MEEN Co-Op Guidelines
TO:
Mechanical Engineering Co-op Students
FROM:
Faculty Co-op Advisor (for reports): Richard B. Griffin, Ph.D., P. E.
RE:
REPORT GUIDELINES. RELATED INFORMATION and POLICES
Due Dates:
05-02-2007 for spring 2007 08-04-2007 for summer 2007
Table of Contents MEEN CO-OP
GUIDELINES ........ .... .. ....................................
RE:
REPORT GUIDELINES, RELATED INFORMATION and POLICES ............................. 1
Table of Contents..... ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Reports ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Work Experience ................................................................................................................................... 2
Research Paper. .................................................................................................................................... 3
Requirements ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Detailed Guidelines ............................................................................................................................... 4
FAQ ............................................................................................................................................................... 5
Items to be Submitted to Dr. Griffin. ................................................................................................ 6
Appendix A ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
GUIDELINES FOR ENGINEER ING CO -OP REPORTS ...................................................................... 7
SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS ....................................................................................................... 7
TECHNICAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS.... ......................................................................................................... 8
General Format: .................................................................................................................................... 8
Title Page:................................................................................................................................................ 8
Abstract% ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Table of Contents:.... ...................................................................................................................................................... 9
List of Illustrations:. .......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction- ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Body% ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Summary and Conclusions: ............................................................................................................... 9
R eferen ces - ......................................................................................................................................... 9
ADDENDUM ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................10
Sample Research Paper Title Page ....................................................................................................... 11
Appendix B ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................12
Appendix C ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................13
EXAMPLE OF AN ACCEPTABLE ABSTRACT
13
This handout contains several important points regarding logistics and directions for preparing and
submitting your reports. Note that the following comments, suggestions, and reminders are intended to support
the materials prepared by the Office of Cooperative Education, which are attached in Appendix A. The MEEN CoOp Guidelines document supersedes the guidelines in Appendix A. Some information will be repetitious to
students on second or higher work terms but please check through everything to refresh your memories and make
sure you have the most recent changes or additions.
Please make note that I serve as "Co-op Advisor" for reports and report-related issues. Our Undergraduate
Coordinator, Dr. Harry Hogan, and the staff in the Undergraduate Program Advising Office (Cathy Sperry,
Kim Moses, and Nicole Woodward) will continue to advise you on matters related to the curriculum, degree plans,
and other administrative issues pertaining to the co-op program. My key task is grading reports and handling
questions related to the reports. You can contact me directly by e-mail at rboriffin(6mu.edu or call me at 979-8459779.
Reports
Yo u s hou ld ha ve the " GU ID EL IN E S F O R E NG I N E E R I NG C O - O P R E PO RT S " (Attached as
Appendix A) with the packet picked up from the Co -op Office before leaving campus. The following items
are meant to supplement these guidelines for the reports and also provide additional information on other issues.
Any MEEN directio ns or guidelines supersede or override the more general guidelines.
Students may do either a work experience report or research report. Itwould berry opinion that the work
experience might be suitable forone or two terms, while the remaining terms it may be more appropriate to
prepare a research paper. The following suggestions will help you in preparation of the papers.
Work Experience
For a work experience report, you must focus on your activities while on the co -op assignment You
may identify several activities that you have done during your work term. I am not interested in a daily diary of
your activities. However, I suggest that you consider mentioning two to four activities in summary fashion. It is
important that at least one of your jobs should be expanded to include the engineering significance or
importance of that particular activity to the company or to the particular project you were contributing to. Such
questions as the following may be addressed:
What did you actually do? (Be specific and give details.)
- How did that fit into the bigger picture for the company or the project?
- What were the engineering aspects of the activity? (Testing, measuring, calculations, etc.)
- References should be included in this section. There should be a minimum of five references, with
at least two of them from the library or text material s. In other words, not all fromthe internet or personal
communications.
Suggestions
One common concern for students is that their tasks are either too simple or the company has such a
stringent policy with respect to the release of information that they really can not
10131006, rbgriffinCDLm.edu
2
explain very clearly what they did. In this situation, I would recons, nd a research paper. For topics, I would
suggest writing on something directly related to your work. For example, if you are working for a turbine
manufacturer, describe the development of a gas turbine engine. That way
the can stay away form e particulars of the latest or greatest version, but still cover the topic adequately. If
you are working for defense contractor, select some particular aspect of the project, for example seals, fatigue
characteristics, types of pumps, etc. Your supervisor may have suggestions and I will be happy to talk with
you about a topic. Another possibility is to choose a topic that you are interested in- wind energy, solar panels,
physics of skateboarding , etc.
