project guidelines 2011

7/31/2019 Project Guidelines 2011

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NOTES

FOR

THE PRESENTATION

OF

FINAL-YEAR DISSERTATIONS

Robert Ghirlando

Faculty of Engineering

University of Malta

First published in October 1997

Revised July 2004, January 2005, August 2011


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CONTENTS Page

1. INTRODUCTION 22. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY UNIT 23. PROJECT TIMELINE 44. EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROJECT 45. ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT 56. INDUSTRY BASED PROJECTS 57. ASSIGNING PROJECTS TO STUDENTS 68. PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET 79. LOG-BOOK AND PHOTOGRAPHS 810.LITERATURE SURVEY 911.TESTING 912.CALIBRATION AND EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS 1013.LAYOUT OF TEXT 1014.TITLE PAGE 1515.NUMBER OF PAGES AND PAGE NUMBERING 1516.SYNOPSIS 1617.STYLE OF WRITING 1618.TABLES AND FIGURES 1719.UNITS AND SYMBOLS 1720.REFERENCES 1821.BIBLIOGRAPHY 2022.PAGE FORMAT AND PRINTING QUALITY 2123.NUMBER OF COPIES 2124.SOFTWARE BASED PROJECTS 2225.BINDING 2226.SUBMISSION DATES 2227.THE ORAL PRESENTATION 2328.METHOD OF ASSESSMENT 2429.INTERVIEW 2530.

EXHIBITION AND EXHIBITION BOOKLET 26

31.INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 2631. PLAGIARISM 26

Appendix A References 28

Appendix B Title Page 29

Appendix C Lettering on Hard Cover 30


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1. INTRODUCTION

The following notes have been prepared to help students in the Faculty of Engineering

with their final-year project, sometimes referred to as the Dissertation or Thesis

Project.

These guidelines were prepared by Prof. Robert Ghirlando, assisted by various

members of the Faculty of Engineering and approved by the Faculty Board meeting of

the 14th

September 2011

2. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY UNIT

The following is reproduced from the website of the University of Malta.

QUOTE

CODE ENR4200

TITLE Engineering Project

LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

ECTS CREDITS 20

DEPARTMENT Faculty of Engineering

DESCRIPTION The Engineering Project requires the student to methodically address an open-

ended problem for which the aims and objectives are defined by the project

supervisor prior to the commencement of the project and a programme of

work is delineated and carried out in a structured way. Progress will be

regularly monitored by the project supervisor. The type of work produced,

design, experiments, simulation, analysis etc will depend on the project

specification and constitutes a defined subset within the area of study

currently under investigation. Towards the end of the academic year the

student will deliver an oral presentation on the project and submit a

dissertation.

Study-unit Aims:

The aims of this study-unit are for the student to address a set task using


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methodologies from engineering.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Address an engineering problem in a structured and well-defined manner as

demanded by the relevant engineering methodologies.

- Develop superior knowledge and provide explanations on the specific

problem domain captured by the project.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Describe the work performed during the project in a scientific manner by

means of a dissertation.

- Deliver technical presentations on the work performed- Analyze, design and test engineering systems.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Various papers and textbooks dependent on project area.

- Notes for the presentation of final year dissertations by Prof. R. Ghirlando,

Faculty of Engineering - available from Faculty web site.

- How to write a paper, M.F.Ashby, Engineering Department, University of

Cambridge, Cambridge 6th Edition, April 2005

http://www-mech.eng.cam.ac.uk/mmd/ashby-paper-V6.pdf

STUDY-UNIT TYPE Project

METHOD OF

ASSESSMENTAssessment Component/s Resit Availability Weighting

Presentation Yes 10%

Dissertation Yes 15%

Project Yes 75%

LECTURER/S Various

STATUS Currently In Use

LAST UPDATED 29 July 2011

UNQUOTE


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And possibly also:

Development and/or application of theory Programming Practical skills (e.g. machining, PCB etching, soldering, drafting, etc)

The dissertation should contain work of merit presented in satisfactory literary form

and should not be of unnecessary length. It should also provide evidence of

acquaintance with the principles, theoretical background and application of the field

or area of engineering topic to which the project is related as well as knowledge of

general engineering.

5. ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT

The aspects covered by the Project would normally be one or more of the following:

Pure research

Design, build and test

System development

Technical analysis and development

Applied Research

6. INDUSTRY BASED PROJECTS

There are great advantages in having industry-based projects. The main ones are that

they help to promote University-Industry linkages and they provide real problems

to students. They are also self-funding, in that Industry is asked to pay for any

hardware and software that may be required.

Tensions may arise in these projects due to the diverse interests of the students and

academic staff on the one side and Industry on the other. The students main concern

will be to complete the write-up of the dissertation in the allotted time, even at the

cost of not completing the project itself. On the other hand, Industry will want the


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project to be not only completed within delivery dates that do not necessarily

correspond to the students timetable, but also fit in with the exigencies of the

production programme which could change drastically during the lifetime of the

project itself.

Hence it is imperative that a proper dialogue is set up between the student and

supervisor on one side and the manager from industry on the other side. It should be

clearly specified from the outset that this is a STUDENT project with its limitations

and it would help if industry looked upon it as a grant to the University out of which

they may or may not get something. During the course of the project, in cases where

there may be a conflict or a perceived conflict between the academic and industrial

objectives/requirements, the student must always follow the advice of his/her

academic supervisor.

Other important issues are those related to Intellectual Property Rights, such as rights

over patents and the right or otherwise of publication of the results of the project. It is

important that the student and tutor follow the policies of the University, Faculty and

of the respective department on the matter.

7. ASSIGNING PROJECTS TO STUDENTS

Around April, Faculty Office publishes a list of Final Year Projects titles proposed by

academic staff members for students to choose from. Students shall be requested to

select a number of titles of interest from this list and indicate their order of preference.

These preferences will help Faculty to decide how projects are finally allocated. The

criteria for allocation of project titles to students will take into consideration the

student preferences, the supervision load of staff members, and the order of merit of

the student in the course and in subjects most relevant to the project.

In the meantime, students who have their own title in mind for the final year project

may also propose a detailed description of their own. This description should be

submitted in both softcopy and hard copy formats to Faculty Office by a given date

around March, using the Student Proposal Form as on the website. The form should


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be filled in full and it should not indicate or propose any academic supervisors or

departments. These proposals will be scrutinized by the Faculty so as to assess:

(A) the quality and feasibility of the project,

(B) the availability of staff members who are willing and able to supervise the

project.

Approval at this stage does not automatically mean that the project will be allocated to

the student. While every effort will be made to allow approved student project

proposals to be carried out, an approved student proposal would have to be declined

where the supervision load of the members of staff available to supervise a project is

exceeded. The placing given to a student-proposed project in the list of projects to be

supervised by a member of staff is allocated according to the normal criteria

mentioned above, namely the order of merit of the student in the course and in

subjects most relevant to the project.

For this reason, students whose proposal has been approved following steps (A) and

(B) above, are still required to fill in the project preferences list when titles from

academic staff are published. In such cases, the student-proposed project should be

listed as the first preference, followed by the second and further preferences from the

list of projects proposed by staff.

Any incomplete Student Proposal Forms or late submissions will not be considered.

8. PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET

The project objectives and budget would normally have been prepared by the

academic member of staff who would also supervise the Project, unless the project

has been proposed by the student himself, in which case, the student should consult

the supervisor once the student has been told the name of the supervisor.

Once the student has been assigned a project, the student must consult the supervisor

to ensure that s/he understands the objectives of the project, and therefore where the

project is leading to, the deliverables of the project and the budget limitations. The


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student should then proceed to prepare a project plan and programme (Gantt Chart)

which highlights the milestones of the project and will serve as a basis for the student

to monitor his own progress. The student should keep sight of these objectives to

avoid frustration and loss of direction.

The student should not only ensure that the project remains within budget but should

also NOT incur any expense without the prior approval of his supervisor and the head

of the respective department. Students must produce receipts for all expenses

incurred. The student should check the approval procedure used in the department

where the project is being carried out and abide strictly by it.

Before purchasing any item such as motors, bearings, electronic components, PC

interface boards and other standard items, the student should check whether it is

possible to salvage such an item from obsolete projects.

Students may be asked to incur costs related to the project if adequate funds are not

allocated to the Faculty.

9. LOG-BOOK AND PHOTOGRAPHS

It is recommended that students keep a log-book or diary in which they keep a record

of the work that they do for the project. The first two pages of the log-book should

consist of the plan of work and the budget.

