The Final Year Project gives students the opportunity to work on an extensive piece of work within the areas of electronic engineering and computer science.
The Final Year Project allows students to demonstrate their problem-solving abilities by applying a range of skills that they have acquired throughout their degree programme. It is a crucial element of all undergraduate degree programmes as it gives students the opportunity to undertake an extensive piece of work, in most cases solving a problem, in the areas of electronic engineering and computer science.
During the project, students will draw on knowledge, skills and experience gained from the taught modules taken during the degree programme to undertake a large scale and complex piece of work, under the guidance of a project supervisor. Once completed, students will communicate the achievements of the project effectively in a written report and a viva.
Most students will work on an implementation project, but there are other possibilities. In addition to projects suggested by a supervisor, students can suggest their own project and find their own supervisor within the School.
Implementation projects solve a practical problem. They may be hardware based, software based or a combination of hardware and software. An implementation project will involve all the normal stages of design and development of a system (the proposed solution to the problem): specification, design, implementation and testing
A research project explores a hypothesis through the scientific method. In the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, it must be based on technology and must be a genuine research task. It must be original work, for example a review of work in an area or a simple business analysis would not be an acceptable research project.
An industrial project would be one that is carried out in cooperation with an external industrial partner i.e. business. It can be either a research or an implementation project. There needs to be a named supervisor from industry as well as an academic supervisor from the School. Industrial projects may originate from contacts that academic staff have with industry or from contacts that the student has developed. It is the responsibility of the academic supervisor to ensure that the level of difficulty of the project is appropriate.
A user study is a research project that is focused on studying user behaviour in a specific context. It would normally include some implementation, e.g. building a prototype or an application as part of experiment design and setup, and an experimental evaluation of user behaviour in the emulated context of interest.
Electronic Engineering (EE) and Computer Science (CS) are both practical subjects, and potential employers are typically very interested in the project, as it is the key means by which you can demonstrate your ability to “do” EE or CS. The Final Year Project is an exciting opportunity which gives students a real insight into the world of research and industry by giving them the opportunity to solve a real-world problem and in some cases, work with external businesses in the process. In addition to technical skills, the project also draws upon key transferable skills like communication skills, organisational and time management skills which are vital for a future career in industry and academia.
Find out more about studying computer science or electronic engineering at Queen Mary University of London.