Research Paper
For a research paper, my recommendatio n is that you choose a topic related to your work activity. It is not
a requirement to do that, and you may be passionate about a subject that is not related to your work. However,
if you are short on ideas, many of your supervisors will have suggested topics that you might write about or
you can call or e-mail me and we can discuss subjects.
If the company you are working for has strict proprietary/tra de secret limitations about what you can
write, please come to agreement with your supervisor about what you can write about (See above, under
Suggestions.). Also, you may work with me so that only I view the paper for the grade, and then destroy it or return
it to your supervisor. If there is a doubt, please contact me. Better six weeks before the paper is due than the
day the paper is due.
Requirements
A. At the end of the semester, you will send rT* the following: 1. letter of transmittal, 2. copy of yoursigned
report, 3. Co-op evaluation (yellow sheet), and 4. Employer evaluation form (blue sheet). A sample of
letter of transmittal is attached to this memo in Appendix B. Please address yo u r package as follows:
Dr. Richard Griffin
MEEN Dept 3123
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-3123
B. In addition, copies of yourwork experience evaluation and employer evaluation should be mailed to the
TAMU Office of Cooperative Education. Be sure to make and retain a copy of the report and related
documents for yourself just in case the others are lost in the mail. Submit addendum on-line. You do not
need to send a copy of your report to the Co-op office.
C. The posted due dates for each York term should be observed as much as possible. A report, or at least letter,
must be postmarked or e-mailed by the due date to be considered "on time". I realize, however, that
circumstances will arise that prevent the report being submitted on time. In this event, please follow
the procedures listed below.
10/31/2006,
1. Contact me by phone (979-845-9779) to get verbal permission or by e-mail
rbqdffin(ftrriu.edu. I have voice mail and you can leave a message of explanation.
rbgriffinatm.edu
3
2. Be sure to note in your letter of transmittal that me agreed to an extension and indicating the
reason.
a.
For spring and summer, the required submission dates are listed on page 1 of this handout
b.
If I do nothave a report or letter (e-mail) from you by the due date yourgrade will be lowered
by one full letter grade.
3. Then please be patient. Typically, all reports received (or postmarked) after the posted due date will
receive a grade of incomplete ("I") for the semester of the work term. These will be collected and
retained until all (or most) late reports are received, which may be a month or two into the next
semester. Once all or most of the late reports are received, another round of grading will be conducted
and appropriate forms submitted changing the "I" grades.
4. Also, don't forget that the responsibility for ultimately submitting a late report rests with the student.
You will not be reminded that your report is late or overdue. Grades not changed from "I" will
automatically be changed to "F" one semester later, as described in University policies.
5. Unexcused late reports will be penalized one letter grade for each week late.
D. Please encourage your supervisor to fill out the ABET related form that has been sent through you.
There is a separate letter about the ABET form and a requested completion date included in with the
employee and employer evaluation forms. This information is used in the College of Engineering
accreditation process. We are working on making this one form instead of two, but it may not be ready for
the up and coming co-op terms.
E. Your graded reports may be picked up from Ms. Dickens in room 324 ENPH, the semester following your
co-op term
Detailed Guidelines
A. Follow the format given in the Co-Op Guidelines pgs. 8-10.
B. Remember that the entire report should be summarized in the Abstract. The abstract should include What,
Why, How, and Results. Brevity is important generally 150 words or about Y2a page is sufficient. The
person reading the title of the report, the authors name and the abstract needs to be able to make a decision
whether or not he/she wants to read the paper or report. No mention of figures or references or page
numbers should be included in the abstract Sample abstracts are included in Appendix C representing both
extremes in terms of quality and detail.
C. Include page numbers and major subheadings in the Table of Contents. List the Figures and Tables in
your report Number all pages in the report, including those in any appendices.
D. The "body of paper" should generally be divided into sections with several descriptive headings and
subheadings. Do not use a single heading entitled "Body"H Make it easy of the reader, so she/he can
follow where you are going with your paper.
1 0 1 3 1 2 00 6 , r b g r i f f i n a t 3 m . e d u
4
E. Always try to include figures or tables on the same page or following page as the first reference to
them in the text. If for some reason the figure or table is not on the same or following page, then give the page
number in parentheses. This will be a tremendous aid to the reader and avoid excessive thumbing through
pages "hunting" for information. By the time it is found the point may very well be lost Also include the
page number for any specific information in any Appendix that may be referred t o in the main body
of the report. This of course implies that all pages in the Appendix should be numbered as well.
