Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Insert the Report Title Here

By: Insert Author Name

MME 9601 – M.Eng. Final Project Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering

Faculty Advisor:

Date Submitted: insert date here

ABSTRACT

The abstract text goes here. From Thesis Regulation Guide section 3.1.7:

The abstract must give enough information about the thesis to allow a
potential reader to decide whether or not to consult the complete work.
The candidate must ensure that the abstract refers to all the elements that
would make the thesis worth consulting. The abstract should include
important place names and proper nouns because these can be significant
key words for electronic retrieval. It should not include graphs, charts,
illustrations or tables. The expected content of an abstract varies among
disciplines, but all abstracts can be expected to include the following:

 a statement of the research problem or question

 an indication of the research method(s) used or theoretical

orientation taken

 findings or major discoveries made

 conclusions and significance.

II
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Shows the contents and arrangement of the report; always includes a list of appendices,
list of figures, and list of tables; sometimes followed by a nomenclature (set of terms or
symbols).

Insert table of contents here by selecting “references/table of contents”. It will be

automatically generated from the document headings based on heading styles.

Abstract................................................................................................................................ii

Table of Contents.................................................................................................................iii

List of Figures.......................................................................................................................v

List of Tables.......................................................................................................................vi

Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................vii

Nomenclature....................................................................................................................viii

1 General Information........................................................................................................9

1.1 Report Length..................................................................................................9

1.2 Submission of Reports.....................................................................................9

1.3 Privacy and Personal Information....................................................................9

2 Document Content and Organization...............................................................................9

2.1 Suggested Chapter Headings...........................................................................9

2.1.1 Introduction................................................................................................10

2.1.2 Background and Literature Review...........................................................10

2.1.3 Theory........................................................................................................10

2.1.4 Experimental Apparatus and Procedures...................................................10

2.1.5 Results and Discussions.............................................................................10

III
 2.1.6 Conclusions and Recommendations..........................................................11

2.2 Figures............................................................................................................11

2.3 References......................................................................................................11

2.4 Appendices.....................................................................................................11

2.5 Direct Quotes and/or Copies..........................................................................12

2.6 Curriculum Vitae...........................................................................................12

3 Document Formatting Tips for Microsoft Word............................................................12

3.1 Using Headings (this is Heading 2)...............................................................12

3.1.1 Heading 3...................................................................................................13

3.2 Text Formatting.............................................................................................13

3.3 Using Figures.................................................................................................13

3.4 Using Tables..................................................................................................14

3.5 Using Equations.............................................................................................14

3.6 Formatting numbered equations using tables................................................15

3.7 Inserting citations and references...................................................................17

References..........................................................................................................................17

Appendix I – Description....................................................................................................18

Appendix II – Description...................................................................................................19

Curriculum Vitae................................................................................................................20

Name............................................................................................................................20

Post-secondary Education and Degrees.......................................................................20

Honours and awards.....................................................................................................20

Related work experience..............................................................................................20

Publications..................................................................................................................20

IV
V
LIST OF FIGURES

Insert list of figures here. All figures should be numbered and have captions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a list of figure captions only. The figures themselves
appear in the main body.

Figure 1 sample figure. Right click on figure and select “caption” to insert figure
captions........................................................................................................................

VI
LIST OF TABLES

Insert list of tables here. All tables should be numbered and have captions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Only the table captions appear here. The tables appear in the main
body.

Table 1. This is a sample table...........................................................................................

VII
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Add any acknowledgments here. This section is optional, and is a place to acknowledge
people who helped and supported you.

VIII
NOMENCLATURE

This is a place to list words and their definitions, as needed. This section is also optional.

Word. [Click and type definition here.]

IX
1 GENERAL INFORMATION

This document template should be used as a formatting and organizational guide. Delete
the explanations and insert your own text. Some of the sections can be omitted for a short
report. This report template has already been formatted for you, so don’t delete the
sections like Table of Contents, References and Appendices that you plan to use. Also, be
careful to not delete the section breaks in this template.