The log-book serves the following purposes:

i) teaches the student the discipline of recording the work carried out;ii) teaches the student Time Management, since a log-book helps to see where

time is being wasted.

It is also recommended that students take photographs of any equipment or set-up that

they are building or using as they go along. It is not possible to take photos of internal

parts of equipment after this has been assembled; nor is it possible to take photos of

past events!


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10. LITERATURE SURVEY

The literature survey is an essential part of the study and the dissertation and should

be given due importance. This is not a regurgitation of whole passages from text-

books which serves simply to fill pages and pad the dissertation, but a critical review

of the literature on the subject with clear references to papers and relevant pages in

books. It will describe the work that has been done to date on the subject in hand as

well as discuss the most important results. Cross-correlation of the findings of various

researchers is a useful result of a literature survey. The review is effectively the

foundations on which the dissertation research is carried out, and as such should be

referred to in the discussion.

11. TESTING

Testing should be carried out in a planned and methodical way with a clear

understanding of what is required of the tests. Tests should be designed and carried

out according to a well-thought out plan intended to produce results in the most

efficient and cost-effective way. By careful planning, it is possible to increase the

output from a test as well as decrease the need for expensive equipment and testing.

Prior to embarking on extensive testing, the possibility of carrying out some relatively

inexpensive preliminary/screen tests to indicate the range of parameters which may

yield interesting results, or the use of design of experiment techniques must not be

overlooked.

Tests are normally repeated to check for consistency and to filter out freak results, but

whether tests are repeated or not very often depends on the availability of time,

logistics and/or money. The supervisor should be consulted.


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12. CALIBRATION AND EXPERIMENTAL ERROR

It is essential for students to realise that instruments and measuring equipment need to

be calibrated. The frequency and method of calibration depend on the instrument and

accuracy required. It is a waste of time to try to obtain results to a higher degree of

accuracy than is really necessary or than the measuring equipment is capable of

producing and an even bigger waste of time to obtain results of dubious or insufficient

accuracy. Students should therefore discuss this issue with their supervisors and

record in their dissertation the calibration of the instruments used in the tests carried

out during the project.

Another feature of testing that should be given its due importance by the student and

which is complementary to calibration is experimental error. Students should

appreciate that their test results are only accurate to within a plus/minus tolerance.

They should not only be capable of calculating, or at least estimating, the errors but

should also state them in the relevant sections of the dissertation. Clearly, when these

errors appear too large, the student should analyse the testing procedure to find ways

of reducing them.

13. LAYOUT OF THE DISSERTATION

The following is a model format of the layout of the dissertation. Due to the different

nature of the topics being investigated, some projects may require a different format

to the one presented here. Note that a dissertation need not necessarily contain all the

sections listed below. The format should be selected according to the nature of the

project. This is generally the first step in writing the dissertation, as it serves as the

plan of the write-up, and should be discussed with the supervisor. It is also wise for

the student to show the final draft to the supervisor before binding.

Title page (first page, see Appendix B)) Copyright page (second page) Abstract (third page) Acknowledgements (fourth page)


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Table of contents List of figures (with the number of the page in which they are located) List of Tables (with the number of the page in which they are located) List of Plates (with the number of the page in which they are located) List of Abbreviations and Notation (used) Introduction (context of project and objectives) Theory Equipment (and design of equipment, circuit design, software design) Methods of Testing (procedure) Tests and Test Results Discussion of results Conclusion Suggestions for future work References and bibliography Appendices

i) Copyright pageThe copyright page should include the following text:

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

1) Copyright in text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies (by anyprocess) either in full, or of extracts may be made only in accordance with

regulations held by the Library of the University of Malta. Details may be

obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made.

Further copies (by any process) made in accordance with such instructions may

not be made without the permission (in writing) of the Author.

2) Ownership of the right over any original intellectual property which may becontained in or derived from this dissertation is vested in the University of Malta

and may not be made available for use by third parties without the written

permission of the University, which will prescribe the terms and conditions of any

such agreement.


