TIPS for Final Year Project

For more information on procedures and deadlines, contact your Project Supervisor or Course Coordinator or Head of Department. CONTENTS 1. GENERAL INFORMATION 2. PROJECT 3. PROGRAMME OF WORK. 4. SUPERVISION 5. COMPONENTS 6. INDUSTRY BASED PROJECTS 7. EXPERIMENTS 8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: 9. DEMONSTRATION 10. THESIS 11. DISCUSSION WITH YOUR FRIENDS. 12. DEADLINE FOR PROJECT SUBMISSION

These tips for final year project have been compiled from problems faced by some of our previous students. We hope that the advices given here would help you, when you are registering for project and /or when you working on the project. without any problems. Do not hesitate to send us your views and comments. friends are better prepared for the Final Year Project.
1. GENERAL INFORMATION A project is a very big assignment and NEVER underestimates the time and effort required to achieve your aims. You may have to register for a number of modules together with the project, plan your time so that enough time is devoted to each module and project. Do not neglect the Prepared by Mr. S. Venkannah Acknowledgements Mr. H Ramasawmy and Dr. D K Hureeram -1-

It should be

noted that a large number of our students do complete their project

Your

contribution may help us to enhance the list of tips, so that your

project at the expense of other modules or vice-versa. Do not register for project by default. The Project does not span over 2 semesters just to fill in the gap in the course structure. You have to be motivated and positive minded before embarking on project. You cannot withdraw after the deadline for withdrawal from modules, unless you have valid reasons, and the deadline for project submission is still a long way away. Nobody knows You better than yourself. You should analyze your past performance over the last few semesters and identify periods when it was poor. You should try to determine if there were any events that occurred at that time that could have a negative impact on your studies. If you feel that these problems will persist, then plan your studies accordingly. You might prefer to take additional semesters to complete the project/studies. You have up to 7 years to complete the B. Eng Programme. Taking more time to complete your degree does not mean that the CPA/SPA/GPA will be lowered. This gives you more time to breathe and assimilate the contents. You can still end up with very good CPA/SPA/GPA. CPA/SPA/GPA You are the sole driver and you should be able to decide when to re-fuel, add water, allow the engine to cool, do a servicing to reach the destination successfully and in good conditions. You will have signpost all the way on the roadside and it is up to you to make the maximum of these. Do not take a long break from project, even if you are not in a working mood or something is not working as planned. Go back to all your documents and reflect on your achievements and future actions. Think of ways and means that may help you to enhance the project. Jot down all points on a piece of paper and later review the list to see how valid they are. 2. PROJECT The Department may already have a list of Projects with potential Supervisors. In such a case, you will have to meet the Supervisor to get more information on the scope of the project. You cannot take a project proposed by a Supervisor to another Supervisor. In case you are interested in a particular field, you may propose a tentative title. You can contact any Academic staff of the Department for supervision but he will have to give his formal approval. Do not just take your title to the Supervisor and expect him to give all the details and components that will be required. You should have reviewed some literature and designs and you should have an idea on how you are going to implement the project. The supervisor will ask you for all the details and how you intend to implement the project. This will show how motivated you are to Prepared by Mr. S. Venkannah Acknowledgements Mr. H Ramasawmy and Dr. D K Hureeram -2Poor performance in project can seriously affect your

work on the project. 3. PROGRAMME OF WORK. The programme of work (Gantt Chart) will allow you to plan your works over the allocated time to complete the project. You should consider and anticipate all the tentative work items that will have to be undertaken to get to the final results. Do not prepare a programme of work only to please your supervisor. Remember that in case you are not able to complete the jobs as planned, you will have to give reasons. Some work items can be carried out simultaneously. Review your programme of work from time to time and make necessary adjustments if required. If you have the right conditions, some work items may be completed earlier or there may be additional work items that have cropped up while performing the tests. 4. SUPERVISION A synopsis and a programme of work are very important. The objectives should be clear before you start your design and implementation. Make sure that you have all the information on the proposed project before you meet your supervisor/s. Meet your Supervisor/s regularly (at least on a forthnight basis) and inform him of your achievements and problems. He might not be able to solve all your problems but he should be able to guide you to tentative solutions or to the right person. Do not expect the supervisor to give you orders, you should take some personal initiatives but ensure that you are not diverting away from your set objectives. Do not take anything for granted, discuss with your Supervisor/s or any other person who is knowledgeable in the field. 5. COMPONENTS You should have an idea of the components, together with their approximate cost, that will be required for the implementation of the project. Prepare your list of components, together with all specifications and list of potential suppliers, as soon as possible and submit same to your Supervisor for approval and further action. Check if the components are available in the Labs and arrange for having the equipment/s on loan, if necessary. This will save you a lot of time as delivery dates for components ordered from overseas companies are uncertain. You may have to share the components with other students in case they are available in the Labs. -3-