1.1 REPORT LENGTH

There is no specified minimum or maximum length, as that depends on the scope of the
project.  The report should be complete but concise. .

1.2 SUBMISSION OF REPORTS

Final reports and supporting documentation will be submitted electronically unless your
faculty advisor requests a hardcopy.

1.3 PRIVACY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

The reports will contain the names of the authors, but NOT the student numbers. Please
do not include your student number on the final report.

2 DOCUMENT CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION

This section of the document contains guidelines for the content and organization of the
report.

10
2.1 SUGGESTED CHAPTER HEADINGS

The following suggestions are for guidance and will be suitable for the majority of
reports. However, in a particular report some variation may seem appropriate. In this
case the matter should be discussed with the faculty advisor.

2.1.1 Introduction

The introduction should provide the background for the project and clearly state the
objectives, the method of attack, and the scope.

2.1.2 Background and Literature Review

This is a review of the relevant work in the field of study. It should be comparative in
nature and critical where appropriate.

2.1.3 Theory

Theoretical developments that are new or are essential to the understanding of the main
body of the report should be presented. One must exercise judgment about the amount of
detail to be presented here. In instances where the theory is not the main thrust of the
report, it is often appropriate to present a skeletal outline of theory emphasizing the
important features with references to a detailed account in an appendix.

2.1.4 Modelling and Analysis

Many engineering investigations are based on mathematical modelling and numerical

simulation studies (e.g. FEA). The modelling approach should be completely
documented. Any mathematical models should be properly derived from the relevant
fundamental theories and principles. If standard formulas and methods are used, the steps
should be clearly described, and appropriate references should be cited. Simulation
studies should be completely documented, and results should be clearly presented.

11
2.1.5 Experimental Apparatus and Procedures

Descriptions of experimental apparatus and procedure may appear in one chapter but this
is not a general rule; it may be more appropriate for a particular report to separate them
into two chapters. Remember that another person with your knowledge and experience
should be able to duplicate your experiments from the descriptions given. This requires
a clear, concise description of experimental procedures and a detailed description of
special apparatus that has been designed and fabricated for the experiments. Note that it
may be appropriate to relegate part of the details of such designs to an appendix.

2.1.6 Results and Discussions

These may be presented together in one chapter or separately in two chapters depending
on the nature of the project. Experimental results should be presented in graphical
and/or tabular form. The form chosen depends on the nature of the results. In some
instances it may be necessary to support a graphical display with tabulated data in an
appendix. Prepare graphs and tables carefully and be sure that the units of quantities are
specified. Each table and/or graph must include a clear description of the results and their
meaning. The discussion is very important and should be a thoughtful interpretation of
the results as they relate to the objective of the project.

2.1.7 Conclusions and Recommendations

This section should be concise and should emphasize the significant conclusions reached.
Conclusions must be based on the evidence presented and must be related to the stated
objective of the project. This is no place to introduce new ideas. The recommendations
for future work must be carefully stated and should follow logically from the discussion
and conclusions of the work done for the project.

2.2 FIGURES

Figures should be included in the report if they help the reader understand the content.
Graphics is an important method of communication in engineering. Each figure should

12
have a clear purpose – do not include unnecessary figures just because it is easy to do.
Each figure should have a caption, and should be referenced in the body by the figure
number.

2.3 REFERENCES

Include the list of references at the end of the report but before the appendices. There is
no one correct way of listing references and citing them in the text. This depends on
company policy, or in the case of engineering journals on editorial policy. A good choice
for an engineering report is the IEEE standard for referencing.

2.4 APPENDICES

Any detailed information required to completely document the project, but not necessary
for understanding the main points, should be included in appendices at the end of the
report. Judgment is required to decide what should be in the body, and what can be in the
appendix. In general, the reader should not need to refer to the appendix to understand the
report, but may refer to it for additional details.

Examples of information that can be placed in appendices include: test results; analysis
details; data sheets; engineering drawings; bills of material; assembly and quality control
information; installation and operation instructions; maintenance and retirement
procedures; time sequence for tasks to be completed; and cost estimates. The appendices
are inserted in the order that they are referenced in the report.