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ii) AbstractThis should be limited to one A4 page and should contain a synthesis of the most

important aspects of the project. It should have a brief introductory sentence, followed

by the aims of the project. The main results and conclusions should then be briefly

outlined.

iii) AcknowledgementsThis should contain a brief mention of any persons whom the student wishes to

acknowledge and thank. It should be brief and in any case not longer than a page.

iv) Table of ContentsAll chapter headings and major sub-headings appearing in the text should be listed,

together with their corresponding page number. The table of contents should look

orderly and should display a logical development of the project; this helps the reader

to gain a general overview of the project. Sub-headings of sub-headings should

therefore be avoided. Chapter headings and sub-headings should be numbered

sequentially and in a uniform style.

v) Lists of Figures, Tables and PlatesAll figures, tables and plates should be listed together with their corresponding page

number.

vi) List of Abbreviations and NotationIf a dissertation contains abbreviations and scientific and mathematical symbols, a list

of them should be included in it. The system of prefixes and suffixes used, if any,

should also be listed.

vii) Introduction and objectivesThis should always be the first chapter of the dissertation. The introduction should

serve the purpose of introducing the topic of the project to the reader. It should be

general and in a somewhat simple format. There is no need, however, to assume that

the reader is completely ignorant of engineering. The student should aim his writing

to the level of a person with a good knowledge of general engineering principles.

This chapter lays down the foundations on which the dissertation will be built and


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puts the whole work of the student in its proper context. If a project is a continuation

of another previous one, this should be clearly stated in this chapter.

The chapter should end with a clear statement of the aim and objectives of the project.

Nothing can be clearer than stating them in point form. It is important for the reader

to understand what the student was trying to achieve with his project. Only the main

objectives of the project should be mentioned and judging by the time-frame of a

final-year project, these should be limited to two or three at the most.

viii) Literature Survey

See para 10.

viii) Theory or Theoretical BackgroundIf the project requires a detailed description of the theory behind the project, or

involves some long derivations of a mathematical nature, it might be useful to put this

in a separate chapter. Sometimes it is possible to include this in the Literature Survey

(or Review), or the Literature Survey can be included in the chapter on theory. This

all depends on the nature of the topic and it is up to the author (with the advice of the

supervisor) to decide which is the more appropriate.

ix) Equipment or Design of EquipmentIf the project involved a series of tests using standard equipment, then this chapter

will simply list the equipment used including make, type and serial number. It is also

acceptable, in this case, to list the equipment in another chapter, such as the one on

Methods of Testing. If the project involved the development of some specific

equipment or an auxiliary piece of equipment which has been used significantly in the

project, then the chapters should include a detailed description of the equipment with

accompanying drawings and plates. If the project is about the design and construction

of a specific piece of equipment, then this chapter is always required; indeed, in this

case, it may be necessary to split the description over two or more chapters.

x) Methods of Testing or Experimental ProcedureThe methodology used in carrying out the experiments should be presented here in

detail. This chapter has to be written in such a way that anyone wishing to repeat the


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tests has all the information necessary to do so. Any standards used should always be

clearly stated and figures and flowcharts showing methods and procedures are

generally plentiful here. This chapter should be written in a logical format rather than

a chronological one.

xi) Tests and Test ResultsThe results of experiments or tests carried out should be presented here in an orderly

and logical way. Tables and graphs should be well captioned as references to these

will be made often. When presenting results in this way do not discuss them but

explain where they came from. Sometimes it is desirable to present results and discuss

them immediately as they are presented. In this case, it should be clearly indicated

that this chapter includes the discussion part and should therefore be called Results

and Discussion of Results.

xii) Discussion of ResultsThis chapter is a very important part of the dissertation and will be one that the

Examiners, especially the External Examiner, will read with much attention. All the

results that were generated through the tests and experiments will be discussed here.

The discussion should be objective and to the point. The rules of technical writing

should be followed scrupulously. Comparison between the students results and those

published elsewhere should be made in this chapter, as is constructive criticism of

previous work. If testing yielded negative results, they should also be presented and

discussed and possible reasons and explanations for their being negative should be put

forward. Very often, negative results can be as valuable as positive ones.

xiii) Conclusions and Suggestions for Further WorkAll the conclusions that the student can draw from the work carried out should be

listed in this chapter. The most important come first. Parts of the discussion (from the

previous chapter) should not be repeated in the conclusions, which should be

presented concisely and in a straight-forward manner. This chapter is in fact very

often rather short. Based on the conclusions, the student should suggest what further

work can be done in the future, i.e. what can be built on what has been done. There is

no need for the student to say that that is what he would have liked to do had there

been more time; that is taken for granted.