F. Use an Appendix (or several) to place information containing "excessive detail". This is admittedly somewhat
of a "judgement call," but simply try to be reasonable (put yourself in the place of the reader). All figures
or calcu lations should not be simply placed in the Appendix.
G. Each item listed in the References must be cited within the text somewhere. Note as well that every paper
is required to have at least 5 references and not all can be "Personal Communications" or web based.
Follow the format of the examples given in your Guidelines. List the references in alphabetical order or
in the order they are used. Examples follow and in item H:
... research has shown that rectifiers are neat (Hall, 1993).
According to Wooldridge (1992) the human brain is a machine.
Several studies confirm ... (H all, 1993; Wooldridge, 1992; Smith et al. , 1994; Jones and Smith, 1989). {note
separation bysemicolons)
H. An acceptable alternate method for citing and listing references is to list them numerically in the order in
which they are cited within the text. Follow the same format as the examples for listing the references but
number them accordingly. Use square brackets [ ] and numbers to cite them in the text (Ifyouare
using word, as most of us do, youmayuse their footnote procedure to place them at the end of the paper. the
procedure is to change footnotes to endnotes and change the identifying format to numbers.)
... research has shown that rectifiers are neat [1 ].
According to Wooldridge [2] the human brain is a machine.
Several studies confirm ... [1, 2, 5, 8]1.
I. The most cone n reason for a lower grade is simply either lateness or not following instructions!
Letter H is the method that I would reconn nd. It is the method most commonly used in engineering journals. I would
recommend using the MS Word footnoting procedure, which is found under Insert and References. It is easy and
works well. I have grayed the footnotes in to help you identify them You would notdo that in a report.
FAQ
1. Q. How long? A. The paper should be 10 to 15 pages in length, not counting
appendices.
2. Q. How many references?
Use the coil forme for acitation. Word's footnoting procedure works very well.
As you can see either system works wd L I here used footnoti ngrather then exkxC rig, so that you may see how it looks
10131/2006, rbgriffinCD ~m . e d u
5
A. There should be a minimum of five references, with a minimum of two library references. In other words no
more than three internet references fromthe minimum of five.
3. Q. Where do titles and figure captions go?
A. For tables the caption goes at the top, while for figures the caption goes underneath. This is the mostconi, n method
fortechnical publications.
4. Q. What font size and spacing should be used? A. Please use
font size 12 and double-space your report
5. Q. May I send my co-op report electronically? A. Yes, but you must either scan a signed cover page
or send a signed cover page by post.
6. Q. How do you grade the reports?
A. I am attaching copies of the forms that I use to grade your reports. One is fora work experience, while the other is
for a research paper. If for example, you do not use appendices, then I do not count those points in the total.
Items to be Submitted to Dr. Griffin
What follows are guidelines forwhat must be submitted with your report by the due date:
1.
WORK EXPERIENCE EVALUATION (yellow form)
2.
SUPERVISOR'S EVALUATIONS of the student (blue form)
3.
A LETTER OF TRANSM I TTAL
4.
THE REPORT WITH BOTH YOUR'S AND YOUR SUPERVISOR'S SIGNATURE ON THE TITLE
PAGE.
Co-Op Office Requirement
ADDENDUM
Summary of Work Experience
INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPLETING ON-LINE ADDENDUM
Access your on-line account through the Career Center/Co-op web-site (careercenter.ta
mu.edu).
2.
Click on "I've Got a Co-op Job."
3.
Select the semester for which you are completing addendum (i.e. Spring 2007)
4.
Click on "Addendum"
5.
Complete each section as indicated.
6.
After completing all sections, be sure to hit the "submit" button.
Print hard copy to send to the Faculty Co-op Advisor in your Department by hitting "printable version."
1.
Appendix A
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
GUI DEU NES FOR ENGI NEERI NG CO-OP REPORTS
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Before each Co-op term, you must register in the Co-op Office for ENGR 385 (1 credit hour) and pay the
appropriate tuition and fees. Failure to register and pay fees may result in loss of student status and Co-op position.
Students who do not register and pay will be blocked.
See yourfaculty Co-op advisor for questions about report requirements and academic credit.