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Discuss with your friends and prepare a timetable so that everybody has equal access to the components. 6. INDUSTRY BASED PROJECTS The students must have a University Supervisor along with the Site supervisor , if any. The students must have all clearances from the University and the Company before starting with the project. Once an industry based has been identified, your University supervisor should send an official request, through the Dean of Faculty, to the Company. And the Company should give its approval before you can have access to their facilities in connection with your project. The company must clearly state its involvement in the project, whether it will provide all the components or a model will have to be built at the University, etc There should be regular meetings between the student, the University supervisor and site supervisor to ensure that the works undertaken is to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. The approval of the company is required for the publication of any data related to the company. In case of confidential information, discuss with your supervisor on the way to proceed. 7. EXPERIMENTS Take time to design your experiment and review it on paper before setting up the equipment for tests. Equipment and sensor positioning must be given due consideration as this may affect the readings and results. Use alternative and cheaper materials to build small models, if required, to check whether your design is working as planned. Identify all the parameters that need to be measured and monitored. Remember to record all the details, measurements and assumptions of your experiments as these may be required later in your discussion or if something did not give the expected results. 8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: Proper referencing is important and shows that you have surveyed the different applications and designs properly before proposing your designs. Readers will have doubts in case you try to hide the sources of your information. Record all the details of the source/s of your information. As later you may need to refer to the documents again and also the details will be required when your are preparing your list of Prepared by Mr. S. Venkannah Acknowledgements Mr. H Ramasawmy and Dr. D K Hureeram

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references. Keep copies of all data sheets and manufacturers information on components.

9. DEMONSTRATION Whenever you are performing your experiments or tests, invite your supervisor/s or any other staff and friends who are interested in your project. This will allow them to see your progression and comment on the procedure and equipment/sensor positioning, etc. Your supervisor will also be aware of the amount of work that have been completed. Regular demonstrations save you a lot of questions at the end and also allow you to identify potential practical problems that could affect the proper functioning of your design. Question and Answer sessions during or after the presentation may help you to identify potential problems. Encourage your friends to question your design and procedure. 10. THESIS You do not need to wait for the last week to start typing your thesis. The typing can start a few weeks after the start of the project. Whenever you have some information, type and save it. The first three chapters deal with information that you would have already gathered in the first three months of your project e.g. introduction, literature review, problem definition, etcDo not worry about the length of the report and the number of chapters at that point on time. Give the draft copies of the first few chapters to your Supervisor/s as soon as they are ready. He will be able to read them and give his feedback on your works promptly. This will allow you to take corrective actions, if you are not on the right track, before it is too late. The Project Supervisor should read at least one copy of the draft the thesis before it is finalized and submitted as he has to give his approval. Your Supervisor is also involved with lots of other activities and do not expect him to stop all his other works to read your report and return it immediately. Do not dilute the report too much with basic information gathered from the internet and books as the persons who would be interested in your reports should already have a basic knowledge of the subject area. 11. DISCUSSION WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Organize regular meetings with your other friends working on their projects. They may also be facing similar problems and they can help you to set up the procedure for the design. They may also have come across information that will be relevant to your project. Prepared by Mr. S. Venkannah Acknowledgements Mr. H Ramasawmy and Dr. D K Hureeram

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In many cases the designs do not work because of wrong connection and this may be detrimental to your project. Your friends or supervisor may help you to identify the problems. Encourage your friends to question your design and procedure. Question and Answer sessions during such meetings help you to identify potential problems. Be professional, do not copy your friends design or report. Acknowledge the support and contribution of your friends.

12. DEADLINE FOR PROJECT SUBMISSION The deadline for project submission is approximately 4-6 weeks before the start of the examinations. The Course Coordinator or Head of Department will give you the exact date. Always plan your works so that the project is completed at least one month before the normal submission date. Remember that you cannot plan for unexpected events such as equipment breakdowns, unfavorable environmental conditions, late arrival of components etc. Extension for project submission is given, subject to approval by the Dean, only in exceptional cases and only for valid reasons. In case you have any health problems which prevents you from working fully on your project, inform your supervisor immediately in writing with all supporting documents. You will have to supply documentary evidence from valid health institutions such as public hospitals or institutions, SSR Center for Medical Certificate or other institutions acceptable to the University. Send your views and comments to enquiry_mech@uom.ac.mu

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