1. MSc conference briefing Mike Spann Project coordinator m.spann@bham.ac.uk

2. Contents Project organisation Some hints presentations for the conference. Reminder about logbooks, meeting forms, risk assessments, ethics forms.

3. Conference - preparation We need to have a committee to organise the conference This will be organised by you and I will offer support when needed We need a conference chair We will organise another session after the exams to coordinate this

4. Conference - preparation You first need to select a conference chair who all of the other conference organisers will report to –The chair is ultimately responsible for the overall conference organisation The conference will be organised into 2 parallel sessions roughly for the computer and communications stream –The chair can delegate running each session to someone You will also need to select: –IT coordinator –Catering coordinator –Room booking coordinator –Web site coordinator –Timekeeper –Etc You will need to circulate a detailed timetable with an abstract for every speaker I will need to be kept informed on progress so copy me in to all emails

5. Presentation hints Everyone has a 20 minute slot. Speak for about 10-15 minutes to allow for questions and changeover A 15 minute coffee break is scheduled in the morning and lunch at 1pm is provided Make sure you know how to use the kit. Set up everything before you start your presentation. Make sure demos are slick. Check videos etc display correctly. Log on with one user account – don’t switch user. Don’t assume that there will be anything other than basic software available on the Lecture PCs Dress smartly Typically will have the following slides:

6. Title slide Project title Your name Supervisor

7. Contents slide Background Introduction Theory and scope/aim of your project (very important) Results and findings (very important) –Comparison between theory and measurements (or similar) –Validation Critical review of approach Conclusions/summary

8. Scene setting slide Something which grabs the attentions of the audience – use pictures or something similar. Need to explain why your project matters to the rest of us. Why is your project important?

9. More detailed introduction Some more theoretical deeper background

10. Aim of project To test the following hypothesis.... To design and test a.... To...

11. Completed work Literature review (IEEE, IET etc – lots of reading engineering journals) Built some equipment / modelled something / written some software Tested above items Understood how work contributes to the general subject area

12. Detailed results These are very important slides – must show assessors you have made real progress and have understood your project.

13. Summary This is an important slide – since you can mention again what are the important achievements that you have made in your project. Ask if they would like to ask questions

14. What are assessors are looking for? Evidence of individual inquiry: –A well thought out research question addressing something which is academically challenging –Good understanding of the background literature –A sensible scope of work and sensible methodologies –Validation of your work and critical review –Appreciation of the limitations of the approaches adopted Tangible deliverables Ability to answer questions That you are a competent engineer

15. What sort of questions will you be asked? What is the academic content of your project? What are the technically challenging aspects? How do you know your simulation/experiments are correct – have you validated them? Explain the terms in the equations you had on slide X What are the units on the axis? What is the uncertainty in your results?

16. Answering questions Take time to think about your answer. Pause for thought if necessary. Try to give clear explanations in your answer. The assessors are just trying to understand what you have done – or are trying to understand how much you know about the subject. Don’t start talking about something you are not 100% sure about. It is perfectly acceptable to say that you have not considered something because it was outside the scope of the project. Don’t say I did this because my supervisor told me to do it (and what do they know?)

17. Report Discuss with your supervisor the structure of the report. Look through some other research work (PhD or Mphil) to get an understanding of the structure It will take longer than you think to write up Let us know about any extenuating circumstances leading to potential delays in submission

18. Where should you be now? You should all be well into the practical work of your project –If not you must see your supervisor! You should be ordering equipment –You should all have project numbers for ordering –If not, you must go and see Dave Checkley (N206) with a risk assessment form signed by your supervisor

19. Key Dates MSc project conference day 30 th July –Ten minute presentations –Need to have an organising committee (after exams) Final dissertation Wednesday 3 rd Sept 2014 –See handbook for further details 12:00 noon