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xiv) References and BibliographySee paras 20 1nd 21.

xv) AppendicesAny work that is of importance to the dissertation but does not fit in the main text

may be placed as an appendix at the end. This could be a lengthy derivation, a

calculation showing how certain values were obtained, or a more detailed explanation

of a concept or idea, etc. Alternatively, instead of an Appendix, one can attach a CD

or DVD to the dissertation.

14. TITLE PAGE

The format of the first page (title page) of the dissertation should be laid out as shown

in Appendix B. Please note that the student must consult the supervisor to specify the

Department name.

15. NUMBER OF PAGES AND PAGE NUMBERING

The overall length of the dissertation should not exceed 100 pages maximum,

inclusive of diagrams, graphs, abstract, appendices, references and computer program

listings. Only where absolutely necessary and with the permission of the supervisor,

may the overall length exceed a 100 pages and then again strictly not more than 120

pages.

Page numbering should be on every page throughout the dissertation document, no

matter whether the page is full of text, tables or figures.


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16. SYNOPSIS

The Synopsis is a brief report outlining the work carried out during the project. The

main purpose of the Synopsis is to enable the External Examiner and Assessor to

obtain a good overall picture of the Dissertation without having to read it. The

Assessors allocate their mark based upon the Synopsis and the oral presentation. They

will not read the dissertation. The External Examiner reads the Synopses before

coming to Malta, so that on arrival, the Examiner can quickly glimpse through each

dissertation, reading carefully only those passages that enable him to form a correct

opinion of the worth of the dissertation. The Synopsis should not be longer than 10

pages. Four hard copies must be submitted to Faculty Office and a soft copy uploaded

on the VLE by the previously announced deadline.

17. STYLE OF WRITING

All writing should be objective, formal and impersonal. Abbreviations, with the

exception of those that are in common English usage, should be spelt out in full when

used for the first time. Symbols for units and chemical formulae are not abbreviations

and should not be used as such. Most abbreviations have capital letters, but some of

the more commonly used ones have lower-case letters with full points, such as: d.c. ,

b.m.e.p., e.m.f., r.m.s., i.d., o.d. The abbreviation % can be used in tables but per

cent is preferred in the main body of the text.

Words used in an unusual sense may be enclosed within single quotation marks when

first mentioned.

Sentences should not start with a number expressed in figures or with an abbreviation.

These should be written in full.

Politically incorrect, sexist and racist language is not admissible, e.g. he/she. For

instance, the following is not favoured: The role played by the machine operator in

this task is of prime importance. He ensures that. Making use of the third person

would avoid this. Alternatively one can use s/he.


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No fancy inscriptions shall be tolerated, such as The end may they live in peace

(actual quotation from a student dissertation).

18. TABLES AND FIGURES

In any one dissertation, tables and figures should either be presented in the text or at

the end of each chapter. A dissertation should not have a mixture of both styles.

If laid horizontally on the page (landscape style), they must be printed with the top

towards the spine and not vice-versa.

Tables and figures should be mentioned in the main text, and no section of the

dissertation should be a sequence of images and tables without explanatory text.

Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are

mentioned in the text, and all should be captioned appropriately. Titles of tables are

printed above the tables while captions of figures are placed below the figures.

Figures and tables copied from other sources should be acknowledged by quoting the

source as a reference.

All figures and tables must be referenced at least once in the text. They should never

be placed on a page earlier than the reference to them.

All axes of graphs must be labeled with the name of the variable and the units in

which that variable is being expressed, unless of course it is a dimensionless variable.

19. UNITS AND SYMBOLS

Units should be consistent and SI.

The symbol for a physical quantity should be a single letter of the Latin or Greek

alphabet. An exception to this rule has been made for certain dimensionless groups for


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which the internationally agreed symbols consist of two letters, the first a capital and

the second lower-case. Such two-letter symbols should be enclosed in parenthesis, at

least in equations where ambiguities might otherwise arise. For example:

Nu = 0.023(Re)0.8

(Pr)0.4

Symbols may be modified by subscripts and superscripts. It is recommended that

normally only one symbol should be chosen for any one physical quantity and if

necessary, be amplified by subscript (or superscript). Subscripts to subscripts (and

superscripts to superscripts) should be avoided.

