ENGINEERING

COLLEGE OF
COPENHAGEN

Department of Electrical
Engineering and
Information Technology
Lautrupvang 15
2750 Ballerup
Denmark
Tel.: +45 44 80 51 30
Fax: +45 44 80 51 40
www.ihk.dk

Guidelines
regarding final projects
and
integrated engineering practice
Valid for students doing final project in the spring semester 2006

October 2005

Contents
Contents.........................................................................................................................................2
Useful information on contact persons and web addresses...........................................3
Standard time schedule for completion of practice and final project ...........................4
Engineering practice and final project...................................................................................5
Completion of practice and final project...............................................................................6
The coordinators, the supervisors and the students responsibilities.....................10
Guidelines for writing the final project report....................................................................13
Guidelines for handing in the final project etc. .................................................................16
Example combined practice and final project description.............................................18
Example final project description .........................................................................................19
Regulations for final projects objectives, assessment etc. ..........................................20
Example: COPYRIGHT / PROPERTY RIGHTS CONTRACT.............................................22
FINAL PROJECT CONTRACT...................................................................................................23

Useful information on contact persons and web addresses.

Chief coordinator:

Lars Maack (lma@ihk.dk)

Head of department

Ib Christoffersen (ilc@ihk.dk)

Directors of studies:

Vagn Khler (vk@ihk.dk)

Henning Haugaard (hha@ihk.dk)

Department office:
Department office:

Janne Andersson (jaa@ihk.dk)

Jannie Elvekjr (jel@ihk.dk)

Further information can be obtained from: CampusNet: campusnet.ihk.dk.

Standard time schedule for completion of practice and final

project
The semester prior to the practice/project semester:
15th October / 15th March

Final deadline for registration.

The registration form is handed in to the office.
The EIT department verifies that the student fulfils the credits/subject
requirements to undertake the practice/final project.

st
st
31 October / 31 March

A list of the students and the assigned coordinators is made public in

CampusNet.

After examinations, but before the

semester begins

The student ensures that the practice/final project contract is

completed and delivered to the department office. (Engineering
practice and/or final project contract)
The student arranges the start date and location with the
practice/project company.
The secretary sends confirmation and various information to the
supervisor.

The semester in which the practice/project is undertaken:

st
1 semester week

The student starts the practice/project.

th
5 semester week at the latest

The coordinator meets the supervisor in the company.

Final project formulation and title is delivered to the coordinator.

Middle of semester

Midterm evaluation

After 10th semester week

Standard front page is being sent by e-mail to the students

After final semester week

The students should deliver 3 copies of the report to the department

office before 12.00 pm on the date stated in the semester examination
leaflet.
The same date the student e-mails the filled in front page to the EIT
department.
The department sends the original to the supervisor, who corrects it,
and sends one copy to the external examiner and one copy to the
coordinator.
The department sends the examination timetable, with examination
date and external examiner address, to the supervisor.

nd

or 3rd examination week

Project discussion at IHK.

The original report with corrections is delivered to IHK at the same
time and the supervisor receives the copy to keep.

Engineering practice and final project

Location within the course
The engineering practice is divided into three study modules; PRA1 which is 7,5 ECTS
credits; PRA2 which is 7,5 ECTS credits and finally PRA3 which is 15 ECTS credits. It is
recommended that PRA1 and PRA2 are undertaken on the 6th semester and PRA3 is
undertaken on the 7th semester combined with the final project. Half of the time (approx.
480 working hours) is used on the final project.
Students, who have approved practice from previous work or education, can omit
undertaking engineering practice and suffice with the final project on the 7th semester,
possibly combined with an optional study module.
According to the curriculum for the diploma engineer at the EIT department, it is also
possible to use the entire 6th semester for engineering practice but this option is rarely
used since it prevents the student from taking optional study modules on the 6th
semester which could be relevant for the final project on the 7th semester.

Prerequisites for registration

In order to be registered for practice/final project, it is required that the student has
passed all the compulsory study modules and in part has completed at least 180 ECTS
credits of the course (it is initially assumed that the student will achieve the total number
of credits in the registered subjects).
Policy of the department.
The policy of the department is that all students should make their final project in a
company and to get as many of the teachers as possible involved as coordinators.

