Cover sheet produced by the teaching office
Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Acknowledgements
<A paragraph should be written in place of this text, acknowledging all persons who have
helped or contributed towards your project. All formally allocated supervisors you’re your
project should be acknowledged first followed by other university staff, representatives of
external companies followed by people not falling in those categories such as peers PhD
students. The acknowledgement should indicate the nature of the assistance received, for
example “I acknowledge Paul Rowe of OnAxis Ltd for providing the linear motors used in
Chapter 10 and Dr Simon Richards for help in writing the source code for the controller”.>
DECLARATION
The accompanying research project report entitled: <Insert title of project> is
submitted in the third year of study towards an application for the degree of
<insert either “Master of Engineering” or “Bachelor of Engineering” as
appropriate> in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol. The report
is based upon independent work by the candidate. All contributions from others
have been acknowledged above. The supervisors are identified at the start of the
report. The views expressed within the report are those of the author and not of
the University of Bristol.
I hereby declare that the above statements are true.
Signed (author)
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Full Name
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Date
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Declaration of Copyright
Certification of ownership of the copyright in a dissertation presented as part of and in
accordance with the requirements for the Final Degree of Master of Engineering/Bachelor of
Engineering (delete as appropriate) at the University of Bristol, Faculty of Engineering.
I hereby assert that I own exclusive copyright in the item named below. I give permission to
the University of Bristol Library to add this item to its stock and to make it available for
consultation in the library, and for inter-library lending for use in another library. It may be
copied in full or in part for any bone fide library or research worker on the understanding
that users are made aware of their obligations under the copyright legislation, i.e. that no
quotation and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior
consent.
Author
Title
Date of Submission
Signed (author)
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Full Name
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Date
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
This dissertation is the property of the University of Bristol Library and may only be used
with due regard to the author. Bibliographical references may be noted but no part may be
copied for use or quotation in any published work without prior permission of the author. In
addition, due acknowledgement for any use must be made.
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Work Allocation
STUDENT NAME (1)
STUDENT NAME (2)
Task 1 title
Task 5 title
Task 2 title (Cells in a table can be merged by selecting two or more cells
using the “Merge Cells” function. )
Task 3 title
Task 6 title
Task 4 title
Task 7 title
Task 8 title
Task 9 title
Task 10 title
I hereby confirm that the table above provides an accurate and fair representation of the
allocation of work between project group members.
Signed (author)
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Full Name
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Signed (project partner)
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Full Name
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Summary
Replace this text with a summary of up to 250 words of your project. The summary should
include the key information from each section of the report: It should start with one or two
sentences introducing the technical area of the project that could be understood by an
engineering graduate of any discipline. The general statement should be followed by one or
two sentences of more specialist introduction and then the aim(s) of the project must be stated
clearly and concisely. The reminder of the summary should describe first the key points of the
materials and methods such that the reader can appreciate the work that was performed for the
project, and second the key results from the project. The final few sentences should be a
summary of the key points of the discussion and should in particular indicate the relevance of
the results generated by your project. Nothing else should appear on this page apart from the
summary. For reference this paragraph of text is 170 words in length.
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Table of Contents
1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 8
2
Materials and Methods ....................................................................................................... 9
3
Results (this is a level 1 heading) ..................................................................................... 10
3.1
Information on headings (this is a level 2 heading) ................................................ 10
4
Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 11
5
References ........................................................................................................................ 12
6
Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 14
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
List of Figures
Figure 1: The stages in document production. Information about specific processes can be
found in the sections indicated in brackets......................................................................... 8
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
List of Tables
Table 1.
A basic style sheet for the business letter in Figure 1. The structure of the letter is
indicated by the left column and the format is described in the right column. Reading
across any row in the column defines an individual style. ................................................. 9
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
1 Introduction
This section should contain the introduction to your project
The style sheet includes a style for Figure legends which automatically generates the
numbering for Figures and allows automatic generation of the List of Figures. To use it, type
the text for your Figure legend in the body text paragraph immediately following the Figure
and tag it with the FigureLegend tab. Here is an example of a figure embedded in body text:
The key stages of document production are illustrated in Figure 1. The terms document
production and publishing are not rigidly defined with respect to the processes they
encompass. The literal meaning of publishing is to prepare a document for public
distribution, as this document is concerned with the preparation of student reports its scope is
limited to the stages in production of a document from generating the content through to
printing. Although the finishing process, which typically involves folding binding and
trimming, is an essential part of document production it is not described here as for project
reports, finishing involves only binding which is performed by staff in the School Office.
