Final Year Project Guide for Beginners

Final Year Project Guide for Beginners

Pro Tip: A well-planned project will definitely help students deal with unforeseen situations. The unforeseen situations can include technical challenges, sickness etc. We highly advise students to reserve 15% of the project time to deal with these unforeseen situations.

4. Final Year Project Topic Selection

You must evaluate what subject area you want to work in for your Final Year Project. Your Final Year Project must be picked from one of the modules you have studied as part of your degree, as you would be more familiar with the subject areas you studied.

You can look at all the min-projects you have done in your degree course and pick a subject area for your Final Year Project in a module you performed well. You must not select a project topic that is either too difficult or too easy. Your Final Year Project Topic must try to solve a real word problem.

Please see our detailed articles below for a complete guide on selecting a Final Year Project Topic. These guides are aimed at students who are either starting their degree course or are in their final year of the degree.

How to Choose a Final Year Project Topic

Final Year Project Selection Tips for Beginners

How to Select a Final Year Project Topic for Electronics

Pro Tip: Your Final Year Project Topic must be realistic regarding innovation. You must consider your skill level and the amount of available time you have to complete the project. You do not want to pick a final year project that is very difficult and requires much more work as you may not be able to finish it on time.  

5. Choose an Expert Project Supervisor

This is another important guideline and the Final Year Project Guide for beginners will not be complete without it. Choosing an expert Project Supervisor is key to successfully completing a Final Year Project. Therefore, it would be best if you chose a Project Supervisor who is an expert in the field you have selected for your final year project. Ideally, the final year project supervisor should hold a PhD in your chosen subject area and should be conducting further advanced research in the respective field. For example, suppose your degree is in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. In that case, your Project Supervisor should also be from that field rather than a project supervisor from the Mechanical Engineering Department.

You must also pick a project supervisor who is accessible and not too busy to give you guidance and time throughout your final year project. You must arrange project review meetings with your project supervisor in advance. A project review meeting will allow you and your project supervisor to review the project progress.

Pro Tip: Pick a project supervisor with whom you have the experience of working closely during your study and who is an expert in your chosen subject area. Some supervisors are busy and may not have time to guide you on your final year project. Therefore, it is vital to pre-arrange project review meetings with the project supervisors. 

6. Think Outside the Box – Believe in Yourself

Even if you have not performed well in your other subject throughout your degree course, the Final Year Project gives you the chance to enhance your grades. Outside-the-box thinking can help you solve your project problem if you are a top-grade or average student.

A student must believe in their ability to complete the Final Year Project. A Final Year Degree Student must devise a logical approach toward achieving the project objectives. If the student gets stumbled across a problem during the project, then the student must apply a rational approach to solve the problem. Out of the box, thinking and analytical problem-solving skills acquired throughout the degree course can help students solve the most challenging issues.

Pro Tip: The final year project gives students a great chance to improve on their final grade even if they have not performed well in the rest of the degree course. A good performance in the final year project will help students boost their degree results. We will suggest that students concentrate on performing well in the final year project.

7. Ace your Final Year Project Proposal

A student must write a final year project proposal and submit it to the project supervisor for approval. The supervisor must approve a project proposal before commencing any project work. 

The final year project proposal is your chance to tell your project supervisor the scope of your work and how you go about executing the project. Students must do a lot of background research and clearly understand the problem they intend to solve as part of the final year project. A student must put a lot of thought and effort into writing their project proposal before submitting it to the project supervisor. 

The final year project proposal must include the following aspects:

1. A clear and concise definition of the problem you are trying to solve.
2. The complete and precise scope of your project.
3. Background of the problem and any potential work done by others
4. A concise overview of how you would go about solving the project problem.
5. Practical applications of your solution and its positive impact on the industry.
6. A Block Diagram showing fundamental elements of your solution
7. A breakdown of the project into smaller and achievable objectives
8. A Gantt Chart that shows all the objectives and their timeline.
9. Details of pre-arranged project review meetings with the project supervisor.

Pro Tip: A student can write a draft of the project proposal and submit it to the project supervisor for pre-approval. A draft submission and feedback on the project proposal should allow the student to gauge if the student is on the right track and not wasting too much time. The proposal must also clearly detail the project’s scope, which should be realistic regarding innovation and timescale.

8. Effective Research and Practical Work

The most crucial aspect of any project is to try to understand what problem you are trying to solve. To effectively understand the problem and study potential solutions, you must conduct a thorough literature review. Therefore, we suggest you read 5 to 10 latest research projects closely related to your Final Year Project subject area. After reading these research papers, you will gain a high level of confidence after reading the latest research papers. In addition, you will have a better idea of how to solve the problem described in your project proposal.

If your project involves practical work, then you should start planning for the essential elements you need for this part. Planning can include training on the software you intend to use in your project. Your project may require a hardware prototype, and you may want to start working on this. You can begin identifying and procuring the components needed for the hardware design and develop the prototype with a good test plan.

Pro Tip: You may find it difficult to read the research papers as some use complex technical language. I would advise you to discuss aspects you do not understand with your project supervisor for better comprehension.

9. Final Year Project Problems and Essential Break

You may encounter one or more problems during your Final Year Project execution. The problem you get stuck on can be related to a hardware design, PCB design or circuit analysis. The problem may also be related to a software application where you have to implement a particular feature but find it hard to get it to work.

A student must employ effective problem-solving techniques to solve the problems encountered during the Final Year Project. A logical approach should be applied in finding the solution to the problem. The student would have learnt valuable problem-solving skills throughout their degree studies.