Completion of practice and final project

Preparation
The student must register in the semester prior to project/practice semester. The
registration form is shown later in this leaflet and can be obtained from the department
office or CampusNet.
After the registration the directors of study and the professor in charge of coordinating
Final Thesis Projects will assign the student a coordinator.
A coordinator is a lecturer at IHK with appropriate experience within the field of the
project.
The coordinator informs the student in how to find a relevant practice/project place but it
is expected that the student does the work and it is ultimately the students responsibility
to find a practice/project place.
The coordinator will often have company contacts, which can be used. The student is
also welcome to use his own contacts. However, before disturbing too many
companies, the student should confer with his coordinator about which and how
companies it is appropriate to contact.
Companies, which do not already have contact with one of the departments
coordinators, are always welcome to contact one of them and provide suggestions for
practice and/or final projects.
Companies, which agree to receive the student, may write a provisional description of
the practice and/or final project. This description should be at most one A4 page long
and include the main points, which are shown in the examples found later in this leaflet.
If the coordinator can accept the description then a contract is made: Final project
contract.
The contract is shown later in this leaflet and can be obtained from the departmental
office, X 1.70 or CampusNet.
The secretary sends confirmation and various information to the supervisor.
The student arranges the start date and location with the practice/project company.

The practice/project period

The EIT department assumes that the company can accommodate the student during
the project period and that the company supplies a supervisor. The supervisor must be
an experienced engineer with proper qualifications. Only in special situations IHK can
supply a supervisor and only on application to the head of department.
The student initiates and ensures continuous contact with the supervisor. Its expected
that the supervisor spend 2 hours a week with the student.
Before the 5th week, the coordinator must meet the supervisor in the company in order to
discuss the project formulation with emphasis on the final evaluation of the project: The
project report and the final project discussion.
The coordinator, the student and the supervisor should agree upon the final project
formulation before end of the 5th week.
Midterm evaluation: In the middle of the semester the coordinator and the student must
meet and discuss the progress. The meeting can be at IHK or in the company.
After the 10th week, the student gets an e-mail from the EIT department containing the
standard front page for the project report.
Finishing the project period
The student delivers three copies of the report to the departmental office. At the same
time the students deliver the filled in front page by e-mail to the departmental office.
Assessment and evaluation
Evaluation of the final project is done in conjunction with a Project discussion.
The total time used for the Project discussion is minimum one hour. If two or more
students have made a joint final project half an hour pr. extra student is added to the
hour.
The Project discussion consists of the following points:
~5 min. The supervisor, the coordinator and the external examiner discuss their
first impression of the project (without the student).
~5-15 min. The student presents the project.
~30-45 min. Discussion of the project between the student, the supervisor, the
coordinator and the external examiner.
~5-15 min. The student leaves the room and the supervisor, the coordinator and the
external examiner assess the project. After that, the student enters the
room and the mark is announced and explained.

The form of the discussion is such that the student does not have to take the initiative in
order to obtain the best possible mark. It is natural that the supervisor, the coordinator
and the external examiner present their criticism to the students, e.g. points that require
further explanation or unclear relationships that require clarification. The student then
accounts for his understanding of the criticism put forward the discussion is thus
started.
To ensure all students have the same conditions, the corrected and marked report must
not be given to the student to look through before the discussion. This is because of,
amongst other things, the different ways in which the report can be corrected.
When marking, the 13 scale is used. A mark of at least 6 or above is required to pass the
project.
After the assessment, the report with the supervisors corrections (the original) is kept
by the Engineering College whilst the other report (the copy) is given to the supervisor.

Written statement
If the student requires a statement, the EIT department recommends that the supervisor
gives the student a written statement similar to a recommendation which is given after a
period of employment.
This should appear to be a reasonable reward after 6 months work and which may be
significant in obtaining the first employment for the new graduate.
Examples of statements:
1. NN has completed a good piece of engineering work.
NN has understood how to combine and use his knowledge from theoretical subjects
along with supplementing this knowledge to a considerable extent. Furthermore, NN
has been capable of supplementing the theory with practical measurements and has
constructed the necessary test setups such the projects idea could be
demonstrated.
The report is comprehensive and detailed but not quite as clear as could be desired.
2. HH has worked very diligently and objectively with the project and has been capable
of planning his work such that a completely satisfactory result has been achieved.
HH has not required much help and has, in addition, been an extremely amicable
person to work with.
HH has been required to become acquainted with the operation of an extensive and
complicated program on the basis of the source code and documentation, which is
neither complete nor particularly accessible.
HHs project report provides a satisfactory account of the work completed.

