Recently I got the chance to do the first milestone review for around 20 final year projects at VNR VJIET. I will leave out the specific details of individual projects. But the pattern was the same across teams.
Every team came with a PPT. Abstract, objectives, literature survey. Some of them even carried printed copies of all the papers they had read.
The ideas were good. The energy was young and lively. But something was missing. Most teams did not have the thought process that actually makes a project succeed.
So I shared a simple 4 point framework with them. Sharing the same here.
1. Be explicit about the outcome
I have heard of the 3 Ps - publication, product, patent. Ideally I would love a team to get all three. But each of these needs a different focus and a different success metric.
If you want a publication, focus on reading recent literature around your topic. Know the list of potential conferences and their dates. Maybe network with a few authors whose papers you read and liked. Your success metric is your own research actually getting published.
If you want a product, focus on market research, user study and feasibility. Know the key competitors of your product idea. Have a gut feel about why users would come to you instead of what is already there. Your success metric is getting at least your first 1000 users.
If you want a patent, focus on creating a big repository of ideas. Brainstorm a lot. Learn the patent filing process - it varies across India, US and other countries. Survey a few patents in your domain of interest, but do not read too many. Your success metric is the patent getting filed, because issuance of a patent is a much longer process.
Pick one. Then the work becomes clear.
2. Be aware of the risks
Every team told me the same thing - we are confident, we will do it.
Confidence is critical. But to increase the chances of success, you also have to think through the ways your project might fail. And then think about what you will do if that happens.
Ideally none of those risks will happen. But being prepared helps.
Take an example. Most of the projects were around AI and ML, as you can guess. The biggest risk there is access to the right dataset. If the dataset cannot be obtained the way you wanted, what next? You start thinking about synthetic data. Or even creating a new dataset yourself.
Both academia and industry value new datasets a lot. Many conferences have a separate stream for datasets and dataset papers. So what looked like a risk can become the contribution itself.
3. Be honest about the time you can put in
Final year is hectic. Internships, placement and interview preparation, job success parties, and a lot more. Suddenly the system starts treating you as an adult rather than as somebody's son or daughter.
So be very honest about the time you can invest in the project. It can be 4 hours a week. It can be 40 hours a week. Both are fine.
What is not fine is being unclear about it. Saying it upfront is a win-win for you and for your project guide.
4. Own the project
If you have even a hint of the feeling - there is another project I should be doing instead of this one - pause. Discuss it with yourself first. Then with your team. Then with your project guide. Keep discussing until you feel ownership or move to a different project.
Owning the project does not mean you like or believe everything about the idea. Owning means you agree to disagree, and once that is done, you align on the outcomes and put your best foot forward to reach them, as a team.
In short
- Be explicit about the outcome - publication, product or patent
- Be aware of the risks and plan the mitigation
- Be honest about the time you can give
- Own the project
The project itself matters less than how you approach it. Get these four right, and your final year project becomes something you will talk about in interviews for years.
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