Each student will make a 25 minute presentation on one of the topics listed on the course web-site. For bigger topics, students can work in pairs and make a presentation for 50 minutes. The actual presentation will last for 20 minutes, with 5 minutes allocated for questions. Double that for bigger topics.

The reading list for each topic is not binding. You are encouraged to read other papers under the same topic and incorporate them in your presentation. At the same time, the presentation should not be a sequential exposition of a number of papers. It needs to give an integrated view of the topic and overall should have a high educational value. Connect as much as possible with the topics that have been covered so far, either by the instructor in the course lectures or by students in the previous presentations. It is important to find the right level of technical depth for the audience, to describe the core technical ideas without going into excessive or overwhelming detail. You should identify at least one important technical aspect that can be taught in class in reasonable depth.

You are highly encouraged to include demos or illustrative examples. You can use code or demos from the Web. Be sure to give due credit whenever using external resources for your demos, slides or graphics, by citing the original source in small fonts on the corresponding slides. It is important that you "own" and that you are "in control" of the entire presentation. For example, it is not acceptable to use an entire set of slides from an external source "as is". Make sure that the slides have a consistent organization, level of detail and notation. Number all slides, to make it easier for the audience to reference them in the questions.

Practice your presentation, on your own and at least once in front of someone else. You need to make sure you can cover the material in the 20 minutes. It is a good idea to have an additional number of slides at the end that you can present in case you finish early. However, if your presentation does not end in the alloted time, you will be stopped, to allow for questions from the audience. This will be reflected in the grade.

Grading Criteria

• 50% Slides: Submit the slides on Blackboard, under Presentation, by 5pm on the day before the day of the presentation. The slides should be in a PPTX or PDF file. This is a hard deadline, no extensions will be given.
• 50% Presentation: The actual presentation will be graded based on clarity, technical depth and accuracy, adequate coverage of the topic in the alloted time, engagement of the audience and answers that demonstrate a good understanding of the topic. Practicing the presentation is very important. Presentations that show lack of practice will result in points being deducted from the grade.