MEng projects 2012 week 10 update

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

2. 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

3. Key dates

4. 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

5. 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:

6. Title slide • Project title • Your name • Supervisor

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

8. 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.

9. More detailed introduction • Some more theoretical deeper background

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

11. 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

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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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!

17. Assessment First Report 5% Second Report 5% Technical Presentation + CV presentation5% 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%

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