2.5 DIRECT QUOTES AND/OR COPIES

When it is found useful to quote directly from other sources, the reference must be clearly
stated, and the material quoted enclosed in quotation marks or italicized. In some cases
you may wish to reproduce figures from other sources; in such cases credit must be given
to the source and one must be aware of possible violation of copyright regulations. This
applies especially to figures and images you find on the internet.

13
3 DOCUMENT FORMATTING TIPS FOR MICROSOFT
WORD

This template is optimized for Word 2013, which is available to all Western faculty, staff
and students. Some of the instructions will not work in earlier versions of Word. In
particular, Word 2007 and earlier are not recommended.

3.1 USING HEADINGS (THIS IS HEADING 2)

Use heading styles to start each section of the report. The headings will be used to
generate the table of contents. Use “Heading 1” to start each main section, and lower-
level headings for subsections. Tip: you can create an outline of your report using the
outline view in Word. You can move sections around very easily as you work on the
overall organization of your report. You can start with just the headings at first, and add
text to flesh them out.

3.1.1 Heading 3

Use lower level headings to start subsections. Use different level headings to give the
document structure.

3.2 TEXT FORMATTING

Use “body text” style for all text. It is already formatted with a suitable font, line
spacing, paragraph spacing, etc.

Spacing before and after headings and text is defined as part of the style definition. It is
not necessary to add hard spaces with the return key if you use appropriate styles. In fact,
you should avoid using spaces and hard returns to format your document.

14
3.3 USING FIGURES

All figures should be numbered and labeled, as shown in Figure 1. You should refer to
the figure in the text, as in the previous sentence. You can insert the reference using
“reference/cross reference” instead of typing it in. That way, the figure number will
automatically change if you add, delete or move figures. Word makes sure they are
always in numerical order.

Figure 1. sample figure. Right click on figure and select “caption” to insert figure captions.

To avoid problems with text wrapping around figures, select “top and bottom” as the
“wrap text” option.

3.4 USING TABLES

Here is a sample table. We would refer to it in the text as Table 1. Instead of typing in
“Table 1”, insert it using “reference/cross reference” and choose table from the numbered
items. Now if the table numbers change because you add, remove or move them, the
references will automatically update (after you “select all” and press F9).

Note: the table caption usually goes above the table, and the figure caption goes below
the figure. These are the Word defaults, but can be changed.

15
Table 1. This is a sample table.

One Two Three

Apples Oranges Grapes

3.5 USING EQUATIONS

Rough hand calculations can be scanned and included in the appendices. However,
important mathematical equations and models should be included in the body of the text.
Each equation should be properly formatted, and numbered. To insert an equation, select
“equation” from the “insert” toolbar.

( )
∞
nπx nπx
f ( x )=a0 + ∑ an cos +b n sin
n=1 L L

If you have many equations, you might find it faster to use keyboard shortcuts to enter
and edit equations. This is not well documented, but this link from Microsoft describes
how to do it: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Linear-format-equations-and-Math-
AutoCorrect-in-Word-2e00618d-b1fd-49d8-8cb4-8d17f25754f8

The equation numbers in the examples below were added manually. Unfortunately,
Word cannot automatically insert equation numbers in the normal place, which is to the
right of the equation. Refer to equations by their number. For example Equation (3) is
the formula for Area Moment of Inertia. Define all variables if they are not well known.

2 2 2
a +b =c (1)

∑ F x =0 (2)

I=∫ r 2 dA (3)

16
To position the equations and the corresponding number, you can use a centre tab and a
right tab. If you don’t know how to set these, you can simply copy and paste one of the
lines above, and replace the equation and number as needed. Alternatively, you can use
tables as described in the next section.

3.6 FORMATTING NUMBERED EQUATIONS USING TABLES

The following instructions are from http://superuser.com/questions/594559/how-do-you-

easily-add-equation-numbers-to-microsoft-word-2010-equations

You can create a template that can be used to automatically generate the
table and equation with number to the right:

Insert -> Table -> 3x1.

