Final Year Project Manual
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KNUST, Kumasi,
September, 2012
Objective:
The objective of the final year project is to train the student in relating the theoretical knowledge acquired in
the engineering sciences in solving practical problem in some form under supervision.
Requirement
A project work on an approved topic will be carried out under the supervision of a member of academic
staff. The project topics cover a broad range of areas including experimental work, design and manufacture
of machines, development of software, computer simulation, conduct of feasibility studies and survey
research. Students either work individually or in groups depending on the nature of the project. The entire
project work is to be completed in one year (two semesters).
Assessment
The project will be assessed at the end of each semester. There will be two assessments. The assessment of a
written report and an oral examination or seminar presentation by the student or group of students in each
semester.
 Written Report:
70%
 Three assessors:
 Main supervisor:
 2nd Supervisor:
 Independent assessor:
 Each report is assessed as follows
 Contribution:
 Quality, Content and Presentation:
 Abstract:
28/70
21/70
21/70
20%
60%
20%
 Oral Examination:
30%
 Personal Application:
 Project development and Description:
 Presentation:
 Degree of Achievement:
 Oral Expression and competence:
 Mastery of Subject matter:
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10%
20%
20%
20%
10%
20%
WRITING AND STRUCTURE OF A FINAL YEAR PROJECT REPORT
The importance of writing good technical/project reports is emphasised, and an outline scheme is proposed
for use by undergraduates in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The purpose of each section of the
report is explained and a method for approaching the writing is given. It is hoped that by following these
guidelines students will develop good report writing skills and produce a good report of their final year
project.
1. INTRODUCTION
In addition to the analytical and design skills which are needed by the student to become a successful
engineer, a number of other skills, known as transferable skills, will be required throughout their career.
Amongst these, communication skills have been identified as being of primary importance. The ability to
communicate your ideas or findings to others is as important as the knowledge itself.
The purpose of a report is to convey information factually, briefly, and clearly. Brevity is important; a report
is not an essay. Clarity is achieved by subdividing the report into headed sections each with a definite part to
play. There is no single "best" way to present a report. However, in most organisations a set format may be
accepted. It will be in the interest of students that one particular form should be adhered to in the Mechanical
Engineering Department. The structure here is appropriate to any technical report, but may be modified
based on the kind of project to be reported.
2. STRUCTURE OF A REPORT
There are five main parts to any report, and each of these has a different purpose:
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Summary or Abstract
Introduction
Core or body
Conclusion
References
In addition there may be appendices attached to the end of the report. Below is a brief outline of each
section.
2.1 Summary/Abstract
An abstract is a condensed version of a longer piece of writing that highlights the major points covered,
concisely describes the content and scope of the writing, and reviews the writing's contents in abbreviated
form. In as few words as possible the abstract/summary, which will head up the report, lets the reader know
the subject of the report, where the information has been obtained, and the key findings.
Abstracts/Summaries are seldom longer than 200 words.
Types of Abstracts
There are two types of abstracts: informational and descriptive.
Informational Abstracts
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communicate contents of reports
include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations
highlight essential points
are short—from a paragraph to a page or two, depending upon the length of the report
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allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report
Descriptive Abstracts
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tell what the report contains
include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations
are always very short— usually under 100 words
introduce subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results
Qualities of a Good Abstract
An effective abstract
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uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand
alone
uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are discussed in this order:
purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations
follows strictly the chronology of the report
provides logical connections between material included
adds no new information but simply summarizes the report
is intelligible to a wide audience
2.2 Introduction
The material which you are about to present in the main body of the report must be set in context. Questions
which the reader will ask include:
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why is this work being presented?
where does it fit in with the World of Engineering?
how does it relate to other work in the field?
what are the aims and objectives of the project?
2.3 Core/Body
The core or body is the main part of the report and provide all of the results and discussions which someone
who wished to examine the work in detail would require. For example, a report on an experimental project
would include:
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theory
experimental method
results
discussion
However, a report on, say, an industrial visit would probably only have a single core section.
2.4 Conclusions
The conclusions should be a condensed version of the intervening sections giving the key findings of the
work. It should be closely related to the objectives which were stated in the introduction.
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2.5 References
References section of the report is a list of relevant texts as a source of information that reader may decide to
refer for better understanding.
2.6 Appendices
If there is information which is not of immediate use to the reader, or for some other reason is difficult to
incorporate in the body of the report, then it should be put in an appendix. Typical appendices are:
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long mathematical derivations
large design drawings (but key diagrams should be put in or beside the relevant text)
3. HOW TO BEGIN
Write down the headings of your report and note, briefly, what the content of each section is to be.
