1 CC2039 Professional Development for Communication Technology Developing a Project Proposal

Identifying and selecting a project The role of the project supervisor The project proposal Literature search and review 2

Sources of Project Ideas Brainstorming Workplace Personal contacts The Internet Background reading Lecturers Clients or local businesses Past projects 3

4 How to find an area? You could Follow up a previous project Follow up a topic from your current year e.g. system development methodologies for mobile devices Specialise in a year 3 topic e.g. Formal Methods; Network security management Exploit your other strengths e.g. Mobile devices and community gardening Improve your CV e.g. Mobile devices and Financial Services 4

What Types of Projects? You could Replace or extend an existing system Move a system to a new platform or operating system Make an old system more efficient Create a new system to provide a better service 5

How to Select a Potential Project? Brainstorm an initial list of potential topics Research into the topics and narrow down your list to what is feasible Spot a gap in the research This can be indicated by your lecturers or your own reading Test your ideas 6

Test Your Potential Projects/Ideas (1) Does the topic really interest you? Do you have the necessary skills, facilities and tools readily to hand? Do you have the finance available to purchase materials or tools, if needed? Do you have the time and the facilities to acquire missing skills? Are all team members committed to this topic? (if a group project) 7

Test Your Potential Projects/Ideas (2) Is your idea original and not just a near duplicate of a past project? Is your project to a level that exceeds previous coursework? Does the project enable you to explore, develop and demonstrate skills and knowledge relevant to your course? Is your project consistent with your career goals? 8

The role of the supervisor (1) The role of your supervisor is to guide you He/she agrees your project proposal You meet him/her regularly to discuss the progress of your work He/she signs your logbook (meeting log) He/she is your first marker He/she arranges your Interim presentation and the final Viva 9

The role of the supervisor (2) Your supervisor Does NOT provide additional teaching Can only advise you on your work 10

The Project proposal The project proposal is a document agreed and signed by the supervisor and the student It includes information about the project Background Problem and scope Objectives Approach Resources Plan Initial literature review 11

The Proposal: General Details Student’s personal details (name, ID, , degree programme) Project duration (dates from… to) Project title Supervisor 12

The Proposal: Background Description of the scope the problem its relevance the context Includes a top-level functional requirement what is the project to achieve? why is it worthwhile? For Networking students, it is important to produce a system/prototype or framework as one of the main project deliverables 13

The Proposal: Objectives State and explain what kind of computer system is to be designed and implemented Other objectives could relate to the research, analysis, design, implementation and testing Each objective should be given a deliverable, e.g. bibliography, design documents, target code, packaged demonstration system In your final report a critical appraisal of the project is needed, and you should refer back to the objectives Objectives should be SMART 14

The Proposal: The approach For example: System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Structured methods Object-oriented methods Rapid Application Development (RAD) 15

The Proposal: Skills Projects must build on a reasonable range of skills and knowledge acquired from Computing modules In this section you list The design and technical skills you currently have which are relevant to your project The skills you need to acquire for your project, e.g. VB, XML, Java RMI, SSADM etc Refer to relevant 3 rd year modules you are planning to take in order to gain these skills 16

The Proposal: Special Requirements Students are responsible for ensuring that the necessary resources needed for projects are available or requested State your need of: data sources letter of agreement regarding obligations of employers or clients access to domain specialists installing special software on your machine Please note: the University cannot normally provide or pay for special facilities 17

The Proposal: Project Plan Plan for the main tasks of your project Indicate 3 – 4 substantial tasks that you will undertake in the first semester of your project: in-depth literature review feasibility study analysis design prototype These tasks will be evaluated at the Interim assessment 18

Literature Review: Purpose To assist in the development and the justification of your project Report on What was found What are the gaps in existing knowledge To increase and demonstrate your understanding of current thinking and theories To provide the reader with an introduction to your area of work To establish the academic context of the project To provide an academic underpinning for your conclusion 19

Literature Review: Sources Primary Sources: Conference papers Research reports Company reports Secondary sources: Books Journals Newspapers Media: Papers Video and radio broadcasts The Internet 20

Literature Search Allocate time to browse titles in the library catalogues Read abstracts of a range of journal articles identify and keep notes – read in full later Identify and keep notes on relevant web pages, book chapters and conference papers When reading, look for ideas on methods that could be adapted to your project 21

Referencing Avoid plagiarism : it is important to show where you have used someone else’s words or ideas Referencing is required when you Quote another person words Summarise or paraphrase ideas, opinions or information of another writer Use diagrams, tables, figures and statistics from another source Using references shows your awareness of the subject area and the key concepts 22