The coordinators, the supervisors and the students

responsibilities
The coordinators responsibilities
The coordinator guides the student in the choice of practice and/or final project. If the
coordinator already has project proposals then they can be offered to the students but
otherwise it is the students who must do the work in contacting companies.
Companies who on their own initiative will offer practice and projects can contact a
coordinator.
The coordinator approves the supervisor and the project.
Approval of the project is based upon an assessment of the projects relevance, time
requirement, difficulty and possibilities for evaluation cf. regulations for engineering
education (Nr. 527, June 2002, 1 and 4) and the regulations for examinations (Nr.
1021, 20th November 2000 3 and 9) look on page 20.
If the coordinator can not accept the supervisor the coordinator must contact the head of
department who decides whether to stop the project or to assign another supervisor.
The coordinator acts as a contact between the department and supervisor, especially in
cases where problems arise (illness, personal matters which concern the project work).
The Director of Studies should be informed if necessary.
If the supervisor is new and has no experience in assessing a final project this issue
must be addressed at the first meeting in the company.
At the midterm evaluation the coordinator must review the progress of the project. The
coordinator must guide the student with respect to work load and time planning to
ensure that the students finish the project in time.
The coordinator obtains an external examiner and administratively organizes the project
discussion, including delivering the grade paper and supervisors report (the original)
with all the necessary signatures to the department office.
The coordinator gets a copy of the report and participates in the project discussion and
the marking.
The supervisors responsibilities
Every project must have a responsible supervisor. In certain projects, which include
several specialized fields, it may be necessary to have several supervisors.
The supervisor is an experienced engineer with proper qualifications employed at the
project place.
It is a prerequisite for starting the project that the supervisor and project coordinator have
approved the project as suitable with respect to time requirement, difficulty and
possibilities for evaluation.

10

In conjunction with the student, the supervisor writes the final project formulation,
bearing in mind that the project should be able to provide the basis for an evaluation with
respect to the regulations for engineering education (Nr. 527, June 2002, 1 and 4) and
the regulations for examinations (Nr. 1021, 20th November 2000 3 and 9) look on
page 20.
The supervisor should follow the works progress with regard to assessing the students
abilities to plan and undertake his work since the final evaluation should be done with
respect to the course of the working process as well as the final result.
Its expected that the supervisor spends 2 hours a week with the student.
If the project includes the production of equipment or programs then these should be
demonstrated to the supervisor before the report is handed in.
The supervisor should correct the report and participate in assessing the work. The
corrected report is taken to the project discussion and the criticism presented to the
student.
If the supervisor considers it necessary to ensure a correct assessment of the project, he
may inform the external examiner before the discussion about:
1. Major errors or confusing formulations in the report.
2. Other information which is considered to be influential in assessing the report e.g.
delivery problems, inadequate equipment etc.
The supervisor is required to provide a written statement if the student requests it.
The students responsibilities
Prior to the starting the practice/final project the student should:
Hand in the form Registration for Final Project and Engineering Practice to the office no
later than October 15th / March 15th. Failure to do that will mean that you cannot be
sure to make your Final Project in the coming semester.
Take contact to the assigned coordinator as soon as the list of the assigned coordinators
is made public in CampusNet.
Under the guidance of the coordinator find an appropriate location to undertake practice
and/or final project.
Ensure that there is a description of the practice and/or final project, which can be
approved by the coordinator.
Ensure that the Engineering practice and/or final project contract is made and delivered
to the department office, X1.70.

11

If necessary, ensure that a copyright / property rights contract is made.

Arrange start date and location with the company.

When the final project has started, the student should:

Ensure that, at the latest 5 weeks after the project has started, a definite final project
formulation exists which can be approved by the coordinator.
Take contact to the assigned coordinator in case of problems.
When the final project is delivered, the student should:
Deliver 3 copies of the report and return the front page completed by e-mail.
Prepare a presentation of the project, for the Project discussion.
The same day, at the latest, as the project discussion the student should:
Return keys, equipment, components, literature etc.

