FYP information


Source: (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Feel free to propose a project on computing and send me an e-mail. Check my FAQ about how to conduct and engage in a successful FYP.

Fundamentals

For the FYP you must choose one option out of the following: 1. work on a phase (or more) of the software lifecycle (i.e., Requirements, Design, Implementation, Verification, or Maintenance); or 2. work with research. For the latter, you will have to detail which research methodology you will use.

You are expected to conduct a substantial computing project gathering background information from reliable sources and then present your results, where you will be assessed on oral performance (and answers to questions) as well as the writing you provided (the document).

And remember, check whether or not you require an Ethics Approval on your project (more information here).

You will need to make sure that you adhere to the dataset's terms and conditions for using the data.

It is also your responsibility to check whether you are complying with Aston's regulations on this matter and whether you are acting within the terms and conditions of the dataset and sources used as input. Very rarely the committee will grant you retrospective ethics approval - you may ask, however, you should have a remarkable reason.

Basic infrastructure

If you are working on a stand-alone solution I encourage you to write a GUI in Java/SWT or Qt (find information about these frameworks).

Now, if you decide on building a web-page, why don't you give a chance to a basic infrastructure such as Apache+MySQL+PHP using the WAMP server↗?

   Important
Download this How-To on how to create a simple application using WAMP



If you are interested in more modern infrastructure, why not use VM (suggested use of Oracle's VirtualBox↗), Docker Desktop↗ and Docker Hub↗? You can use all of this in combination with MS-VSCode↗ (Microsoft Visual Studio Code).

Furthermore, I suggest to use the W3.CSS↗ for creating visually attractive web-pages.

Unless you have a strong motive, I advise you not to work with any JS-based frameworks like Angular, React, Vue, Ember, or any other. They usually have a steep learning curve and unless you are already proficient in these frameworks, you will waste valuable time configuring and learning than working on your FYP.

If you want, access my GitHub repository↗ (especially the cyberaCTIve↗ project, which is MySQL/PHP based) for pieces of code that you could incorporate into your project.

As a final tip, work to improve your Time Management skills: reserve some 2 hours every two to three days (or more!) to work on this, and observe your deadlines!

FYP - kit

First of all, look the official documentation (and assessment criteria) in the corresponding BlackBoard module information available to your access upon enrollment in FYP.

Remember that there are videos explaining how to proper cite and work with the MS-Word and LaTeX templates in BlackBoard - it's strongly suggested that you look at those for learning how to do this in a proper manner.

Download the following items:

This is a general guide, it has to change and adapt to your own ideas. Check out other people's work and your peers as well for insights.