Figure 1: The stages in document production. Information about specific processes
can be found in the sections indicated in brackets.
It is important to appreciate the distinction between the organisation or structuring of a
document and formatting. Structuring refers to the order in which information is presented
whereas formatting refers to the appearance of the information on the printed page. The aim
of a document is to convey information effectively and both the structure and format can
significantly enhance (if done well) or diminish (if done poorly) the ease with which
information can be obtained from a document.
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
2 Materials and Methods
This section should describe the materials and methods used for your project.
The style sheet includes a style for Table legends which automatically generates the
numbering for Tables and allows automatic generation of the List of Tables. To use it, type
the text for your Table legend in the body text paragraph immediately following the Table and
tag it with the TableLegend tab. Here is an example of a table and legend.
Sections of the letter
Formatting
Return address
Date of writing
Address of the recipient
Reference indices
Salutation
Subject
Body text
Greeting
Name
Indication of enclosures
Distribution
flush left, indented 10cm, blank line below
flush left , indented 10 cm
flush left, blank line below
flush left, blank line below
flushleft, blank line below
centred, all capitals, blank line below
flush left
flush left, two blank lines below
flush left, blank line below
left, blank line below
flush left, blank line below
Table 1. A basic style sheet for the business letter in Figure 1. The structure of the
letter is indicated by the left column and the format is described in the right column.
Reading across any row in the column defines an individual style.
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
3 Results (this is a level 1 heading)
This section should contain a description of only the results of the project. Interpretation of
the results should appear in the discussion and descriptions of the methods by which the
results were obtained should appear in the Materials and Methods chapter. Strict adherence to
a rigorous division of information according to report section is not required and the ‘rules’ in
the first two sentences should be considered a useful guide and a default option in the absence
of a specific reason to structure information differently. Your supervisor will be able to
provide valuable guidance on structuring your report.
3.1 Information on headings (this is a level 2 heading)
Three levels of numbered heading have been created in the style sheet. The highest level
heading is called Heading 1 and is for chapter headings. It will always appear at the
beginning of a new page. The next level heading is called Heading 2 and is for major
subheading within a chapter. The heading for this paragraph is tagged as Heading 2. The
next level heading is Heading 3 and this is for minor subheadings below major subheadings.
Note that heading levels are used in hierarchic order and so a level 3 heading should never
appear under a level 1 heading.
3.1.1 What to do if you require more heading levels (this is a level 3 heading)
Most published documents have only three or four levels of numbered headings. To have
more levels fragments the document structure and can be difficult to follow. Also the
restriction on the length of the Table of Contents means that only two or three levels of
heading can be included in it. If you require additional subheading under a subheading of any
level you may design your own non-numbered subheading style, here are a few examples
Point 1
You could use the body text font with the addition of an underline to separate a paragraph of
text, always leave at least one blank line before the heading. Rather than underlining you
could make the font bold eg Point 1, or use all capital letters eg POINT 1, or use italics eg
Point 1.
Point 2
You could use the body text font with the addition of an underline to separate a paragraph of
text, always leave at least one blank line before the heading. Rather than underlining you
could make the font bold eg Point 1, or use all capital letters eg POINT 1, or use italics eg
Point 1.
Point 3
You could use the body text font with the addition of an underline to separate a paragraph of
text, always leave at least one blank line before the heading. Rather than underlining you
could make the font bold eg Point 1, or use all capital letters eg POINT 1, or use italics eg
Point 1.
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
4 Discussion
This section should contain a discussion of your results and method. Your supervisor will
give you valuable guidance on what to include on this section or whether the section title
should be different to accommodate best your type of project.