To facilitate the reading of long numbers, the digits should be grouped in threes about

the decimal point but no commas should be used. When the decimal point is placed

before the first digit of a number, a zero should always be placed before the decimal

point. Numbers should be rounded up to the nearest number of places that make

sense, i.e. that are within the accuracy of the measurement or calculation in question.

The multiplication sign between numbers should not be an x, but the appropriate

times symbol in the word/text processing software being used. The same applies to

the minus sign which should not simply be a hyphen.

20. REFERENCES

The dissertation must include a numbered list of references and an optional

bibliography list. These are to be included just before the Appendices, as explained in

para 13.

References to published work should be listed in the order in which they are

mentioned in the text, or in alphabetical order. It is important however that only one

system is used in any one dissertation, i.e. whatever system is chosen must then be

adhered to.


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All references listed must be mentioned in the text. Where material not mentioned in

the text is to be listed, it should appear in a separate section Bibliography in

alphabetical order of authors surnames. Care should be taken to ensure that

references are accurate and complete with the title of the paper in addition to the

source. References should not be given in footnotes. Personal communications should

not be included in the list of references but may be mentioned in the text.

The format for references is based upon the IEEE standard. This uses a number in

square brackets within the text to refer to specific references. For example, The

system was tested by using the Tesla Test [4]. Smith and Brown [3] discuss the

variety of errors associated with this test. Other researchers have addressed the same

problem using different points of view [1], [5], [10]-[15].

Mention of a reference in the text should be without initials or titles of the author,

thus: Smith and Brown [3] discuss..

Extended extracts from printed publications, including previous dissertations, is not

allowed, even if referenced.

The IEEE format for the list of references, which typically includes different types of

publications, is given in the following examples:

(i) Books[1] A.B. See,Engineering Science, New York, Wiley, 2001, pp. 12-25.

(ii) Reference to a chapter in a book consisting of a collection of contributionsby various authors:

[2] D.E. Eff, The design of artificial machines, in Discussions on Intelligent

Machines, 3rd

ed., vol. 1, T. Eddy, Ed., London, Wiley, 1999, pp. 20-45.

(iii) Dissertation and theses

[3] B.B. Borg, Design and implementation of a chemical rector, B.Eng. dissertation,

University of Malta, Malta, 1990.


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(iv) Papers in journals and periodicals:

[4] P.J. Harris, On the origins of technology,ASME Transactions on Mechasystems,

vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 101-108, Jan. 2003.

(v) Articles in published conference proceedings:

[5] I.M. Stern, U.R. Knot and B.S. Goode, A new method of stress analysis applied

to a cantilever structure, in Proceedings of the 7th

International Conference on

Structures, 1995, 123-129.

(vi)On-line electronic sources:

Use internet citations only where absolutely necessary. If a paper has appeared in

print (say in a journal) as well as on the Internet, then use details of the printed

version for your reference. The reason for this is that on-line references are typically

removed or placed at different web addresses in a relatively short time. If your

reference source appears as an on-line electronic document only, then it is advisable

to include it in a CDROM attached to the dissertation, provided that the copyright

regulations for the document permit this. The format for listing on-line references is

as follows:

For on-line books or articles:

[6] P. Gale. (2002 April 15). A History of Electronic Books. [on-line]. Available:

http://www.abc.com

For a web page :

[7] S. Tugali and P. Masade. (1996, May), The robotics web page. [on-line].

Available: http://rob.tu.edu/~robbie.

These guidelines are based on the IEEE web publication [1].

21. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography and References are two different things.

A Bibliography is a list of books that were read and consulted to obtain general

knowledge about the subject matter.


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On the other hand, references relate to specific items of information that were found

in the literature and used in the preparation of the dissertation. Hence, a whole book

cannot normally be a reference; it is more likely to be listed in the bibliography. The

reference would be a specific page or number of pages in a book, which contain

information relevant to the particular point being made in the students write-up.

22. PAGE FORMAT AND PRINTING QUALITY

Text should be printed in fine quality mode. It should be printed with a font size of

12pts, Times New Roman, in one-and-a-half line spacing. These notes have been

printed in Times New Roman, 12 pts, one-and-a-half line spacing.

Page margins should be minimum 25mm all round, and 37mm on the left-hand side to

allow for binding.

23. NUMBER OF COPIES

Every student must submit at least two spiral-bound copies by the date published by

the Faculty Office. One copy is for the supervisor and one for the Reader. In cases

where there is more than one supervisor, the student must hand in a spiral-bound copy

for each of the supervisors.

