How do I get a First in my Project?

Introduction
The final year project is a substantial piece of work amounting to one quarter of your final
year. In addition, it is a large-scale individual project, and many employers prize the abilities
demonstrated in the project very highly.
Gaining a good mark in your final year project is desirable therefore, not only because it will
have a big effect on your final result for your degree, but also because of the impression it
can convey to a prospective employer about your ability to work on a project of this nature.
So what can you do to maximise the mark you get for your project?
The first thing to say is that just producing work of an average standard will not lead to a first
class mark.
Presentations
Your oral and poster presentations should be presented to the highest and most professional
of standards, and the technical content should be faultless. Details are given elsewhere
regarding how you should produce your presentations.
Reports
Your reports should be correctly structured as detailed in the information on report writing,
and should contain no shortcomings. The report should give a full account of the project
either to that point in the case of the interim report, or the full project in the case of the final
report. Importantly, in the case of a report considered worthy of a first class mark, all
decisions should be fully and objectively justified in terms of the quality of the final result of
the project, and any experimental work should be fully, clearly and concisely documented.
In addition, the quality of presentation, style and English should be faultless.
Continuous Assessment
Whilst it is comparatively easy to focus on the various submissions associated with the
project, the continuous assessment element accounts for 30% of the marks for this module.
In order to achieve an exceptional mark for your project as a whole, ideally you need to
achieve an exceptional mark for the continuous assessment element.
As the name suggests, you are continuously monitored throughout the project. This is
supported by your logbook, the additional information you collect as the project progresses,
and a log of meetings kept by your supervisor.
In order to achieve this you are required to achieve consistent and sustained work of an
exceptional standard throughout the entire course of your project, from the first meeting in
week 1, to the viva at the end.
It is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security by the apparent length of the project. In
the early weeks of the first semester there is a tendency to relax a bit and think that deadlines
are a long way off, weekly targets begin to slip and the project as a whole begins to stall.
If you wish to get a first class mark for your continuous assessment you will need to maintain
your drive throughout the course of the year. You will need to meet or exceed targets,
demonstrating that you are constantly working at the highest level towards achieving the goal
of completing your project. More than that, you will need to show that you are taking
ownership of the project and driving it forward, possibly going further between tutorials than
suggested by your supervisor. However, this additional work, must be seen as incisive, well
judged and clearly focussed towards completion of your project, not just random and ill-
judged additional work.
It is not just the amount of work you undertake throughout the course of the year which will
get you a top mark for your continuous assessment but the way in which all the work you
undertake is clearly focussed on making progress towards your final solution. This work
should show a deep understanding of the requirements of the task at had and a drive towards
finding the best solution. This will then be fully and correctly documented in your logbook
such that your progress can be followed through in retrospect by your supervisor. Note that
you logbook should be written AT THE TIME. You should not write your logbook up at a
later date for the purpose of submission.
The Characteristics of First Class Projects
Exactly what you will be required to do will depend on the type of project you are
undertaking. The aim of this section is to give some pointers for common tasks to indicate
the level of achievement you will need to aim for in order to achieve a top mark.
Software Development
The following are the markers of a first class piece of software code:
Evidence of design of the piece of software- flow charts or some form of structured
analysis of requirements.
The transition from requirements to implementation should be clear and traceable.
The resulting program should be correctly structured, such that the flow of the program is
able to be followed by a third party. Programming conventions should be followed,
variables declared, and the program fully commented.
The testing process should be clear. It should be possible to follow through how the
program was tested, the results of these tests and how these tests demonstrate that the
program meets the original requirements.
Any modifications as a result of the original testing phase should be logged and the
process of testing and modification leading to the final version of the software should be
traceable.
Simulation
The following should be considered when undertaking simulation, and should be considered
necessary across all forms of simulation.
There should be evidence of design of the simulation and that the output of the simulation
is appropriate to the analysis being undertaken. For example, if you were simulating an
audio frequency filter circuit, and you were wishing to analyse the frequency performance
of the filter, then you should select a frequency sweep and specify and appropriate
frequency range to confirm the performance expected.
All simulations should be kept as separate files, and the results, comments and analysis in
your logbook should clearly relate to a named simulation file, such that at any point you
can review or repeat a simulation. Normally, for small changes an index number at the
end of the file name is the easiest way to identify different versions of a file.
Changes and modifications to a simulation should be justified and the progression
through the various simulations to the final version should be clearly documented.
Changes should display more than a trail and error approach to the modification of the
simulation file.
Text-based simulation files should be commented in the same way as software code.
Breadboard or White board implementation
The following should be included:
Design of the circuit layout using the templates provided.
Evidence of checking conformance between the schematic, the layout design and the
layout implementation.
Correct and neat layout of the board, correct usage of colour-coded wires for ease of
fault-finding.
Testing of the circuit and demonstration that the tests used are appropriate to the
parameters being tested. In the case of large circuits, the facility to break the system
down and test subcircuits should be documented. All tests, results and conclusions
should be documented in your logbook.
The process of error correction and fault finding should be clearly documented.
PCB Implementation
Many of the processes are the same as for breadboard implementation, the design should be
documented and there should be evidence of checking of the design prior to submission to
ensure that the artwork submitted conforms to the initial schematic.
Dimensions of all components used should have been checked to ensure that the correct
amount of space is available for them.
Consideration should be given to the physical layout of the board, positioning of
connectors and switches etc.
Design for testability should be evident- removable links allowing subsystem testing, etc.
These tests should be justified and documented.
Any modifications to the artwork should be documented and justified.
There are many other tasks you may be required to undertake during your project, one
obvious one is testing of an actual circuit. Hopefully, you can see from the descriptions
above, the types of activities and the level of consideration and achievement expected in
order to be undertaking first class work.