My FYP Journey (FYP-1)

With my Final Year Project, FYP, Part One, coming to a conclusion on a positive note, I chose to share my experience on how it actually went. Aside from my path, I'll also discuss a few critical aspects to consider before deciding on a domain for your FYP and what mistakes to avoid. 

Moving forward in my degree, Computer Science, and approaching my final year, I began to worry about my FYP because it is the most important because it defines and summarises your entire degree; however, I was also excited about it because I will be facing new challenges and may even come up with an innovative idea that will actually solve an issue. Things changed once I finished my sixth semester.

I was perplexed; I had no one-of-a-kind, cutting-edge, and inventive proposal to generate all that enthusiasm for my FYP. The deadline for submitting the proposal to the committee was approaching, and I still had an empty hand. But at this point, my supervisor, Usama Imtiaz, came to my rescue and assisted me in developing a decent proposal that was neither original nor impactful. We made the decision to work on Sign Language translation and deliver it as a mobile application.

I was relieved when the domain and project were finalized, but I had no idea there would be a mountain of hurdles ahead of me in order to accomplish the project. To assist me in better grasping the principles of Machine and Deep Learning, a prominent teacher from my faculty, Shahbaz Hassan, took on the duty. He gave me all the resources I needed and even cleared up a lot of my doubts.

Meanwhile, the "FYP-Accelerator" program at 10Pearls Pakistan has just begun, and we offered our idea to them in the hopes that they will invest in our initiative through their knowledge and make it a sustainable project. They appreciated our proposal and accepted us into their program, where we were assigned two specialists to help us with the project. Being associated with the firm gave me confidence in my project and the adrenaline rush that had been missing returned. 

By the end of January, my application was half ready, the basic UI, but I was well behind schedule since I had to learn new concepts about which I was completely unfamiliar, which took up the majority of my time. I had done little actual work and had spent more time researching the theory behind the dynamics of the notion, which was intriguing, but learning is part of the process as well. As the presentation day approached, I needed to finish whatever was left in my application and deliver it. 

On the day of the presentation, I was completely dissatisfied with my application; the entire time, I kept thinking we might have done better. Surprisingly, the majority of the panel members were pleased with our work and gave us a well-deserved grade.

In conclusion, as opposed to the project, FYP-1 was more about myself. It aided in my comprehension of how to shape a concept, regardless of how significant a difference it creates, unless and until it benefits people around you. It aided me in developing the habit of constantly learning; no matter how much you know, there is always potential for improvement. Finally, it taught me not to become a perfectionist; while one may endeavor to have their work flawless in every aspect, I realized during the creation of the application that I was more inclined to make it perfect, which made me uncreative.