Sometimes it helps to take a break to clear your mind off and not think about the problem. You should look at the problem with a clear mindset and break it down into smaller chunks to solve it effectively.

If you have already spent enough time on the problem and have looked at all the possible options to solve the problem but still cannot find the solution, then you must contact your project supervisor for guidance. During your meeting with the project supervisor, you must clearly explain the problem and all the steps you have taken to solve it. Your project supervisor will then be able to guide you in solving the problem by giving you practical hints.

Pro Tip: You must take the initiative to solve the problems you encounter, as this will help you gain confidence in solving real-world problems. Problem-solving skills are crucial and are the requirements for all graduate jobs.

10. Time Management

You would develop practical Time Management skills as part of the Final Year Project. When you write your Final Year Project Proposal, you will develop a Gantt Chart. This Gantt Chart will contain a timeline for your entire project, from the start to the end.

It would be best if you tried to keep your Final Year Project on schedule by continually reviewing the timeline defined on your Project Gantt Chart. If you missed the deadlines for a particular project objective, you should spend extra time to complete the task in parallel with the next task.

Please remember that employers highly value Time Management skills. In addition, time management skill is transferable to almost all careers.

Pro Tip: Please ensure you spend some time identifying the approximate time for each project objective correctly. An effective time management strategy can help you keep your Final Year Project well before the deadline. 

11. Concise Final Year Project Report

Whether your Final Year Project is technical or non-technical, the Final Year Report carries the most weight. You must write a concise and super clear Final Year Project Report such that a non-specialist should be able to understand the project problem, your solution and the outcome of the project. Remember that the Final Year Project report is a conclusion of your degree course and requires a high standard of academic writing.

The Final Year Project Report is the most crucial element of the Final Year Project. Your college or university may have a specific format that they want you to follow. You must ensure that you follow the pattern as closely as possible.

It is equally important that the Final Year Project Report you submit should only contain your work. If you have used anyone else’s work, you should cite the source and give them credit for their work. It would help if you also used proper academic referencing in your report, and your college or university may need a particular referencing style. 

Pro Tip: You may need to go through a few writing practice sessions to improve your report writing skills. Remember, if you cannot write a clear Final Year Project Report, then you will not be able to convey to your supervisor and external supervisor what you have done in your Final Year Project. Also, please note that you must give references for others’ work mentioned in your report. Improper referencing or no referencing can lead to penalties from the university. Improper referencing can lead you to fail the Final Year Project module.

12. Effective Conclusion

Regardless of the outcome of your Final Year Project, you must write an effective conclusion in your Final Year Report.

In case you have achieved the objectives of your project, then you must clearly explain the result of your project and how you think you have obtained your project objectives.

In case the project was not a success, then you should elaborate on what objectives you managed to achieve and what you could not complete. It would help if you gave valid reasons for not meeting the project objectives. The reason can be Time Management, Technical constraints, etc. One should also discuss future improvements that can be made to the project.

Pro Tip: The conclusion within your Final Year Project Report must be compelling. It would be best if you wrote the conclusion such that the reader of the report must be impressed by the amount of work you have put into the project regardless of achieving all or a few project objectives. 

Summary

In this Final Year Project Guide for Beginners, we have discussed various important topics that will benefit the Final Year Degree Students to complete a successful final year project.

A student can easily follow this guide to get familiar with a thoroughly defined process and tips to successfully execute the Final Year Project.

Firstly, we have clearly described the difference between a Mini-Project and a Final Year Project. This difference will make it clear to the students what is expected of them in the Final Year Project. Also, the more mini-projects a student does, the more confidence they will have in completing the Final Year Project.

Secondly, we have defined two main types of Final Year Projects. Theoretical and pure research-based projects are more suited to non-technical degrees. In contrast, the practical kind of Final Year project is suited for Technical Degrees.

The importance of proper project planning is emphasised with a focus on completing the final year project before the deadline.

We have also discussed the significance of selecting an appropriate Final Year Project Topic. We have also provided links for guiding students on how to choose a Topic for Final Year Project.

An expert and helpful project supervisor is also instrumental in the success of the Final Year Project. Therefore, a student must choose a Final Year Project Supervisor who is an expert in their chosen subject area.

Divergent Thinking

Notably, the students must think outside the box and believe in themselves to complete the project. Please remember that you can perform much better in your Final Year Project by following this guide, even if you have not got good grades in the rest of your degree courses. Therefore, you need to believe in yourself and follow this guide!

You must also write a concrete Final Year Project Proposal that clearly describes the problem you are trying to solve. The Final Year Project Proposal must include a complete project scope with a breakdown of the project objectives and timelines.

The students must also use effective research methodologies to identify potential solutions for the problem. If any practical work is involved, it must be started as soon as the Final Year Project Proposal is agreed upon with the Project Supervisor.

It is normal to face problems when working on projects; hence it is of vital importance that the students acquire project problem-solving skills to solve the problems faced logically. Sometimes it also helps to take an essential break and look at the problem with a fresh mindset.

It is equally essential that the students must manage their time effectively throughout the Final Year Project. It is easy to lose track of time when in the final year of the degree due to the burden of other degree modules.

Excellent Final Year Project Report

The Final Year Project reports are the most valuable piece of the report you will ever create as part of your academic career. You must write a thorough and concise report covering all aspects of your project. The report should be professional and must cite others’ work appropriately. The final year project report must also contain a compelling conclusion to demonstrate to the reader that you have command of the subject area. Finally, the conclusion should convincingly explain why the project is a success.

Hopefully, after reading this Final Year Project Guide for Beginners, you will have gained valuable knowledge and should be feeling confident about completing your Final Year Project. Please contact us if you have any questions.