Talk to penultimate years about the final year project

1. Tuesday, 19 March 13

2. Been there; done that
What I learnt from the final project
Tuesday, 19 March 13

3. Who am I?
• Joseph Hallett
• Graduated last summer
• Won a prize for my project
• Linux security engineer for MathEmbedded
Tuesday, 19 March 13

4. Platform Independent
Programming
• Steganographic technique for writing byte
code that run on many architectures
Grab me afterwards if you want to talk
Tuesday, 19 March 13

5. How did I pick?
• I like security, steganography, static analysis
• Chatting with Dan about steganography…
• He showed me a paper…
• Asked if I could do a project on it…
• He said okay!
Tuesday, 19 March 13

6. What did I do?
• Mucking about with assembly and
steganography
Tuesday, 19 March 13

7. What did I do?
• New technique for writing byte code that
could be run on multiple architectures
• Replicated the existing work
• Extended it to a new architecture (XS1)
• Critically analyzed the steganographic bits
Tuesday, 19 March 13

8. What should you do?
• Look at something new
• Copy it
• Extend it
• Critique it
Tuesday, 19 March 13

9. How hard was it?
• Really hard
Tuesday, 19 March 13

10. How hard was it?
• …but the most fun
• Get to study what you want
• And in great depth
• And maybe do something new
Tuesday, 19 March 13

11. Any problems?
Tuesday, 19 March 13

12. Any problems?
• Make sure you use find the right tools
• I rushed… used wrong thing
• Compile times measured in days
• Thought about it more
• Did it in hours (using Radare2)
Tuesday, 19 March 13

13. Any problems?
• Don’t worry if something doesn’t work
• Steganography didn’t really work
• Make sure you know why
• And make sure you have evidence to
back you up
Tuesday, 19 March 13

14. Any problems?
• It is possible to write a thesis in five days
• If you don’t need sleep
• Have an infinite supply of caffeine
• You don’t mind becoming a zombie
• Editing is for wusses
• …don’t do it.
Tuesday, 19 March 13

15. Any problems?
• Don’t under-estimate the reading
• You will need to cite things
• Papers are a pain to organize
• Citations need to be consistent
• Google Scholar is rubbish for this
Tuesday, 19 March 13

16. Tips?
• Meet with your supervisor regularly
• They will tell you if you’re slipping
• They can point you in the right direction
• Not working on your thesis is fun
Tuesday, 19 March 13

17. Tips?
• Start early
• Little and often
• Set yourself goals
• Don’t let it build up
Tuesday, 19 March 13

18. Tips?
• Writing well is hard
• It’s my job and I still struggle with it
• Get the structure right first
• Edit it; read it aloud
• Read other peoples
• Know when to stop
Tuesday, 19 March 13

19. Don’t go mad!
• Have some fun with it
• Mine had multiple references to
the Journal of Craptology
• One about stegosauruses
• Hidden message on one page
Tuesday, 19 March 13

20. But once it is done…
• You are going to be proud of it
• People are going to want to read it
• Co-workers
• Each other
• Employers
Tuesday, 19 March 13

21. But once it is done…
• I got my job by talking to a guest speaker
about it and a problem I was having
• He offered me my job
• Job interviewers asked about it
• Potential PhD supervisors will read it
Tuesday, 19 March 13

22. And now I’m free…
• It is harder to get access to research
outside of university
• Harder to speak to experts
• You’ll miss it
Tuesday, 19 March 13

23. Recap
• Enjoy it
• Get on with it
• Do something you’re proud of
Tuesday, 19 March 13

24. Tuesday, 19 March 13

25. One more thing…
• Check after graduation if you won a prize
• Don’t tell your parents you didn’t
• …then let them talk you into skipping
the prize giving…
• …then finding you did win a prize
• They will never let you live that down
Tuesday, 19 March 13