School of Electronic Engineering
Postgraduate Programmes
Masters Project Information
To be awarded the credits for the project you must be registered under one of the following codes for the academic year that you are due to complete the project in.
- EE592 - Electronic Systems Project
- EE593 - Telecommunications Engineering Project
- EE594 - Nanoelectronics/Photonics Major Project
- EE595 - Image Processing & Analysis Major Project
- EE596 - Network Implementation Major Project
When registering for the module, please be aware that there are two submission opportunities in one academic year. However, any students registering for a project for their first time (the majority of situations) should be registering for August submission only. Only students who failed to meet an August deadline (and appropriately deferred) should be registering (for the second time) to submit in January, if this is their preference. You should also not register for the project unless you intend to submit in the current academic year of registration. Registering and failing to submit a project is analagous to not turning up for an examination and your academic record will be affected accordingly.
We say that the purpose of the project is to give each student the opportunity to:
- develop an in-depth technical competence in one or more advanced engineering or communication and information processing disciplines,
- apply basic and advanced knowledge of science, technology and software engineering,
- undertake structured problem identification and formulation,
- devise solutions, design experiments, and generate and analyse results,
- effectively communicate the outcome of their technical achievements to engineering colleagues,
- appreciate the context of their work and where appropriate apply the systems approach to design and operational performance,
- function effectively as an individual, or in collaboration with others (depending on the requirements of the project), towards project completion
You will notice the careful use of language here – ‘give each student the opportunity to:’ Of course to get the benefits you have to take the opportunity. Fortunately most do and a rewarding and fulfilling individual experience follows. Whilst your performance is your responsibility, a project supervisor, or advisor, is assigned to each project. The supervisor is very likely to be the person who will have suggested the project in the first place, and will have specialist knowledge and interest in the topic. At the upper end of achievement we would expect a completed piece of work at about the standard required of a conference paper or a short journal paper.
Because of the time allocated to the project, and our ‘lofty’ expectations, we assign a heavy weighting to the project grade when overall classifications are calculated. Each taught module is worth 100 points in this calculation. The project is worth 350 points.
Operation
Projects are carried out by individuals who may work alone, or in collaboration with colleagues where a supervisor advises that benefit may be gained by so doing.
Project grades will be determined on the basis of individual submissions. Joint reports are not permitted. Graduation is possible in March or November. The completion date for the project is linked to the graduation dates. For those wishing to graduate in November the project must be completed at the latest in the preceding August in accordance with the calendar. For those wishing to graduate in March the project must be completed at the latest in the preceding January in accordance with the calendar.
Note: Students registering for a project for their first time must register for August submission.
There are two project allocation periods: the first takes place in October/November and applies to part-time students only (submission in August); the second allocation takes place in February/March and applies to full-time students only (submission also in August).
Projects may not be carried through to a second allocation period. If a project is incomplete at the end of an allocation period, then incompletion, in the absence of justifiable cause, is recorded as failure.
Assessment
Thinking back for a minute to the purpose that we have given the project. If you produce an individual piece of work that is based on a clear problem analysis, scheduled your time to improve the likelihood of completion, applied basic and specialist knowledge, and appreciated the systems context of the topic, then you have to tell us about it so that we can assign a grade. So, each student is expected to make a presentation at the Masters’ colloquium, write and present a report structured in accordance with the report guidelines provided by the school (link here), and present for a discussion with examiners following submission of the report.
There is a great deal of personal satisfaction and professional enhancement possible if you approach the presentation of your work enthusiastically. The three occasions that we provide for this are what we think represent best practice whilst giving you every opportunity to convince us as to the quality of your achievements. To be honest, most people are frightened of the presentation part but are quite comfortable with the report and the oral. Having said that, this is an opportunity to lay a ghost to rest and rehearse a form of communication that is common in professional practice.
Project Allocation
The majority of the projects are proposed by academic staff from the school (see examples appended), some from industry, and occasionally from individuals who have a realisable idea that is consistent with the purpose of the project, and for which a supervisor can be identified.
If a student has an individual or external project proposal, they should approach the academic staff member most suitable to that research area. If the project is approved by the academic and an agreement of supervision arranged, then the student may continue with that project title (and refrain from submitting to the standard project list). Important: If you are arranging a project in this manner, this must be organised before the project choice submissions are due. This is to prevent a number of problems relating to lecturer refusal or students ending up with two project titles.
For those students taking the standard approach, a list is drawn up from the proposals of academic staff and an allocation conducted as follows:
- All full-time students will select a project in the February/March allocation, regardless of whether they began their studies in Semester 1 or 2.
- All part-time students will select a project in the October/November alloation, but may choose whether to do this in their first or second year. However, part-time students starting in Semester 2 should take a project in the October/November allocation immediately following their registration.
- Students are asked to select 8 projects and preference them 1 to 8: with 1 being the project most desired and 8 being the least desired. Students give 8 preferences and should be prepared to take any of the projects they have listed.
- Projects will be allocated in a "best-fit" approach, based upon the choices of all students. Students will be allocated a project from their required category of study.
- No ranking or priority of students will take place and for many purposes the project allocation should be considered random. The School of Electronic Engineering reserves the right to allocate projects as it deems fit.
Project Final Report
Two copies of the final report should be bound and submitted (in hardcopy) to the project supervisor, by the specified deadline. The cover sheets for these reports can be obtained from the School secretary. Students may also find it useful to print a third copy for their own reference.
A template for the project final report has been provided. All students should read the information within the template document. Additonally, the template structure and style should be adhered to. Particular attention should be paid to the details regarding plagairism - all projects are analysed in this regard and serious academic consequences may occur.