SUBMISSION OFDOCUMENTS
All documents must be submitted each term in order to receive academic credit Keep a copy of the reportforyour
records in case it should get lost in the mail.
Send to Faculty Co-op Advisor:
9 Co-op Report
0 Addendum
0 Employer Evaluation (Blue Form)
0
Mail to:
(Your Faculty Co-op Advisor)
Department of (your major)
TAMU
College Station, TX 77843
Send to Co-op Office:
0
Mail to:
0
Addendum submit on-line
Departmentof Experiential Education
9
Employer Evaluation
Cooperative Education
Texas A&M University
(No copy of Co-op report)
209 Koldus Building
1476 TAMUS
College Station, TX 77843-1476
You may pick up the graded copy of your report from your faculty advisor%Oen you return to campus.
DUE DATES
Specific due dates are published in the Cooperative Education Course Requirements assignment packet and the
web.
Co-op reports must be postmarked by the due date to be considered on firne. Late reports may cause your grade
to be lowered, so contact your faculty Co-op advisor prior to the due date if you need an extension.
10131r2006, r b g r i f f i n & T w a d u
7
Failure to submit a Co-op report will result in an incomplete (1). If the incomplete is not changed by the end of the
semester, it will be changed to failing (F) by the registrar.
S T U D EN T E V AL U AT IO N
A student evaluation (yellow form) of your Co-op experience does not have to be shared with your employer. Turn
this form in within two weeks of returning to campus, and provide us with a current local address.
PLAGIARISM
If plagiarism is discovered, you will be dismissed fromthe Co-op program and be subject to further disciplinary
action by the University. You mustalso be sure that your reportdoes not contain proprietary company
information.
TECHNICAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS
Your Co-op report may be either a research or a work experience paper. Check with your faculty advisor for specific
requirements. The research paper topic must be related to your major, but does not have to be directly related to your
Co-op assignment. A wo rk experience paper should bean in-depth study and analysis of your Co-op job experience.
Both types of technical reports should include all the following elements:
General Format
o double-spaced on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper
a 1 inch margins, left justified
9 5-15 pages in length
o staple in upper left comer (no binders or folders)
o use italics rather than underlining
o table of contents, abstract, etc. should be numbered I, 11, etc. and the introductory section should
begin with the Arabic numeral 1.
Title Page:
o see example included in guidelines
o MUST INCLUDE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR
10G112006, rbgriffinCDhmAdu
Ab stra ct:
o brief summary of entire paper u statement of
objective
o summary of conclusions
o separate page, 100 words or less
Table of Contents:
o list each major division and appropriate page number
List of Illustrations :
o list of Figures
e list of Tables
o include in Table of Contents
Introduction:
o begins development of paper
o contains relevant history of topic
Body:
o "Body of Paper" should not be used as a title
o contains the argument and supporting data
e may contain various headings as well as figures and tables
Summary and Conclusions:
o sumpsummarize technical information, notjust feelings or opinions about Co-op job experience
o should not introduce new information
References:
o MUST be included
E may include in-house reports, interviews, phone calls, company manuals, etc. o follow
example provided in guidelines
Appendix:
o contains proofs, figures, drawings which are subordinate to the main argument but are needed as
supporting documentation and explanation.
o must be referred to in body of paper and should be labeled appropriately and listed in the Table of Contents.
RE F E RE N CE E X A M P L E S
10131/2006, r b g r iffin C V9 m.e d u
9
Periodical: Robert Hall, "Power Rectifiers and Transformer," Proceedings of the IRE, pp 1512 1518, Nov 1993.
Book: D.E. Wooldridge, The Machinery of the Brain, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, pp 50-533, 1992.
Article:
Ralph Larson, "The Awakening of a Giant," Careers and the Engineer, pp 16-18, Fall 1993.
Interview. Brad Lawrence, Project Manager, XYZ Corporation, Personal interview, February 1994.
ADDENDUM
The addendum is a summary of yourwork experien ce and will be used to provide information to students who are
considering your employer fora Co-op job.
