1. Final Year Project COMP390/393/394/395
Irina Biktasheva – coordinator

2. The Final Year Project
The final year project is an important part of the course - it is a quarter of the final year’s work
The project is a substantial piece of work for which you are responsible
It is a chance to explore a topic in depth and to take the initiative in developing your ideas and finding out the information you need

3. Projects Provide An opportunity to show what you can do A challenge
the project is what you make of it
A challenge
Projects are meant to stretch you
Projects are often “open ended”
A chance to explore a specific area in depth

4. Types of Projects
To meet these aims, we provide three types of project
These types describe the scope of the project
The aim is to provide a challenge – but one which can be met

5. Types of Projects
Projects are classified according to the qualities we expect from different degree classes
Development Projects
Qualities expected from anyone with a computer related degree
Problem Solving Projects
Additionally, qualities expected from students with a second class Honours degree
Research Projects
Additionally, qualities expected from students with a first class Honours degree
Marks of 70+ are possible for all projects, but some offer more scope for the highest marks

6. Development Projects
Are aimed at those with a second year mark less than 60
Straightforward projects
Implement a closely specified solution to a problem
In this style of project both the problem and the solution should be understood, so that the student contributes a realisation of this solution
Evaluation will be primarily concerned with the quality of the product produced

7. Example Development Projects
Implement a business to business e-commerce site in MySQL and PHP
Implement a fully specified algorithm or system (e.g., a utility to perform file synchronisation across different PCs – different operating systems)

8. Problem Solving Projects
Can be taken by any student
Less straightforward projects
Not as closely-defined as development projects
For this style of project the problem will be formulated, but the student will need to contribute to the finding of a solution, and to choose between alternative solutions
Evaluation will relate both to the choices made, as well as to the product produced

9. Example Problem Solving Project I
Game Playing: Rush Hour
Rush Hour is a puzzle played by a single player which is an extension of the well known 8-puzzle…
This project involves the design, implementation and testing of software that plays the Rush Hour game. The primary focus of this project is to develop (search) algorithms that play the game well. A graphical user interface may also be implemented.
This project can be extended to allow a larger board or to analyse which initial states can or cannot be solved.

10. Example Problem Solving Project II
University Timetabling
Constructing University timetablings and while at the same time making efficient use of the University's resources (i.e., lecture theatres and lecturers) is a non-trivial problem
The aim of this project is to develop a tool which given information on the degree programmes, modules, students, lecture theatres, lecturers as well as some additional constraints (e.g. no Wednesday afternoon lectures) and preferences (e.g. practicals directly after lectures), constructs suitable timetables

11. Research Projects
These are aimed at students who achieve more than 60 in the second year
Those with more than 75 in the second year will be expected to undertake a project of this type

12. Research Projects
Students attempting this style of project will be expected to contribute to the formulation of the problem as well as its solution and implementation
Evaluation should play a key role, offering considerable scope for the exercise of critical judgement, placing the contribution fully in the context of related work, in addition to evaluating the choices made, and the quality of the product produced

13. Example Research Project I
Adaptive Binarisation of Scanned Documents
Before attempting to recognise the text, the foreground (printed information) must be separated from the background (paper)
In modern documents this is usually a case of separating black (printed information) from white (paper). In historical/rare documents, however,  the paper has decayed and its colour is not uniform, […]
This project will require the review, implementation and comparison of two or three of the most prominent adaptive thresholding algorithms in the context of historical documents

14. Example Research Project II
Processor scheduling with energy concern
Energy is a precious resources which should be scheduled for use carefully. However, energy reduction and performance are two conflicting goals; in general, the more available energy is the better the performance can be achieved
The scheduling algorithm has to determine the speed at which the processor should run at every time unit
The aim of the project is to evaluate some of these strategies. This includes implementing several strategies and compare their performance by carrying out some experiments

15. Specifying Your Own Project
Some members of staff are prepared to supervise projects specified by students themselves (so called SSP projects)
If you wish to do this you must obtain an agreement of such a member of staff
The project must be classified as of the type appropriate to you (i.e., your programme, average mark, etc.)

16. Organisation
You are expected to work on the project throughout the year
Each project has an academic supervisor, who will give advice and direction, but you are expected to work largely independently
There are a number of review points throughout the year

17. Phases of Projects Research & Specification Design Implementation
finding ideas to build on; related work to put your project in context; fix specification
Design
planning the project; designing the software; planning evaluation
Implementation
building the software; testing the software; performing experiments
Evaluation
critical assessment of strengths and weaknesses; relation to other work

18. Assessment Written specification Design Documentation and Presentation
week 4 worth 5%
Design Documentation and Presentation
week 8 worth 15%
Interim Report - week 15, not marked
Demonstration of software
week 22 worth 15%
Dissertation
week 24 worth 65%

19. Information About Projects
The projects information website:
Your first port of call for:
Overview of project scheme
Guidelines on choosing a project
Projects offered by members of Staff
Announcements
Other useful information

20. Timetable to allocate a project
Mon 9 May, 2016
Staff proposed projects available
Mon 9 May – Fri 3 June, 2016 (Phase I)
Look at the projects proposed by staff
Staff available to discuss and allocate projects
Mon 6 June – Fri 17 June, 2016 (Phase II)
List of 10 choices to be submitted, if a project not allocated yet
After exam results are out
If you have chosen projects for which you are ineligible, you may substitute these choices

21. Making Your Selection - Phase I
Period 9 May – 3 June, 2016
Use departmental electronic system E-project:
Own project (SSP) – find & contact supervisor
Check staff profiles first: web, offered projects in E-project
Otherwise, find unassigned project, contact supervisor to assign it to you
Be fast: first-come-first-serve rule may apply
Browse through appropriate projects: use your programme and appropriate project type in the filter Strongly recommended

22. Making Your Selection – Phase II
Period 6 – 17 June, 2016
Applies only if you do not have project assigned in E-project
Mark TEN projects in E-project system
There are no preferences: you should be prepared to do any of your choices
No more than SIX may be of a given type
No more than TWO may be from a given Supervisor
Arbitrary selection out of your 10 choices will be done by the end of June

23. Remember Mon 9 May, 2016 Mon 9 May – Fri 3 June, 2016 (Phase I)
Staff proposed projects available
Mon 9 May – Fri 3 June, 2016 (Phase I)
Look at staff proposed projects
Staff available to discuss and allocate projects
Mon 6 June – Fri 17 June, 2016 (Phase II)
List of choices to be submitted, if project not allocated yet
After exam results are out
If you have chosen projects for which you are ineligible, you may substitute these choices

24. Any Questions? ?