Project Work B.Tech Final year - EEE, VTU

Project Work - EEE, VTU

The Project Work to be done during the final semester (8th sem) is a crucial stepping stone to enter the practical world. It takes you from being a theoretical engineer to a practical engineer. As we know, the world behaves not exactly as determined by equations. So, it is a challenge to engineer an idea into a reality, be it a design or a product. Project work is designed to put the student to a real-world task as a team member. It is not only a judgement of your technical skills, but also of your inter-personal skills. It is exactly this point of time, a genuine engineer is evaluated. It is not the marks that you score doing a project, but the skills you learned during its execution that really matters when you transit from 'Campus to Corporate'.

A Electrical & Electronics Engineer has probably the most versatile spread of topics for a good project. Right from Electrical machines to modern Electric Drives, from analog electronics to Robotics, from Embedded systems to Matlab simulation and modelling, from control engineering to automation,... there awaits a long list of topics to be chosen as the field for the project. Within each of these fields, lie thousands of real-life scenarios (project topics) to work on.

Although it is a bad idea to write the Project work process as a step-by-step procedure, I will attempt it to give you a rough picture of whole idea...

Steps for a successful project work:

Step 1 - TEAM UP: Form a team of people with a good attitude. Don't judge them using yourself as a model. It is essential that for a successful project, that people who make the team as ONE in spirit. It would be great to have people who can think in different ways. It would be great if they are one in spirit and are determined. Usually, a project team consists of 3 or 4 members. 

Step 2 - PROJECT TOPIC: With a capability to foresee the future and a will to engineer, the stage is set to perform well. So, make sure you choose the right topic for a project. Take guidance from knowledgeable professors, professionals and seniors (passouts, ofcourse). Analyse your team's capabalities and the resources available (time, money, material, equipment, team members).
Here, arises one important question. What are the good ways to do a Project Work???
  1) Project Work at College:
    - Requirements: A knowledgeable and willing Internal guide, resources or the ability to generate resources, a good knowledge base.
    - Advantages: Slower, Freedom to define the exact solution.
    - Disadvantages: Possible lack of support, lack of discipline, lack of access to costly resources.
  2) Project Work at a Company / Industry:
    - Requirements: Knowledgeable and willing External and Internal guides, resources or the ability to generate resources, a good knowledge base.
    - Advantages: Faster or time bound, discipline, more rational hands-on approach, more practical experience, exposure to modern techniques and technology.
    - Disadvantages: Strict atmosphere, lack of demo projects, Less freedom to define the topic.

Overall: I prefer "Project Work at a Company / Industry". Makes you a real engineer!

and I prefer "Project Work at a College". if you have good knowledge lecturer as a guide!

Step 3 - Problem Statement: Analyse the topic with good precision and define the correct scope and boundary of your project work. Also, gather knowledge about the topic through research.

Step 4 - Design: With the objective for the project set, determine the most optimal design solution keeping problem statements and resource constraints in mind. Also, plan the roles to be performed and the time plan. Good documentation is very essential at every step starting from this step.

Step 5 - Implement: With the mind with a good idea and the heart full of determination, start with the implementation of the plan. Work your plan, direct, control and coordinate well. Also, keep track of things going haywire (bound to happen) and tackle them with planning along every step you climb or fall.

Step 6 - Testing: Although most students don't bother about the reliability of their project, it is essential because "If something can go wrong, it will!!!". So, test your project if it meets the objectives set and fix it to make it bug free. Also, run small demos for the guides to take good inputs from them. It also builds your confidence in handling the project viva voce.

Step 7 - Documentation: With the project completed, good documentation is the most essential component to make it successful. Make sure you document all that is required. Keep the work - Clean, Simple and Refined. Good documention shall earn you some marks in the exam too. Also, follow the guidelines set by the university in preparation of the Project Work Report, Demo, PPTs and content CDs.

All steps done well, is work 99% done. The remaining 1% helps you to score better in your final semester. Make sure you split work equally while presentation. Be alert on what you say in viva voce. What you say might win you the war or make you lose it. 

All the best!!!