Searching for a proper undergraduate project to undertake

AI Thread Summary
A physics student is seeking a research-oriented undergraduate project after being assigned a lecturer specializing in optics and electronics. The student expressed disinterest in a DIY electronics project involving Arduino and desires an experimental topic that could potentially lead to publication. The lecturer is open to suggestions and encouraged the student to propose ideas. The student has access to a multimeter and university equipment but is unsure about the feasibility of more complex projects, such as reducing bandwidth in tuning circuits. The discussion includes recommendations for industry-level technical journals like Analog Dialogue and EDN, as well as Maker resources for practical project ideas. The student plans to explore these resources for inspiration.
Zaya Bell
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Summary:: Searching for proper undergraduate project to undertake

I'm a physics student, and I was randomly assigned a lecturer that was specialised in optics and electronics. He gave me two topic options to choose from, one was optics, the other electronics. However, I didn't like the particular electronics topic, so I told him. It was on some diy project using Arduino.
But the thing is, I don't want that, I don't just want some electronics project that with time I could do at home as my undergraduate project. I wanted something research oriented, something experimental. Something if done well could be worthy of being published. I told him this, and he said it's okay, and I should get back to him on what I want to do.

So I want to ask for ideas here. I want ideas about experimental work that is feasible and within the capability of an undergraduate.

Please help.
 
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So it sounds like you didn't like the idea of a DIY project with an Arduino, right? Do you have any electronic equipment at home that you can use for this (voltmeter, usb-based instruments, etc.)? What magazines/journals/websites have you been reading while looking for ideas. Have you looked into any Maker resources?
 
berkeman said:
So it sounds like you didn't like the idea of a DIY project with an Arduino, right? Do you have any electronic equipment at home that you can use for this (voltmeter, usb-based instruments, etc.)? What magazines/journals/websites have you been reading while looking for ideas. Have you looked into any Maker resources?
I have a multimeter, and yes I checked some school website, and some other website. I got an idea of possibly reducing bandwidth of tuning circuits to increase the spectrum space but I'm not sure bout the possibility of an undergraduate student cracking that.
 
I'm not sure about journals though. Cuz I was thinking articles there will be too deep for me. Doctoral level, advanced research. And for
equipments I don't have, I could use the university's.
 
Zaya Bell said:
I'm not sure about journals though. Cuz I was thinking articles there will be too deep for me. Doctoral level, advanced research. And for
equipments I don't have, I could use the university's.
Yeah, for an undergraduate project, I wouldn't expect you to be reading technical journals at the graduate school level. I meant more like industry-level technical journals, like Analog Dialog from Analog Devices, for example:

https://www.analog.com/en/analog-dialogue.html#

And EDN magazine:

https://www.edn.com/

And for more fun, practical projects, maybe Makezine from the Maker community:

https://makezine.com/

:smile:
 
Rich information, I'm going start digging through.
 
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