Final Project Guide

Each student will complete a final project in their area of interest and will present the results to the class.  The final project should showcase some verification and validation techniques on a new model (developed by the student) or use an existing published model.

Deliverable 1: Proposal (10%):

A minimum of 1000 (max 1500) word proposal of your project is due September 18, 2023 at 11:59 pm. Please also include (separate to this length requirement) any relevant citations (5-10 citations, minimum).

The abstract should tell:

• Model description: If creating a model from scratch, describe the model you wish to create. If selecting from existing published models, describe this model in your own words.
• What is the purpose of this model?
• Why is this model interesting for the scientific community?
• Mention at least three verification and validation techniques you wish to apply on the model. If you use an existing model of other researcher’s work, choose V&V techniques that have not been applied on this model.
• Implementation details: programming language, tools.
• No double dip if you want to use your existing model.
  • You need to clearly communicate any use of can existing model of yours along with its documentation (report, old model code, etc.).
  • Your need to apply at least three verification and validation techniques you wish to apply on the model. These techniques should be novel for this model.

Deliverable 2: Presentation (20%):

• Your presentation should be no longer than 20 minutes presentation + 5 minutes for questions.
• Please construct a set of slides in Power Point, or PDF, or any package of your choice.
• Draft slides are due at noon (12 pm) of the final project presentation day (check Blackboard for the actual deadline).

Deliverable 3: Paper 70%):

• Final paper describing your final project. It should be formatted properly as outlined below. Due Dec 8, 2023 at 11:59 pm.
• Model code (in electronic format along with auxiliary material) is expected so I can run the model when grading the paper. Data generated by model runs as well as verification and validation code should be provided also. Also, due Dec 8, 2023 at 11:59 pm.

What makes for a good term project presentation?

• Give a clear motivation of the final project,
• Explain model assumptions and main components of a model.
• Explain mathematical equations, rather than presenting all of the math.
• Discuss verification and validation techniques applied.
• Practice once, even if to your cat.
• Stay within the allotted time limit. You can always expand if needed during questions and discussion.
• Do not put too much stuff on any one slide, and use a large enough font.

Paper requirements

• The final paper should be no more than 12 pages and follow the ACM Journal Article Format (including citation format, table layouts etc.) located at https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions.
• Papers not following this format will lose point. E.g.: reference style, poorly formatted references, tables not formatted correctly etc…
• Must utilize and be relevant to material discussed in the class (i.e., must include some verification and validation techniques).
• Clearly describe the model details and discuss results
• In addition to the paper, the model code (in electronic format along with auxiliary material) is also expected so I can run the model when grading the paper.
• Tentative paper outline
  • Abstract: Summarizing the paper
  • Introduction: Discussion on the purpose of the model and verification and validation approached.
  • Background: What prior work has been carried out in your area of research
  • Method: A description of the model (i.e. How did you go about building the model and applying V&V techniques)
  • Results: Systematic experimentation with the model and presentation of model results.
  • Discussion and Conclusion: Limitations, generalizability. Summary of findings and future work.
  • References (properly formatted)
  • Appendix (if needed)