12

Guidelines for writing the final project report

Three identical copies of the report should be made, glued along the spine as issued by
the department office, X1.70.
The department recommends that the report is based on the report template approved
by the department council. The MS Word template may be downloaded from
CampusNet. But in stead of the front page in the report template you must use the
standard front page sent to you by e-mail from the department office as the front page of
your report.
If the company has standards for writing reports you may agree with the supervisor that
you follow those standards.
Further requirements:
The report should be sufficiently detailed such that an engineer who does not have
special knowledge of the subject can understand it.
The report must include the original project formulation as an appendix.
The first pages of the report must be laid out as such:

Front page
Page 1:

Title, synopsis, etc

(see guidelines on the following page)
Copyright / Property rights contract if appropriate (see below)

The student should continually discuss the form and content of the report with the
supervisor, partly because the report is of great significance when assessing the project
and partly because different report writing traditions exist in different companies.
Literature
1. Report template, Approved by the EIT Department Council 29th January 2003.
2. Henning Isakson: Tnk og skriv bedre. Teknisk Forlag 1972
3.

Helle Algreen-Ussing et al.:

Rapportskrivning i projektorganiseret undervisning.

AUC latest edition

13

Guidelines for completing the front page and page 1.

1. The students receive an e-mail with a standard front page (synopsis keywords name) in Word format. All words in italics should be replaced with the relevant
information, e.g. title in English should be replaced with egg timeretc.
(S-no is NOT the same as student number).
2.

Synopsis should describe the problem definition and solution.

The keywords (max. 3) should not be part of the title.
The signature confirms that the report is available at the library. This may be
crossed out and replaced by a confidentiality agreement.
The front page filled in MUST be send to jaa@ihk.dk, no later than the project
report is handed in, as the information is used for our files and annual report.

14

Front page
2002-2
S-no ??
Final project for st. no. , name

Title in English

title in Danish

title in German

Keywords: __________________ _____________________ ___________________

Synopsis:
_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________
The undersigned accepts that the report is available at the Engineering College
library.
Student: name

Sign.

Project supervisor: name

Sign.

Project location: company

Project coordinator: name
External examiner: name

Sign.

15

Guidelines for handing in the final project etc.

The report
The student should deliver 3 copies of the report to the department office, X 1.70, no
later than 12.00 pm on the date stated in the semester examination leaflet.
The EIT department sends the delivered copies to the project supervisor, the external
examiner and the coordinator.

Manufactured equipment, test setups etc.

Should be returned, at the latest, the same day as the project discussion. This includes
e.g.:
Literature borrowed from the library, lecturers and electronic laboratory.
Keys.
Students who have completed their final project within the EIT department should return
equipment etc. labelled with their name, supervisor and project description to the
component store, X1.28. All components and data sheets borrowed should be returned
at the same time.
Students with final projects outside IHK should return items to the project supervisor.
Equipment etc. is the possession of the corresponding company.
Remember that the project has to be demonstrated to the project supervisor and if it is
opportune and practicable the project should be demonstrated to the external examiner
as well at the project discussion.
Consequences of late delivery of final projects
1. The latest delivery deadline is 12.00 pm on the specified date.
2. In the case of delays due to force majeure (illness, photocopier breakdown etc.), the
student should contact the departmental office as soon as possible.
3. If the delivery deadline is exceeded then marking and assessing the report cannot
be undertaken before the start of the following semester.
i.e. Mark allocation and possible diploma issue will be delayed by 1-3 months.

16

Registration for Engineering Practice

and/or Final Project.
This form is to be handed in to the department office no later than
October 15th / March 15th.
Name:.....................................

Student number: .........

E-mail: ....................................
ET or IT student: ....... Engineering Practice (write yes or no):
Subject wanted (Tell us what type of project you would like):
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
........................
Which study units have you passed or participated in during the 5th and
6th semester: ........................................................
Do you already have a project and if yes, description and company:
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
................
Which coordinator do you want (Optional):
...........................................
If you want to make the final thesis project in a group with some other
students, you should write their names and student number here:
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
................
Date and signature: ......................................................

