Projects
Project Proposal Guidelines
Before you write up your proposal,
- send e-mail to the instructor with your idea, and
- sign up on the sheet that will be passed around the class on 2/23 for meetings on 2/24 to discuss it with the instructor.
Your project proposal should be roughly two pages long, and should include the following information:
- Group Info:
- List the names and email addresses of each member of your group. Groups should contain two people.
- Project Web Page:
- Include the URL of a web page which you will be maintaining for your group. This web page will initially contain your proposal, and will eventually include your final results, etc. We will be setting up links to these web pages from the class projects web page.
- Project Description:
- Briefly describe goal of your project (i.e. what research question(s) are you trying to answer?) and what metrics will be used to evaluate its success.
- Logistics:
- Please address each of the following issues regarding
how you will carry out your project:
- Plan of Attack and Schedule:
- How will you go about completing your project? Please include a week-by-week schedule of exactly who in your group will be doing what. We will not strictly hold you to this schedule (other than meeting your milestone, as described below), but it is important that you have a concrete and realistic plan. Identify what you expect to be the critical path in your schedule. Indicate how the work will be divided among your group members.
- Milestone:
- Indicate what your group plans to accomplish by the milestone due date. On that date, you will submit a brief report and give a presentation to the instructor describing your progress up to that point. Your ability to set a reasonable milestone and to meet this goal will be factored into your final project grade.
- Literature Search:
- What papers and other background materials have you collected so far to help you in your study? Are you missing anything?
- Resources Needed:
- What software will you need to conduct your study? Do you have a copy of this software already? (If not, how will you get it?) What hardware or machines will you need to run this software? Do you have all of the resources that you need to conduct this study?
- Getting Started:
- What work have you done so far on this project (other than writing up this proposal)? Do you have any questions or other constraints that are preventing you from gettings started immediately?
Please hand in a hardcopy version of your proposal on the due date (if we don't have class on that day, so you can drop it off at the instructor's office, or slip it under the office door), and also put an electronic version of the proposal (preferably in html) on your project web page.
Guidelines for the Project Milestone Report
Please write up a brief (i.e. roughly one page) report of your progress so far in your project. Your report should include the following information:
- Major Changes:
- Have there been any major changes in the goals or implementation of your project since your project proposal? If so, please describe these changes and what brought them about.
- What You Have Accomplished So Far:
- Describe exactly what your group has accomplished so far. If you have any results so far, please post them to your web page, and point us to them. (You do not need to include your results in this writeup provided that they are available on your web page.)
- Meeting Your Milestone:
- Did you meet the milestone which you described in your original project proposal? If not, then please explain why.
- Surprises:
- Have there been any major surprises so far in your project? If they were bad surprises, how have you managed to work around them?
- Revised Schedule:
- Describe what each member of your group is going to accomplish between now and April 30rd to successfully complete your project. If you are stuck on anything, please let the instructor know. (In fact, if you are stuck, please send the instructor email immediately rather than waiting for the instructor to read this report.)
- Resources Needed:
- Do you have all of the resources (e.g., software, benchmarks, modified simulators, etc.) that you need to complete your project? If not, then please explain how and when you will acquire these resources.
Please hand in a hardcopy version of your report in class on the due date, and also put an electronic version of the report (preferably in html) on your project web page.