1 0 r 3 1 12 0 0 6 , r b g r i f f i n & 3 m . e d u
10
Sample Research Paper Title Page
F UNDAMENTALS OFCATHODIC PROTECTION
A Research Paper or a Work Experience Paper
by
John H. Smith
Industrial Engineering Departrrent
Classification (Junior, Senior, etc)
Third Co-op Work Term
(Company Name)
Spring, 20—
presented to
(Faculty Advisor)
Texas A&M University
December 2, 20—
Approved by:
(Supervisor)
(Supervisor Title) (Company Nacre)
(Company Address) (Supervisor's
Phone)
I0/ IM06, rbWiffinCjzm.edu
11
Appendix B
EXAMPLE OF LETTER OF TRANSMI TTAL
May 3, 2005
John Dow
1310 E. 35 St .
Apt . #1113
Texarkana, AR 71854
Dr. Ri chard Gri f f i n Co-op
Report Advi sor MEEN Dept -3123
Texas A&M Uni versi t y
Col I ege St at i on, TX 77843-3123
Dear Dr. Griffin:
I have encl osed a copy of my t hi rd term co -op report , addendum, ongi nal
work experi ence eval uat i on and ori gi nal empl oyer eval uat i on f or my
co-op at Cooper Ti re & Rubber Co. The report revi ews my Fal 1 2004
semester at Cooper Ti re, i n Texarkana, AR, I ncl udi ng my experi ences i n:
uniformity t ri al spotting, I oader hei ght audits, I i ner wi dt h and gauge st
udi es, SRA' s, bead f ormer st udi es, green tire audits, coni city checks,
def ect s, chafer gauges, and X-ray.
I f you have any quest ions regardi ng the report , addendum or
eval uat i ons, pl ease f eel f ree t o cont act me. I can be most easi I y reached
by emai I at j ohndow@aol . com or by phone at (979) 772-1519. Thank you f or t
aki ng t he t i me t o revi ew this report .
Si ncerel y,
Be sure to sign your letter of transmittal.
John Dow
Attachment s:
10012006, rbgriffin@tam.edu
Co-op Report
Addendum
Empl oyer's Eval uat i on (bl ue f orm)
ftrk experi ence Eval uat i on (yel I ow f orm)
12
Appends x C
EXAMPLE OF AN ACCEPTABLE ABSTRACT
Abstract
The purpose of this report is to examine and describe the fretting wear failure of an aluminum cable steel reinforced
conductor in Brazil. The line crossing the Parana River ruptured in 2002. Fretting wear between the individual metals
strands of the wire and between the wire and metal clamps on the wire was the cause of the failure. Slight motion,
caused by the wind, between the contacting surfaces produced wear particles, including aluminum oxide and oxidized
silicon particles. This debris abraded the surfaces of the wires and the clamp, increasing the wear rate. Gross slip
regime was observed, corresponding to a high wear rate. Eventually, the aluminum outer layer of the wire fractured
atthe location of a clamp. The steel inner layer followed with a ductile rupture. The use of lubrication and the
redesign of clamps on line would prevent or reduce the fretting wear.
EXAMPLE OFAN UNACCEPTABLE ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
In this paper I intend to describe the work that I did for my second work term as a maintenance engineer. I
mention the everyday tasks that I was assigned in the introduction of the paper and then leave the body of the paper
to describe a major repair job that I was involved in.
Comment
Not enough detail. Does not include Why, What, How, and Results.
Remember the author's name and the title of the abstract should be included so that a reader can decide from that
information whether or not they would like to read the full report.
10/31/2006,rb7iffinatmw.edu
13
Appendix D
Grading Summary for ENGR 385 Work Experience Reports
,
Semester
Student Name
Term ------, C lassification _ _ _ ___________ —Corrpany
Course Grade
Points Score
Cover Letter &
Cover Page
5
Signatures
Abstract
5
What & Why
How
TOC, Figures, &
Tables
5
I ntroduction
10
General
Objectives
Overview of jobs
20
Details of One Task
25
Engineering
Significance
Explanation
Figures
10
Figures
Tables
10
Tables
Conclusions
5
Meet Objectives
Bibliography
5
Appendices
10
English/Format
10
Total
120
101312006, rbgr iffinat m.edu
14
Results
Grading Summary for ENGR 385 Research Reports
Student Name
,
Term ------------- Classification
Semester
---Company
Course Grade
Points
Score
Cover Letter &
Cover Page
5
Signatures
Abstract
5
What & Why
How
TOC, Figures, &
Tables
5
I ntroduction
10
General
Objectives
Theory
10
Discussion
30
1 n terp retatio n
Explanation
Figures
Tables
10
10
Figures
Tables
Conclusions
5
Meet Objectives
Bibliography
5
References
Appendices
10
Usefulness in
rep o rt
English/Format
10
Total
115
1001r2M, rbgrjffinQtqm.edu
15
Results
Comparison