Capstone project help

Question

I really need to think of a good final project (one that I like, and one that doesn't make me look stupid). For the project, I need to find an advisor, I'm supposed to do research, and it's supposed to solve a substantial problem in Computer Science.

I asked a few potential advisors for ideas, one said I could do something about data mining (I don't know what I'd do about it and don't really understand it), another suggested security things like security in networks, security features in an operating system, mobile networks security, intrusion detection, etc. (that still seems like something super vague which I might not be able to figure out what to do for it) Then, someone said that maybe I could write a program for math teachers to use to generate random questions, for student tests. Besides making the questions, it should grade the test and tell what things the student needs to work on. I understand this. I know what I should do for it. But... what in the world would I research about? I'm supposed to write up some research thing, find some recent articles about it, etc.

What do you guys think? Is there some stuff I need to research about in order to make that program? Or should I go with the data mining or security and it's actually simplier than I think it is (if it is, I'd really like to know what it means, because I don't know what I'd be doing v_v )?

Answer 1

Some projects I've seen go by:

• static analysis
• computer vision
• path finding in games
• deformable body physics

All of these talked to professors before starting their projects. Talk to a professor who's research you find interesting. Most, if not all, want free help on their projects.

Answer 2

what is it that you like to do yourself? It is probably the biggest factor, otherwise you will get stuck with the project you have no interest in.

There are many areas in computational sciences such as physics and chemistry that a begging to be revised, be it languages or algorithms. Do you like to tinker with languages, getting to the bottom of numbers, making your programs go faster?

Visual computing is another area. Do you like graphics, visualizing complex data such as human body, fluid flow? may try that.

Want to make computer make decisions for you, to drive autonomous vehicles, or design programs for you? try artificial intelligence - it is very fun stuff . If you like mathematics, consider artificial intelligence as a possible tool to derive equations, proof things, etc.

look on websites of argon, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon labs and see what they are doing.you will find the field is huge for potential research. Find the one that sparks your interest.