The course project is a crucial component of CompSci 590. Students may work in groups of 1-3 individuals. There are five steps to complete the course project. All submitted write-ups must follow the USENIX format.

If you don’t have an idea for research project, please take a look at this list.

• Step 1: Project proposal, due Jan 29 11:59pm. This is a one-page write-up that includes the names of each team member, the overall goal of the project.
• Step 2: Project checkpoint 1, due Feb 12 11:59pm. This is a three-page write-up containing a high-level design, detailed description of background and related work, and a plan for team member responsibilities.
• Step 3: Project checkpoint 2, due March 19 11:59pm. This is a five-page write-up containing a detailed description of the design and preliminary results, as well as an update on team member progress and future responsibilities.
• Step 4: Project presentation, March 31, April 2, April 7 or April 9.
• Step 5: Project report, due April 14 11:59pm. This is an eight-page write-up in the same format as papers read in the course. The end of the report must include a detailed description of team member contributions.

We will use four criteria to evaluate a course project: importance, novelty, difficulty, and completeness. (1) Importance: The project should potentially address a significant issue, such as improving the performance of ML inference or training. (2) Novelty: The project investigates something that has not been previously explored. (3) Difficulty: The project should include a substantial, non-trivial programming component. Difficulty requirement is higher for larger teams. (4) Completeness: The project’s results should provide a complete answer to a research hypothesis.