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
5 References
The following information has been reproduced from a document authored by Peter
Coxhead in the University of Birmingham, Department of Computer Science. It
describes the ways to format references to different types of published information.
It is not easy to give an exhaustive list of the possible formats for a full reference; variation in
style is common, but the twin goals must always be completeness and consistency.
'Completeness' means that from the reference alone (i.e. with no other knowledge of the
subject), the reader can locate the original source or obtain a copy. Some examples are given
below.
Referencing a complete book.
Jones, P.J. (1980), Introduction to Algorithms, London: Methuen.
Jones, P.J., Smith, R. & Watson, E.P. (eds) (1988), Artificial Intelligence Reconsidered (2nd
edition), New York: Wiley.
The title of a published book is italicized (or underlined, but only if italics are not available).
Convention says that the place of publication as well as the publisher must be given, although
with a large multinational publishing company, the former is less relevant. If more than one
place of publication is listed, use the first. Only the publisher's name is needed, not the full
legal title of the company, e.g. "Wiley" rather than "John Wiley & Sons".
A chapter in an edited book.
Hamza, K.A. (1988), "Vision Systems", in Jones, P.J., Smith, R. & Watson, E.P. (eds),
Artificial Intelligence Reconsidered (2nd edition), New York: Wiley, pp. 12-34.
The chapter title is not italicized. The book title is italicized (or underlined where italics are
not available). Page numbers should be given (not merely the number of the chapter). The
"pp." is redundant, and hence often omitted, but avoids any possible ambiguity. If several
chapters from a book are referenced, it is permissible to include the book in the references list
in its own right, and then use a format such as:
Hamza, K.A. (1988), "Vision Systems", in Jones et al. 1988, pp. 12-34.
An article in a journal.
Carson, P.R. (1970), "An Approach to Intelligent Planning", Journal of Applied Artificial
Intelligence 38(3), 4-11.
The title of the journal, which is the title of the published entity in which the article can be
found, is italicized. The journal title should not be abbreviated, unless this is insisted on by an
editor. If in doubt, don't abbreviate. The volume number is in bold (or underlined, but only if
bold is not available). The part number, if relevant, is placed in parentheses, to make
absolutely sure that it is distinguished from the volume and page numbers. Note that the first
and last pages should be given. The main thing to avoid is something like "Journal of Applied
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Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Artificial Intelligence 3, 4, 10"; is this Volume 3, Part 4, starting at page 10, or Volume 3,
pages 4 to 10, or what?
An article from a bound volume of conference proceedings
Jones, P.J. (1983), "An Attempt to Construct a Knowledge-based Route Planner",
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Transport Planning, Budapest: Hungarian
Transport Association, pp. 212-58.
The volume is treated as a published book -- hence its title is italicized. A problem with more
obscure conferences is that sometimes the proceedings are just 'put together', and may not
have a clear 'publisher'.
An article you have obtained which was read at conference whose proceedings seem not
to have been published.
Jones, P.J., Richards, M., Zhao, C.H. & Reynolds, P.E. (1988), "The Use of BASIC in AI",
paper read to the annual meeting of the Norwegian Association for Computer Education,
August, Oslo, Norway.
This kind of 'reference' is irritating (although occasionally necessary), since it is not clear how
to get hold of a copy of the article. The assumption is presumably that the reader could
approach the organization responsible for the conference, but if the proceedings haven't been
published (as is made clear by the absence of a title in italics), this is not likely to be very
successful.
A report produced in 'duplicated' form by an academic or research institution. Unless
the institution's address is readily available, details should be given; the principle is that
a reader should be in a position to send for a copy of the report.
Jones, P.J. (1987), "An Algorithm for Distributed Intelligent Route Planning with a BASIC
Implementation", Report #32, Intelligent Transport Laboratories, 38 West Avenue, Forked
Springs, California, USA.
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Fo
0.5
0
Third Year Report Template (delete this header)
Z component
Y component
6 Appendix
-0.5 are not assessed and you are strongly recommended not to include them. Your
Appendices
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
supervisor will provide guidance on whether appendices are necessary or worthwhile.
Time (dimensionless)
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