Choosing a Project

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How to get started 

If you have no idea where to begin, don't worry! Here are some things to think about: 

1. This Course

   • Go back through this course website (and even our introductory course website too!) and through your homework assignments to identify which topics you had the most fun with.

2. Your Own Life

   • Think about areas in your day to day life that you'd like to learn more about or that you might be able to improve with a program that you can write! 

3. Your Introductory Final Project

   • If you took our Introduction to Scientific Computing course, take a look at your final project for that part of the course! If you liked that project, think about how you can expand on it using one of the advanced topics! You are welcome to build upon work you already have! 

4. Other People's Projects

   • The internet (and Github specifically) holds limitless examples of wonderful projects that other people have completed. You don't have to come up with everything on your own! Remember, if you use someone else's work, you are required to cite it, but we have no problem with building upon something you found online as long as you let us know!

Example Project Ideas

• Analyze real-world medical datasets to determine confidence intervals for drug effectiveness.

• Train a decision tree to suggest movies based on user preferences.

• Use optimization techniques to minimize conflicts in a tournament schedule for a sport or activity group you're involved in.

• Use historical weather data to predict future conditions probabilistically with MC methods. 

• Predict missile trajectories by modeling projectile motion and predicting impact locations under different conditions.

your project and the future

Another thing to remember is that one of the most common things to be asked about in interviews is the projects you have completed. Sure, you can tell the interviewer that you completed ET's Advanced Scientific Computing Course and that you learned a lot, but how do they really know that? It's always best to have a tangible product that you can point to and describe in order to demonstrate your understanding!! 

If you're interested in an internship, research position, or any other technical job at any point in the future, try to keep that in mind as you develop your project! You don't need to pick a formal or "professional" topic at all, but just know that the better you make your project, the further you take it, and the more thoroughly you understand it, the greater advantage you will have in future interviews! 

Having a hard time? Don't worry! 

If you are running into issues selecting your project or getting started with it, use your problem solving skills and resources to help work it out. 

1. Refer back to our introductory course website. We have lots of information on finding data sets, importing them into your program, navigating GitHub, and more important skills outside of basic coding that you might find you need in this project. Feel free to brush up on those topics at any time!! 

2. Ask AI. Using good prompting techniques, explain your goals to the AI model of your choosing and give it as much context as necessary. Not only can AI help with idea generation, but it can also help you outline steps and make connections between topics. If you use AI, please make note of that in your final submission, but you will not be penalized for its usage!

3. Watch YouTube videos. There are so many people out there who have such valuable expertise and choose to share it freely on YouTube! Don't underestimate what you can find online, especially when it comes to help with Computer Science problems, which are posted about frequently!! 

4. Consult our ET Team. While we won't have personal expertise or answer keys for the personal project you choose to do, we are always here to brainstorm and trouble shoot with you! Feel free to email us for individualized help! We are also happy to pre-approve your project idea if you are unsure about it!