Right click table -> Properties.

In Table Tab, Check Preferred Width -> Percent -> 100.

In Column Tab, set preferred width to 7%, 86% and 7% for 1st 2nd and
3rd column respectively.

These values work well for Times new Roman 12pt equation numbers.
(Other percentages will work provided they add up to 100%.)

Click Ok.

Insert-> Equation into center column (type in current equation or

placeholder).

Click References -> Insert Caption.

Select Label: Equation

Position: Above or Below

Adjust numbering as desired.

17
 Cut and paste number from above location to right column of equation
table.

Right align Text in right column. Centre cell vertically.

Center Equation column. Centre cell vertically.

Highlight the entire table.

Turn off borders.

Re-highlight the entire table.

Select Insert -> Equation -> Save Selection to Equation Gallery.

Now if you want to insert an equation with automatic numbering in

standard journal/conference paper format, just select the template you
have made from the equation gallery and it will insert it into the document
as desired.

Equation numbers will be automatically updated and references can be

made to them using the References -> Cross Reference option for
equations.

NOTE: If you'd like to save this newly formatted equation as a keyboard

shortcut (like pressing the Alt and + keys simultaneously in order to
create a new equation), you can do so by going to File -> Options ->
Customize Ribbon -> Customize Shortcuts and then selecting "Building
Blocks".

Below is an equation formatted according to the instructions above.

( )
∞
nπx nπx
f ( x )=a0 + ∑ an cos +b n sin (1)
n=1 L L

After the steps are complete, another equation can be inserted using the saved equation.
Note that the numbering is correct. Replace the equation with your own equation.

18
 ( )
∞
nπx nπx
f ( x )=a0 + ∑ an cos +b n sin (2)
n=1 L L

Here is what you get when you replace the equation.

2 2 2
a + b =c (3)

To refer to an equation, use the cross-reference tool in the references toolbar. To refer to
equation (1), select the equation you want from the list in the cross-references dialog box.
Note that the equation numbers are automatically updated if you add, remove or re-order
the equations.

3.6.1 Inserting citations and references

References come at the end of the body but before the appendices. There are several
ways to insert references. Perhaps the best choices are to use the Citations and
Bibliograpy tools in Word, or to use a separate reference manager.

3.6.2 Word Citations and Bibliography tools

You can use the References toolbar in Word 2010 or later to manage your reference list.
To insert a citation to a source, click “insert citation” where you want it to go, such as
here [1]. You have a choice of many referencing styles. This document uses the IEEE
referencing style, which is commonly used in engineering papers and reports.

Note that you can refer to the same reference more than once, and Word will reuse the
same number so that there is only one entry in the references section, e.g. [1]. Word
automatically updates the numbering so that your references will always be numbered
sequentially as you add, remove and re-order the citations. Here is another reference [2].

The references section can be inserted at the end of the document but before the
appendices by selecting “Bibliography”, using the References option. This will generate a
references section shown below.

19
Note that the IEEE style will cause the reference number to wrap for reference 10 and
above, because the column width in the table used to format the references is too narrow.
There is no documented way to change this default width. You can change it manually,
but it will reset to the original width when you update the bibliography. The best work-
around is to adjust the first column width manually as the last step when the document is
finished.

3.6.3 Reference Managers

It is a good idea to use a separate reference manager to manage all of your references.
There are several different ones available, and most of them allow citations and reference
lists to be inserted directly into a Word document. One free tool that works very well is
Qiqqa. However, the references and citations in the report must be edited and modified
using the reference manager in all future revisions.

REFERENCES

[1] R. J. Eggert, Engineering Design, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2005.

[2] M. F. Ashby, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Fourth Edition, Burlington,

MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2011.

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APPENDIX I – DESCRIPTION

Insert appendix content here.

21
APPENDIX II – DESCRIPTION

You can use more than one appendix.

22