Following examination of the dissertation, every student should have three copies of

the dissertation hard-bound. One is the official copy to be presented to the Head of

Department to satisfy regulations. The second copy is for the supervisor and the third

copy is for the student. These hard-bound copies are to include any corrections and

amendments requested by the reader and the supervisor following their reading of the

spiral-bound version. In the case of projects sponsored by Industry, a fourth copy is

required to be presented to the firm that sponsored the project. In cases where there is

more than one supervisor, the student must hand in a hard-bound copy for each of the

supervisors.


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24. SOFTWARE BASED PROJECTS

In the case of software based projects, students must also deliver on CD the complete

set of all programs used and/or developed together with a user manual explaining the

operation of the software. These should be delivered to the supervisor separately from

the hard-bound copy of the dissertation.

25. BINDING

The dissertation should be bound in BLACK coloured Tablerene Bookcloth covered

front and back millboards appropriate to A4 paper size (293mm x 206mm). All pages

are to be sewn and glued. A left hand margin of about 37mm must be left when typing

the dissertation to allow for binding.

The surname and initials, short version of title, degree and year (e.g. BORG J.A.,

short version of title, B.Eng.(Hons.), 2008) should be printed in 6mm upright gilt

lettering on the spine of the dissertation, reading from top to bottom of the spine. The

surname is to begin 37mm from top and the year is to end at 50mm from bottom. The

title of the dissertation should be printed in the middle of the front board using 6mm

high BLOCK CAPITAL lettering. See Appendix C.

It is advisable that a draft of the dissertation, including Title page, Abstract and

Acknowledgements be shown to the supervisor before binding.

26. SUBMISSION DATES

The latest dates for submitting the Synopsis and the regulation bound copy of the

dissertation is communicated by the Faculty Office from year to year; see section 3,

Project Timeline.


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27. THE ORAL PRESENTATION

Every student is expected to make an oral presentation of the project sometime during

June. The presentation is assessed by the students supervisor, (co-supervisor if there

is one), the reader and the assessor, and the mark for the presentation forms part of the

final mark for the project.

The audience for the talks consists of students and staff.

The length of the talk is twenty minutes, fifteen minutes for the actual talk and five

minutes for questions. It is important that students learn to keep to the allotted time.

To do this, it may be necessary to leave out some material. It is better to say more

about less than to say less about more. Furthermore, if running out of time, the student

should avoid the temptation of speeding up the presentation to squeeze in everything

s/he planned to say. Rather, the student should continue at the right pace, cut short

some of the presentation concentrating only on the most important items. The student

should plan the talk and allow sufficient time for discussion of results and

conclusions.

Some form of visual aids, such as PowerPoint presentation or slides for the overhead

projector are essential. They liven up the presentation and make it more interesting.

The number of slides to show should be considered carefully. It is not necessary to

have all the results on the slides; there may not be enough time to show everything.

Lettering on these slides has to be very large, not less than arial 28, otherwise they

cannot be read clearly. Tables and figures can have a smaller font which should NOT

be less than arial 16. In fact it is better to err on the larger size than on the smaller

size. The student should avoid placing too much information on one slide and

moreover to jump from one slide to another without the necessary

reference/explanation.

Students should learn not to panic or become nervous during the talk. This does not

help delivery; it may even create mental blocks. On the contrary, they should make it

a point to control their nerves, relax and keep their cool. If a feeling of nervousness

starts creeping in, it is wise to stop or slow down for a few seconds to regain


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composure. Adequate preparation and rehearsing in front of a friendly audience helps

build confidence and experience.

Students should avoid talking in Maltenglish, i.e. a mixture of Maltese and English.

The presentation is to be made only and wholly in English.

As regards the actual talk, students should introduce the topic very briefly and then go

straight to what work they have done and what results they have obtained. They

should avoid giving a lecture on the subject of their dissertation.

28. METHOD OF ASSESSMENT

Marks are given by the Supervisor (co-supervisor, if any), a Reader and an Assessor.

The Supervisor will have a good idea of the progress of the project during the year

from the consultations with the student. The frequency of these consultations will

depend on the need of the student for advice and guidance. It is however wise for the

student to keep the Supervisor constantly informed of the progress of the project even

when the student feels that progress is good and that there is no need to consult the

Supervisor.

