Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Final Year Projects
Dr. Jeyakesavan VeerasamyDirector of CS Senior Design Program
University of Texas at Dallas, [email protected]
Agenda
• Final year industry projects in CS & Engg @ UT Dallas
• What can you do in your college?• Preparing students for final year projects
Why industry projects?
• Real-world experience for students• University colloboration opportunity for
industry• It is like 3 month interview process to hire new
employees!
EE/ME projects
• 2 semester projects since students need to identify parts, order and assemble etc.
• Bit slower pace compared to 1 semester CS projects.
• We are finding it bit harder to find EE projects compared to CS – ME is reasonably new program doing capstone projects 1st time.
• Project cost: $13K
CS final year projects @ UT Dallas• Almost all projects are industry sponsored.• We had ~18 industry projects in Spring 2012 term.• Typically 4 students/team. • Industry pays $8000/project, so they expect results!• Industry mentor is actively involved
conducts weekly or biweekly meetings
• Faculty mentor has limited project manager role.• Companies of all sizes: 1 person business to MNCs.• Lot of repeat customers & students get jobs too.• Final grade is decided by faculty mentor based on
the project’s success and each student’s effort.
Industry projects: Process2 or 3 months before each term:• Soliciting projects from industry First 2 weeks of the term:• Presentation of projects to students• Students form the teams & indicate “favourite”
projects.• Project assignments teams• Kickoff meeting with industry • NDA and IP agreements (paperwork similar to
part-time employment)
Industry projects: Process …Remaining term:• Students write “Project Proposal / Contract” – typically use 3 milestones (~1 month each)
• Weekly meetings or conference callsEnd of term: Senior Design Day Celebration: – Presentations & Poster session– All local industry folks are invited (50 to 100
attendees)– Awards to best projects
Misc. notes• Hard to do remote projects with 100%
effectiveness.• Official warning (mid-term grades) given to
lethargic teams • Almost all projects are successful due to weekly
tracking & mentoring. Since students selected the projects, we do not need to push them!
• Students cannot graduate without a good grade in the project course
• Hire an intern vs. sponsor a final year project
More notes…
• We have a team of 4 people who work on soliciting projects in addition to our teaching duties.
• I attend all local technical meetings and promote UTDesign projects – I never thought I will work as a salesman in my life!
• Trust between colleges & industry is very high.
Observations…
• We have completed ~65 projects so far in the past 2 ½ years.
• When companies pay money, they are serious about projects – they push students! Students respond better too.
• Even average students perform better in project course!
• 4 credit hour course we expect students to work 10 – 12 hours per week.
Exception scenarios …• Pushy industry mentor – considers students as
“cheap labor”?• Too soft industry mentor• Big companies – weak/no technical mentor• Too big or too small projects• What if no one wants to do the project?• What if a student wants to build on a brilliant
idea on his/her own?• Do not accept “critical path” projects
What can you do in your college?• Start with simple industry projects• Direct solicitation of projects from industry/businesses• Service projects for college and local community• Tackling “Trust factor”: Use your alumni to get started• Track progress & ensure “reasonable” success?• Encourage a mix of superstars & average students in
each team• Project success & students’ work course grade• Charge companies for projects?• Use latest technologies:
– Smart phone applications & games– Use the cloud as the backend
Making students ready for final year projects
• Create passion for programming right from the start. Need to free them from “Memorization” habit quickly!
• Use the latest free tools in labs & make it exciting to learn:– TurboC++, NotePad Alice, NetBeans/Visual
Studio/Code::Blocks…• Have programming contents• Suggest a few extra projects in each course and
encourage more students to do them.
Making students ready for final year projects …
• Showcase a few successful projects for incoming students
• Highlight team-effort – every one may not know all the latest technologies.
• Encourage more students to work with industry (internships?) during breaks.
• needs additional passionate staff /resources
