Every year lakhs of engineering students are in a state of dilemma regarding what to do for a final year engineering project and finally end up doing mediocre projects of no relevance affecting their employability and career opportunities.
It is important to understand that doing a good engineering project requires a different mindset or attitude. Doing a final year project is different from studying and passing a subject in a particular semester.
A project work requires exploring or finding something new in the field of specialisation or branch one is pursuing. It involves looking at known things in a different way or creating new knowledge or use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate, new concepts, methodologies and understanding.
Go to library, read lot of books, magazines and periodicals, attend seminars, expert lectures, exhibitions and workshops in your area of specialisation during the course of your study. Refer other recent project reports in your area of specialisation. Go to the Google Scholar. Google is a good source for accessing updated information from every nook and corner of the world.
It is very important to choose a good supervisor for your project. A good supervisor gives you direction on what to do and what not to do. He helps you in planning and coordinating your resources and time.
The engineering design project is a set of steps that a student takes to go from first, identifying a problem or need to, at the end, creating and developing a solution that solves the problem or meets the need. The engineering design project starts when you ask the questions about problems that you observe. To find an idea for your engineering project, create a list of all the things that annoy or bother the people around you. Record this bug list in your Design Notebook. Mind map possible design problems, ideas, or areas of interest to you. Once you find an idea, describe the problem by writing a problem statement. Your problem statement must answer three questions: What is the problem or need? Who has the problem or need? Why is it important to solve? The design project takes several months to complete and involves many different steps and phases along the way. To avoid being disorganised, engineers keep design notebooks, where they record every detail of their projects along the way.
Do Background Research: Learn from the experience of others rather than blunder around and repeat their mistakes. Identify questions to ask about your target and identify questions to ask about the products that already exist to solve the problem.
Network with other people with more experience than yourself: your mentors, parents, and teachers. Ask them: “What should I study to better understand my engineering project?” and “What area of science covers my project?” Better yet, ask even more specific questions.
To complete the requirements step of the project, you should write a project brief— a document that holds all of the key information for solving your problem in one place.
Create Alternative Solutions: There are always many good possibilities for solving design problems. If you focus on just one before looking at the alternatives, it is almost certain that you are overlooking a better solution. Good engineers try to generate as many possible solutions as they can before choosing one that they feel is the best.
Choose the Best Solution: Look at whether each possible solution meets your project requirements. Some solutions probably meet more requirements than others. Reject solutions that do not meet the requirements.
Develop the Solution: Development involves the refinement and improvement of a solution, and it continues throughout the project. The goals of development work are to - Make it work, reduce risk and optimize success.
Build a Prototype: A prototype is an operating version of a solution. Often it is made with different materials than the final version. Prototypes are a key step in the development of a final solution, allowing the engineer to test how the solution will work.
Test and Redesign: The project involves multiple loops and circles around your final solution. You will likely test your solution -- find problems and make changes -- test your new solution -- find new problems and make changes -- and so on, before settling on a final design.
Communicate Results: To complete your project, communicate your results to others in a final report and/or a display board. Professional engineers always do the same, thoroughly documenting their solutions so that they can be discussed and supported.
Writing a project report
Your project report should be written like a story, interesting to read and understand. Adhere to the University standard format or style. Use the right word to convey the right meaning. You have to develop the vocabulary, you cannot use general words.
The people who are going to read, interpret your project work are entirely different people.
Some points to remember while writing a project report: Acknowledge the source from where material or information is borrowed. Acknowledging the sources of reference enhances your own credibility. Describe the benefit to society of your project work. Ensure every word is correctly spelled.
Your project report is not based on its weight, volume or size. Be brief and avoid concentrating on too many details and minor issues. You have to balance the contents. Use easily legible fonts and use generous margins. Proof read your project report before you submit. A project report is intended to convince others that you have done a worthwhile project and that you have the competence to do it.
Ethics
Engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Engineering students, in the fulfilment of their professional duties should avoid faking of projects and deceptive acts. Engineers should acknowledge the source of their work. Plagiarism or any other act of copying from other sources without acknowledgement should be avoided. Getting your project work done by somebody else is highly condemnable act.
Once you complete your project you have all you need to get your engineering graduate career off to a flying start and get ready for an exciting career and employment opportunity.