Final Year Project Logbook

This was my personal scheduling system using a Gantt Chart for the final report. For the most part, I stayed on schedule as I was quite motivated to work on the project. I understood the importance of time management and tried my best to keep on track.  This is my final post in my logbook bringing the total number of entries to 88 over the duration of the academic year. 

With my report, poster, logbook link and video presentation submitted I proudly reflect on my work. I believe I tried my best and gave every element 100%. There were several challenges along the way and sometimes it felt like time was getting away from me. Nevertheless, I stayed motivated throughout and I hope the final grade represents all of my hard work. Much of my personality is in each aspect from the colour scheme of the poster, to the casual entries in my logbook and over-the-top presentation, I really tried to engross myself in the project.  Moreover, I would like to extend a thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Pemberton, for her guidance and reassurance that helped boost my work to the level it is now. 

Tonight my supervisor, Dr. Pemberton, gave us the opportunity to share our presentations for critiquing. I knew I wanted to utilize this chance to gather feedback so I worked relentlessly over the past few days to perfect my slides. Overall, the feedback I received from my fellow colleagues was overwhelmingly positive which helped boost my confidence. I used a website called Genial.ly to create my presentation slides as opposed to PowerPoint because I liked the features and transitions they offered. It really helped my presentation look well put together and polished. I must admit I spent quite a bit of time colour coordinating each chapter and trying to make it visually appealing.  A director from ARC was also present and commended my attention to detail and agreed with the feedback I received from CARIRI. (Yet another organization validating my work!) In terms of the poster, I was advised to replace massive chunks of words with charts/tables so it would not be too wordy. I was a ...

I am so relieved! Such a crucial aspect of my degree has been completed at last. Upon reflecting on the time spent on this final report, I can truly say I tried my best, especially when considering the other commitments, projects and assignments I had. It was a bit of a challenge to balance everything but I hope my dedication and hard work pay off. I really put a lot of myself and personality in my report as I am a very detailed person hence my report had citations and references where possible to justify everything I did. I even took the time and effort to make my own company logo and reach out to experts in the field. I went out of my comfort zone and tried to tackle financial analysis components, all with the hopes of creating a well-rounded manufacturing plan. I am confident that my report is of a superb standard and I hope my examiners and moderator feel the same way. 

The deadline for the report is fast approaching and I am surprisingly very calm and I feel in control. I believe I have all the major components for my report. Over the weekend, I will make minor alterations in terms of grammar and phrasing. Formatting and proofreading are major objectives at this point. I am happy with the progress I made and I am confident in the manufacturing plan I was able to produce. I hope this would be well reflected in my final mark.  I am so glad I stayed consistent with this logbook as well. It saved me a lot of time and stress. For many of my peers, they are currently rushing their logbook entries but this logbook was very easy for me to keep up with and I found joy in making these (almost daily) entries. 

I had the pleasure of virtually pitching the manufacturing plan to Laura Da'Breau, a Senior Business Development Officer at The Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) accompanied by Jessica Ramoutar, a Marketing and Communications Professional and other business officers . The main objectives of this validation were to ensure that the manufacturing plan is of interest to potential investors such as CARIRI and to get expert opinions.  I was a bit nervous but I think the focus group went well and I am very thankful for the comments I received. 

 I received thorough feedback from my supervisor, Dr. Pemberton, concerning the final draft of my FYP.  With respect to the validation of the report, I was told to speak to the officers at CARIRI, particularly persons who specialize in delivering these services to potential new ventures or projects.  Regarding the financial analysis section, I need to do a Capital investment Analysis. Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Discounted Payback Period (DPP) and report the results in the conclusions and abstract.  CURRENT PLAN: I am slowly reviewing all the minor changes that must be made within the report then I will tackle the financial analysis and validation a bit later on in the week. 

 Today I sent the final draft of my FYP to my supervisor, Dr. Pemberton, for feedback.  I am hoping that not many changes need to be made but I am of course open to suggestions and will listen to what comments are made.  The only aspect I am a bit unsure of is the overall validation for the report so I am hoping to get some clarification there.