints on wk 11 presentations. Reminder about CVs, logbooks, meeting forms, specifications, risk assessments and ethics forms 2nd report – due Friday of wk 11 – 12 noon deadline in PGO

Key dates

A research project This is an exercise in individual inquiry Is driven by the student, and steered by the supervisor – it is YOUR project! Address an academically challenging research problem May use theoretical or practical based methods 60 credits

Presentation structure Largely up to individuals – but it is good to check with supervisor. We have 30 minute sessions. Try to attend all in your session. Speak for 15 minutes. Make sure you know how to use the kit and note that there is limited software installed on the PCs in the lecture theatres. Typically will have the following slides:

Title slide Project title Your name Supervisor

Contents slide Background Introduction Theory and scope/aim of your project My initial results and findings (very important) Remaining work Conclusions/summary

Scene setting slide Something which grabs the attentions of the audience – use pictures or something similar. Need to explain why your project matters to the rest of us.

More detailed introduction Some more theoretical deeper background

Aim of project To test the following hypothesis.... To design and test a.... To...

Progress to date Done a literature review and developed skills in “something” Done some initial analysis and have some interesting results Built and tested some hardware or similar Written and tested software

More detailed initial results These are very important slides – must show assessors you are making real progress and have understood your project.

Future work Use a table to identify the remaining work. Mention the final report and other important milestones. The assessors want to be convinced you have a good work plan and that you are professional enough to stick to it – but at the same time you will have built in contingencies for the work.

Summary This is an important slide – since you can mention again what are the important achievements that you have made to date. You can also emphasise your future work so that the assessors will look forward to your next bench inspection. Ask if they would like to ask questions

What are assessors are looking for? Evidence of individual inquiry: A well thought out research question addressing something which is academically challenging Good understanding of the background literature A sensible scope of work and sensible methodologies Validation of your work and critical review Appreciation of the limitations of the approaches adopted Tangible deliverables Ability to answer questions Evidence that you have spent 100s of hours on your project

Avoid too much of the flashy stuff that Powerpoint can do. Make sure there is good contrast and that there is not too much info on the screen at any time. Make sure you label axis on graphs and that you can see the numbers. Use SI units Don’t go crazy with significant figures – I am 1113280195 seconds old – or I was when I wrote this. I haven’t used pictures today – but they are usually good. Keep it simple!

Assessment First Report 5% Second Report 5% Technical Presentation + CV presentation 5% Final Report & Bench Inspection [Assessment Team] 0.666(70% + 14%) Final Report & Supervisor’s Report [Supervisor] 0.333(70% + 14%) Project Open Day Poster Presentation 1%

Summary Prepare well for your presentations Remember to hand over your: Logbook CV Supervisor meeting forms