General Comments

This section contains some general comments about different aspects of the projects.

Individual projects

The projects on this module are indvidual projects that are your own original work.

Equipment

There is no expectation that a student should buy equipment or software for the project. If a member of staff has suggested a topic which needs specific equipment or software, it is either because that is already available or the staff member has a budget to buy the required items.

There isn’t a central budget for the projects to buy any equipment.

We have to think carefully about projects that might use hardware. Since the pandemic, we have to consider what happens if there are restrictions on access to rooms or equipment. It is currently unlikely that we will have any notable restrictions, but the experience of the past few years has taught us to think about such problems. We will discuss any restrictions in relation to the individual topics.

Projects using the same technology

A supervisor might indicate that it is possible to have more than one student working on a given project topic. In that situation, there will be discussion about possible directions that could be taken so that each student is working on different aspects of the topic. These are individual projects and there will be no expectation that the work of one student will have an impact on the work of another student.

We do not run multiple projects for the same topic using the same technology. Sometimes it is possible to consider the problem with alternative technologies, e.g. different mobile platforms, but that would require further discussion.

Selecting projects

This is a significant module in your third year. It is intended to let you undertake a piece of technical work that shows what you can do at the end of your degree. It should draw on different aspects of your course. Done well, it can be a great portfolio piece, which you can discuss and enthuse about with potential employers.

However, some students think that this must be something close to a perfect fit for their interests. We’d like to reassure such students that this isn’t the point of the module. We suggest that you don’t search for the perfect project that is just “you”; it is possible that you won’t find it. Instead, we encourage you to look for projects that contain something that you think will interest and motivate you from late January through to May.

Whether or not you continue with the topic afterwards is up to you. For now, please focus on this as a module where you work on a problem, developing an appropriate technical solution to meet the project’s aims and that you can demonstrate, discuss and write about the work that you have done.

Programming languages

There is often no set programming language for a project - part of the early work on the project would be to evaluate what languages could be used and the identify which will be used and why.

For other projects, the language choice might be dictated by the context for the project, e.g. you may need to use a specific language to interact with a tool or simulation package.

Whenever possible, the choice of language is left as a decision for the student in consultation with their supervisor.

Information about MMP

If you are looking for information about the MMP modules, start by looking at the Blackboard module page. That will direct you to relevant information.

In addition to the Blackboard module, we will use the MMP website for managing information about project suggestions, project bids, project allocations and other details about scheduling demonstrations and providing feedback.

Questions

If you have any questions about this process, please contact Neil Taylor, nst@aber.ac.uk, the Module Co-ordinator for the MMP modules.