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Group Mini-Project

Project Goal

The goal of the mini-project is to give you hands-on practice and experience in solving real-life problems.

The primary learning objectives and the main assessment criteria are:
> Good problem formulation.
> Principal way of solving problem.
> Good evaluation of solutoin.

The difficulty level and accuracy of your solution are secondary and carry only small weights.

Project Teams and Topics
> Project topics
> Project teams and selected topics.
> Project progress review meeting schedule
> Project presentation schedule
 
General Notes
> Form project team of 3 to 4 students.
> Choose a project topic from the project list, or propose your own project topic.
> If your propose your own project topic, please consult the instructor whether your idea is suitable.

> You may refer to existing papers for ideas of how to solve the projects.
> If you implement or modify existing algorithms, please cite these existing algorithms appropriately.
> You may use existing programs as parts of your solution. If you use existing programs, please cite them appropriately.
> If you use existing programs, then your achievement is determined by what you do on top of existing programs.
   Submitting existing programs alone amounts to no achievement.
> You should use Python so as to gain experience in Python programming. Programming in C++ usually results in more complex codes.
> GUI programming is not required. Use existing tools to serve as GUI if needed. Just indicate what tools you use.
 
Progress Report 0
Prepare a short report that includes the following:
> Project team name and team member names.
> Project topic.
> Brief description of the problem that your team proposes to solve.
> Problem formulation: Descriptions of the inputs, outputs, relationships and conditions.
> Problem definition: Mathematical statement of problem definition.

Problem Solving Guidelines
> If your proposed problem is too difficult to solve, then simplify it and solve a simpler version first.
> After solving the simpler version, try to generalize it to a more complex version.

Grading Criteria
> Clarity and completeness of problem formulation.

Upload your progress report in pdf format to IVLE CS5240 workbin "progress report 0" before 16 Sep mid-night .
 
Progress Report 1
Prepare a short report that includes the following:
> Content of Progress Report 0, with the initial problem formulation.
> Revised or simplified problem formulation, if any.
   Include both the initial problem formulation and the revised problem formulation to show the revisions that you have made.
> Inital attempt at solving the problem, with test results.

Grading Criteria
> Clarity and completeness of problem formulation.
> Principled way of solving the problem.
> Good evaluation of the solution.

Upload your progress report in pdf format to IVLE CS5240 workbin "progress report 1" before 7 Oct mid-night .
 
Progress Report 2
Prepare a short report that includes the following:
> Content of Progress Report 1, with appropriate revision of problem formulation, if needed.
   Include both the initial problem formulation and the revised problem formulation to show the revisions that you have made.
> Improvements made over the initial attempt, with test results.

Grading Criteria:
> Clarity and completeness of problem formulation.
> Principled way of solving the problem, including possible revisions / improvements of the solution.
> Good evaluation of the solution.

Upload your progress report in pdf format to IVLE CS5240 workbin "progress report 2" before 27 Oct mid-night .
 
Final Project Report
Prepare a short report that includes the following:
> Content of Progress Report 2, with finalised problem formulation.
   Include both the initial problem formulation and the final problem formulation to show the revisions that you have made.
> Finalized method of solving the problem.
> Test results, with quantitative evaluation.
> Reflection of what each of you has learned in the project.

Primary Grading Criteria:
> Clarity and completeness of problem formulation.
> Principled way of solving the problem, including possible revisions / improvements of the solution.
> Good evaluation of the solution.

Secondary Grading Criteria (lower weights):
> Difficulty level of the problem instance that you have solved.
> Accuracy or effectiveness of your solution.

Upload your progress report in pdf format to IVLE CS5240 workbin "final project report" before 10 Nov mid-night .
 
Projet Presentation
> Condense your project report into presentation slides.
   Describe only the final problem description, formulation, solution, and evaluations.
> Project teams take turn to present. Every project team member must present.
> Each project team gets to review other project teams in the same session.

Grading Criteria:
> Clarity of presentation: Is the presentation clear?
> Logic of exposition: Do the explanations make sense?

Upload your presentation slides in pdf format to IVLE CS5240 workbin "presentation slides" before your presentation on 12 Nov.
 
4 Nov 2016