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Supporting our students by offering mentoring of industry projects provides real-world context and accelerates our student's understanding of engineering in a professional environment.
Mentoring a EEE-IXN project
We invite industry partners who have the capacity and ability to mentor a EEE student project to propose project ideas. Details on EEE-IXN project requirements and the level of commitment can be found below. If you would like to discuss any element of this please reach out to our Strategic Alliance Director, Dr Rob Thompson.
Industry Partner's journey
1.
Industry Partners (InPs) provide a proposed project brief aligned with the EEE-IXN taxonomy framework.
This will be reviewed by the module lead and matched with an academic supervisor.
2.
Meeting of industry mentor and academic supervisor, joined by EEE Strategic Alliance Director.
In this meeting, technical aspects of the project can be discussed and agreed.
3.
Industry Mentor and project student meet to discuss brief and expectations.
The student has 2 weeks to confirm to undertake the project. Following this, project agreements will be signed.
4.
Student undertakes preparatory work and reading.
Minimal engagement from industry.
5.
Project duration, the student undertakes the project.
During this period regular technical meetings should occur between the student and industry mentor.
6.
Industry Mentor attends University presentation.
This is followed by a handover where the student will provide a detailed explanation of the design and technical work.
What does a EEE-IXN project look like?
When considering to propose a project for a EEE student we have some aspects common to all projects, and other principles aligned with the EEE-IXN methodology:
Fundamentals of a EEE student project
All projects will:
- Apply principles of research design to an identified question, allow the student to select an appropriate methodology and be able to justify their approach.
- Allow students to apply, demonstrate and solidify skills and knowledge they have gained through their studies.
Students are expected to undertake work that has elements of originality, though there is no expectation to make new contributions to knowledge. Undergraduate projects will focus more on the application of knowledge and skills, whereas MSc projects will have a greater element of exploration.
Fundamentals of the EEE-IXN
The EEE-IXN aims to support students in undertaking the core requirements of their student project while receiving the benefits of undertaking this with industry context and supervision. To achieve this the EEE-IXN applies the following principles.
- Principles of a EEE-IXN project
- EEE-IXN project students are provided with an academic supervisor (department based) and a technical mentor (industry-based).
- Industry partners supply project briefs that are aligned with a taxonomy, defined below, that defines the technical area and application area of the project.
- Students interested in undertaking a project with industry complete a “Motivation tracking” form that assesses their interest in technical areas, application areas, and their previous experience and knowledge.
- Students are assigned IXN projects based on their motivation tracking form submission. The assignment of students is undertaken solely by UCL and will consider any prerequisites and desired skills stated by the industry partner in the project brief submission.
- Regular meetings (weekly or fortnightly) should be held between the technical mentor and the students, with the students taking the initiative to arrange calls and document the results. Most meetings are expected to be virtual.
- The academic supervisor will monitor the progress of students and project; they should ensure academic progression of the project.
- Both the industry technical mentor and university supervisor should attend the final project presentations.
- As well as academic and course-required project outputs the student should provide a hand-over document to the industry mentor that includes the final report along with a walk-through of any code, designs, or hardware. The industry mentor may request the student provides a presentation to industry colleagues.
- Formal assessment is always undertaken by academic staff following the relevant assessment regulations for the project module as specified by the university. IXN hosts and mentors can be asked for feedback, which can be used to inform the marking, but are not involved in the formal assessment process.
Student cohorts
- Undergraduate 3rd year EEE students
Project duration: 6 months part time
Projects should be independent, they may be themed for groups of 2 or 3 students where each student is expected to meet the challenge with an alternative approach.- Undergraduate 4th year EEE students
Project duration: 6 months part time
Projects should be team projects for groups of typically 4 or 5 students, each student will undertake a part of the project with elements of interdependence expected.- MSc projects
Project duration: 1 month preparatory work, 4 months full time
Projects should be independent, either completely individual and independent or individual elements of a larger challenge.
Outputs of an EEE-IXN project
In addition to any academic requirements student undertaking an IXN project will be expected to provide a handover to the technical mentor, this will include a copy of the final project report and a walk-through of any code, designs etc. this may be in the form of a document or meeting. The technical mentor may also ask the student to provide a presentation to colleagues.
Academic and assessment outputs
- Undergraduate 3rd year students
- Project proposal at the start of the project in October
- Progress reports, weekly one-page summaries
- Interim report at the half-way mark in December, 6000 words
- Presentation, typically in the form of a poster, video, or slideshow, in March
- Final report at the end of the project in March, 12000 words
- Undergraduate 4th year students
- Project proposal at the start of the project in October, incl. work package allocations
- Progress reports, written by each student in November, February, and March, 1000 words
- Interim report written by the team at the half-way mark in December, 6000 words
- Final team report at the end of the project in April, 12000 words
- Team presentation, typically in the form of a poster, video, or slideshow, in May
- MSc Projects
- Preliminary report, this will include background and desk research along with a work plan and any early results. This is used to track the progress of the project and the likelihood of success. Submitted at the end of June, 5 - 10 pages
MSc dissertation (final report), approx. 50 pages. Submitted first Monday in September.
- Preliminary report, this will include background and desk research along with a work plan and any early results. This is used to track the progress of the project and the likelihood of success. Submitted at the end of June, 5 - 10 pages
Technical areas
Projects offered by industry should align broadly with the research areas of the department to ensure good alignment with an academic supervisor. The following taxonomy of technology broadly defines the areas of work students will have competence to work in. We ask for all proposals to be matched with one or more technology areas, and one or more areas of application, this will allow us to match students to projects. (Other areas that you believe align with our work will be considered)
- Technology areas
Semiconductor devices
Quantum Devices
Optoelectronic and laser Devices
Solar Photovoltaic devices
Sensors systems (inc. wearables)
Computer vision systems
Radar systems and applications
RF and THz systems
Optical networks and photonic systems
Wireless networks and systems
Signal Processing
TCP/IP networks and Internet protocols
Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI)- Application areas
Smart and Immersive environments
Robotics & Autonomous Systems
Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
Health and Wellbeing
Sustainability and Green Technologies
Secure and Resilient technologies
Communication networks incl. 5G