Start with the introduction. Ideally, you will have done background reading on your project before
commencing the work, visiting the institution, attending the lecture, etc.. If you have, you will certainly have
gained more from the experience. Carrying out the project will normally encourage you to read further into
the background literature on the subject. All of the information which you have gathered should go into the
introduction. It should naturally follow that most of your references are generated during the writing of the
introduction. Finish the introduction with the aims of the project.
The core of the report may now be written, with as much detail as is required for the reader to understand
everything which was done. Appendices are generated during the writing of the core of the report. The
conclusions will then wind up the report, by stating concisely the most important aspects of the results and
discussion. The conclusions are not new material. They are simply a condensed form of the earlier sections.
Ideally, someone who wishes to become familiar with your work without knowing the fine detail should be
able to do so by reading only the introduction and the conclusions.
Finally, the abstract or summary may be written. This is not new material either, and should be able to be
written by taking the key points from the introduction and the conclusions.
4. LAYOUT OF THE REPORT
The purpose of structuring the report is to make it accessible to likely readers. The purpose of layout is to
enhance the ease with which the reader can read and understand the report. With currently available word
processors it is possible to use different methods and features to enhance the report (e.g. bold characters and
bullet points). To bring about uniformity in the final year reports, the following are suggested:
Paper: the paper type and format to be used for the report should be international standard A4 paper size
(297x210mm)
Font size: 12-point typeface for all preliminary pages, table and figure captions, text, appendices, references
and page numbers.
Font type: Times New Roman
Line spacing: double-spaced
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Margin size: 4cm on the left and 2.5cm on the right. The top and bottom margins should be 2.5 cm.
Pagination: All pages must be numbered concurrently and centred at the bottom of the page. Each chapter
should begin on a separate page. Preliminary pages (pages before the main text) should be numbered with
lower case Roman numerals beginning with (ii) following the title page and centred at the bottom. Pages of
main body of the report should be numbered with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.).
4.1 Diagrams and Tables
Diagrams/figures and tables should be numbered and captioned to reflect the content. They should be
numbered according to their section and placed as close as possible to the text which refers to them.
Diagrams should be numbered separately as Figure 3.1, Figure 3.2, etc and tables as Table 3.1, Table 3.2,
etc. Diagram/figure labels should be places below. In the case of tables the labels should be placed above.
4.2 Equations
Equations should also be numbered sequentially, by section, and referred to in the text. Remember that long
derivations should be placed in an appendix.
4.3 References
References should appear in the text in one of two forms, depending on whether the author's name crops up
naturally, e.g.
According to Smith (1955) the cart comes before the horse.
or
It is well known that the horse comes before the cart (Saddler and Wright, 1923).
If the publication has more than two authors then the form (Baldwin et al., 1993) should be used.
In the reference section these would appear in alphabetical order as:
Baldwin, M, Turpin, E and Wilton, D, 1993, Long-Term Stability of Soap Films, Wetherfield Publishers
Ltd.
Saddler A, and Wright B, 1923, "Design rules for cartwrights", J Horse-drawn Vehicles, 26, pp104-190.
Smith, J.T., 1955, "Philosophical misconceptions", Phil Tran, 106, pp 23-24.
Edth, F.K., "About abstract writing", www.trans_data.org/info/abtract-00322.html, Date accessed:
22/04/2008.
Note that a book or journal has each word beginning with upper case; a paper title appears in quotes and
does not have capitals; and abbreviations are used for common words such as J - Journal, and Tran Transactions. The bold figures indicate the volume of the journal. Page numbers should always be noted and
given. References from the internet should include the site address as well as the path and name of
document. This should be given only in the references. The citation in the text should give only the
author/organisation and year. For example, in the example: www.trans_data.org/info/abtract-00322.html;
“www.trans_data.org” is the website, and “ /info/abtract-00322.html” gives the path and name of document.
The date on which the information was accessed should also be given.
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5. CONCLUSION
1. Good reporting is as important as good engineering.
2. The purpose of the report is to inform the reader.
3. Good layout helps the reader.
4. The abstract should be a self-contained guide to the contents
5. The introduction and conclusion should be sufficient to inform the reader of the main outcomes of the
report.
6. The writing of a report is a straight-forward exercise, which will occur naturally if the above guidelines
are followed.
APPENDIX 1
General Format/Structure of the Report
Title page
Acceptance/declaration page
Abstract
Dedication (optional)
Acknowledgement
List of Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of symbols (Nomenclature)
Chapter 1:
Introduction
Chapters 2 – 4: Main Body of Report (structure and Content depends on kind of work and should be as
prescribed by the supervisor). They may include Literature Review, Methodology and Results.
Chapter 5:
Conclusion and Recommendation
References
Appendix (if any)
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