17

Example combined practice and final project description

Practice:
A preliminary investigation of the companys existing equipment for the
continuous measurement of material thickness of spray moulded plastic hoses is
to be undertaken with the intention of improving the user friendliness. In cooperation with the companys employees, a proposal for the improvement of the
user friendliness should be prepared. The suggested improvements are required
to be implemented as part of the parallel / subsequent final project:
Final project:
Title:
User-friendly interface for material thickness measurement equipment.
Project formulation:
On the basis of the proposal produced during engineering practice, a
microprocessor-based interface should be developed for the improvement of the
user friendliness of the companys material thickness measurement equipment.
Number of students:
1

Supervisor:
Per Victor Christiansen MSc
pvc@superplast.dk
Project location:
Super Plast A/S
Double Bond Street 1
2750 Ballerup
dir@superplast.dk
Tel: 12345678

18

Example final project description

Title:
Control of robot arm for use in small satellites by PC.
Project formulation:
A hardware interface and software is to be developed for an intelligent robot
arm controlled by PC.
PC SW must be resident and control be in real time. It should be possible to
view/alter the status/parameters via software. Mass and power consumption
must be considered in the design.
MIL specification components must be used.
Number of students:
2

Supervisor:
Luke Skywalker
skywalker@starwars.dk

Project location:
Danish Satellite Equipment A/S
Episode 1
2750 Ballerup
jedi@starwars.dk
Tel: 87654321

19

Regulations for final projects objectives, assessment etc.

Objective and scope
To give the student the opportunity to under supervision to apply acquired
knowledge to a project, which, as far as possible, corresponds to a typical engineering
problem within the fields of electronic systems, telecommunication, software
development and system development.
The project corresponds to 15 ECTS credits and extends over a period of 16-20 weeks.
(Corresponding to half the workload in that period.)
Extract of regulations for examinations (Nr. 1021,20th November 2000, 3 and 9).
Assessment and grading
3 The examination form should take into account the objectives of the education and
ensure that individual assessments of the students are undertaken. The
examinations may be arranged as individual examinations or group examinations
as the assessment here must also be individual.
9

The final project is graded according to the 13 scale.

Extract of regulations for engineering education (Nr. 527, June 2002)

Education objectives and structure
1 The diplomingenir education should have a well balanced course which qualifies
the students to undertake occupational functions, both nationally and
internationally, where they:
1. Should transform technical research results along with natural science and
technical knowledge into practical application in development projects and the
solution of technical problems,
2. Critically acquire new knowledge within relevant engineering fields
3.

Independently solve occurring engineering projects.

4. Plan, implement and monitor technical installations and herein being able to
consider social, financial, environmental and working environmental
consequences in the solution of technical problems and
5. Are involved in a managerial and co-operative context with people of different
educational and cultural background.

Education content

20

4.

The diplomingenir education must be concluded with a final project of at least

15 ECTS credits. The project must demonstrate an independent critical reflection
over a topic approved by the institution.

Students doing their final project a second time

There is no special procedure for students doing their final project a second time,
however it is recommended that the student thoroughly discuss the situation with the
assigned coordinator in order to ensure that the subsequent attempt is successful.
Payment for supervision
Payment is not made for project supervision.
Property rights of the final project
Manufactured equipment is the property of the company, which has provided the project
suggestion and covered the cost of components and materials used.
The project results are normally publicly available and therefore may by utilized by
anyone.
If deviation from this is required then the interested parties should agree upon this in
writing at the start of the project, with the help of the coordinator.
The form on the following page may be used as a starting point.
The degree of confidentiality and period should be specified.
If a copyright agreement is made the coordinator must make an arrangement with the
supervisor on what to do with the coordinators copy of the report e.g. that the supervisor
gets it.
Please note: The original of the project report must always remain in the
department. This can not be overruled by any copyright and confidentiality
contract or any other written or oral agreement!

21

Example: COPYRIGHT / PROPERTY RIGHTS CONTRACT

With respect to competition, the project report may not be loaned to a third party for a
period of 2 years.

Date: ____________
__________________________
Supervisor

______________________
Student

_______________________________
Coordinator

22

FINAL PROJECT CONTRACT

Between
Company name + department:
Address:
TLF:

Postcode & city

FAX:

Email:

Company supervisor:
TLF:
FAX:
Email:
And the Engineering College of Copenhagen, Department of Electronics, by coordinator
Name:
Along with diplomingenir student
Name:

Student no.

Address:
TLF:

Postcode & city

FAX:

Email:

Hereby enter into a contract on:

Cross one box only:

Final project + Engineering Practice (PRA3)

Final project

In the period from:

(remember that the engineering practice period must be at least 5 months)

Salary in this period, kr/month:

(write 0 if no salary is paid)
Other conditions: Accident insurance is provided by the company
(arbejdspladsens lovpligtige arbejdsskadeforsikring).
Provisional final project title:

Signatures and date:

For the company:

The student

23

The co-ordinator: