14-829: Mobile Security

14-829 / 18-638: Mobile Security - Fall 2016



Course Project

Teams of students will work on a collaborative project for the duration of the semester. Students are responsible for forming their own teams based on common interests and/or complementary skills. Teams have the option to come up with their own suitable project topic, work on a project sponsored by an industry partner, or work on an existing research project with a CMU faculty member or researcher. In either case, student teams are encouraged to work closely with the instructor and TAs to identify a project topic. Each team will provide the following deliverables through the semester.
  • Project Intro Presentation: As with any research project, the team will start by doing a literature survey to study the related work in their chosen project area. The team will be responsible for preparing and giving a brief presentation describing their project area, the related work, and a high-level proposal to extend beyond the state of the art. Intro presentations will be recorded by individual teams. The presentation videos will be made available to everyone enrolled in the course for offline viewing. Videos (or video links) must be submitted by Sept 22, 2016 along with a copy of presentation slides for grading.

  • Statement of Work (SoW): Once the initial background and project idea is established, teams will work to properly scope their project and identify a set of tasks/milestones to target through the semester. Each team will give a brief in-class presentation of their expected project tasks and outcomes in a SoW presentation on Oct 11, 2016, Oct 13, 2016, and Oct 18, 2016 (maybe also Oct 20, 2016, if needed). In addition, teams will submit a detailed written SoW, also due on Oct 13, 2016.

  • Progress report: About three-quarters of the way through the course, teams will prepare and give a brief presentation to update their progress toward their expected outcomes, discuss any roadblocks or challenges faced, present any changes to the SoW, and give a brief demonstration if appropriate. The progress presentation videos will be made available to everyone enrolled in the course for offline viewing. Videos (or video links) must be submitted by Nov 10, 2016 along with a copy of presentation slides for grading.

  • Final Presentation: During the final two weeks of class, each team will present their final project outcomes, including a brief demonstration if time permits. Final presentations will be strictly limited in time, taking place in class on Nov 29, 2016, Dec 1, 2016, Dec 6, 2016, and Dec 8, 2016. As with other presentations, each team must submit a copy of their presentation materials for grading.

  • Final Report: At the end of the term, each team will submit a written final report detailing their project goals and outcomes. This report will have three components: a conference-style paper, a conference-style poster, and a demo video (all in formats to be specified in class). All final report components will be due on Dec 15, 2016.
Specific details of the team deliverables will be discussed in class prior to each deadline, and slide and report templates and examples will be made available on Blackboard.

Submission Instructions: All submissions should be made via Blackboard. For group submissions, at least one member of each team should submit on behalf of the group; if multiple group members submit a group deliverable, the latest submission will be taken as final. All team member names should be included on the first page/slide of each deliverable.


Warning: Students are expected to follow strict ethical guidelines during the course project. At no point should any malicious code be deployed or disseminated publicly. Please contact the instructor and TAs if anything is unclear or if you have any doubts.