The Readers understanding of the project will come almost entirely from reading the

dissertation, although the presentation will also form part of the Readers mark. The

student may also wish to have one or two meetings with the Reader during which s/he

may wish to keep the Reader informed on the project.

The Assessor will not read the dissertation, but will be provided with the Synopsis

and will attend the oral presentation. The Assessors mark will be based on his/her

understanding of the quality of the students work from the Synopsis as well as the

presentation.

The External Examiner does not contribute to the marking of the project, but

expresses his/her views on the students project during the Board of Examiners

meeting and these comments are taken into consideration during the honours


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classification grading. It is to be appreciated that the External Examiner is normally

rather short on time, and cannot possibly read all the dissertations in detail. Hence the

importance of the Synopsis and the Interview.

The final dissertation mark is based upon the mark of the Supervisor(s), Reader and

Assessor as per the following weighting:

35% by the Supervisor(s)

35% by the Reader

20% by the Assessor

10% for student activity (graded by the Supervisor).

The distribution of marks by the Supervisor and Reader is generally as follows:

Oral Presentation 10

Research/Theoretical Approach 35

Results 40

Reporting 15

TOTAL 100

In cases of joint Supervisors and/or Readers, marks will be distributed among the

Supervisors/Readers as the case may be.

The distribution of marks by the Assessors is generally as follows:

Oral presentation 50

Synopsis 50

TOTAL 100

29. INTERVIEW

The student may be interviewed by the External Examiner, next to the project

hardware and/or software. The student may be interviewed not only on the

dissertation and the work involved but also on the students knowledge of general

engineering theory learnt during the four years at University.


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30. EXHIBITION AND EXHIBITION BOOKLET

What started off as an aid for the External Examiners to view final-year projects has

turned into an annual exhibition open to the public. Soon after the end of their final

examinations, students are given a few days in which to organise their project

hardware and software and turn it into an exhibit for the benefit of the External

Examiner and for the public.

For this exhibition, the Faculty publishes an exhibition booklet, which is in effect a

catalogue of exhibits. Every final-year student is expected to submit a one-page (A4)

write-up of his/her project. This book serves not only as a guide for the many visitors

that tour the exhibition but is also a souvenir for students themselves and a

promotional aid for the Faculty. Students are also asked to prepare and print an A1

colour poster summarizing results and conclusions. Specific instructions may be

obtained from the Faculty Office. This poster will be used during the exhibition.

31. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

These refer to patent rights, copyrights, etc. It is normal practice and according to law

that in Universities and places of work any rights arising from work carried out in the

organisation belong in the first instance to it. It is also common practice that the

originators of the work would participate in any royalties arising out of these rights.

This means that in our case, any intellectual property rights belong, in the first

instance to the University with the student and the academic member of staff having

the right to participate in any royalties derived from these rights. The University has a

Corporate Research and Knowledge Transfer Office that can provide advice on the

matter.

32. PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism refers to the act of copying other peoples work and presenting it as ones

own. This is nothing short than THEFT of intellectual property, and is to be


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condemned in the strongest terms possible. Students caught plagiarizing other

peoples work will be severely penalized, and this may lead to failing the study unit.

Please consult The Universitys Plagiarism and Collusion, Guidelines for students,

academics, Faculties, Institutes, Centres, which can be found on the Universitys

website at:

http://www.um.edu.mt/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/95571/University_Guidelines_on_

Plagiarism.pdf

More information on plagiarism may be found in [2].


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APPENDIX A REFERENCES

[1] IEEE. (2006, January).Information for Authors. [Online], pp. 4-5. Available:

http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs//transactions/auinfo03.pdf ,

[2] iParadigms (2011), Learn about plagiarism, [Online]. Available:

https://www.writecheck.com/static/resources_what_is_plagiarism.html


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APPENDIX B TITLE PAGE

UNIVERSITY OF MALTA

Faculty of Engineering

Department (specify the Department)

FINAL YEAR PROJECT

B.ENG. (Hons)

Title Name

by

Name of Author

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment

Of the requirements of the award of

Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.) of the University of Malta


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APPENDIX C LETTERING ON HARD COVER

Front Cover:

Title (100 letters maximum)

STUDENT NAME AND SURNAME

B.Eng.(Hons.) Month and year

SPINE:

Name short version of title in the middle Month and year

project guidelines 2011

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