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UNIVERSITIUNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

Faculty of Engineering and Science

Final-Year Project and Engineering Report Writing

Ir. Prof. Dr. Chung Boon KuanPEng, MIEM

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Agenda

• Introduction to OBE

• Importance of FYP in OBE

• How to choose FYP title

• How to carry out an engineering research

• How to write a good project report

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Traditional Education

• A lot of differences between University and School. • Traditional education focuses on transferring resources

to the students. Students learn what lecturer teach.• Major shortcoming: graduates lack of creativity and

innovation. Students tend to learn only the content that lecturers teach them, and don’t have the ability to solve new engineering problems or design new devices.

• Industry expect more than Knowledge: Creativity, Attitude, Soft-skills.

• Examination only gauge the retention and comprehension of the course. It does not evaluate the desired learning outcomes. (Exam doesn’t measure soft-skills, attitude towards life-long learning etc.)

• Passing exam doesn’t prove that the students can meet the desired outcomes expected by industry.

• Mismatch between the content provided to students and industry’s expectation.

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Outcome-based Education (OBE)

• Advocated by EAC to obtain international mutual recognition of engineering programmes (Washington Accord)

• A student-centered learning philosophy that focuses on empirically measuring student performance, which are called outcomes.

• Assume students as knowledge seekers who constantly construct meaning from experience and seek to understand phenomena surrounding them - mature adults, eagle to learn

• A set of Programme Outcomes are specified based on industry input.

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Programme Outcomes of 3E Programme Outcomes of EC

i. Ability to apply acquired fundamental knowledge of science and engineering

i. Apply acquired fundamental knowledge of science and engineering;

ii. Possess the relevant technical skills in electrical and electronic engineering

iii. Possess the relevant technical skills in electronic and communications engineering;

iii. Ability to identify, formulate and solve problems of high- and low-power circuits and systems

iv. Identify, formulate and solve communication engineering problems;

iv. Ability to design and evaluate electrical and electronic systems based on system approach

ii. Design and evaluate electronic and communication systems based on system approach;

viii. Be aware of the current good practices of electrical & electronic engineering for sustainable development

vi. Be aware of the current good practices of electronic and communication engineering for sustainable development;

vii. Ability to understand and commit to prevailing professional and ethical responsibilities

vii. Demonstrate commitment to ethical and professional responsibilities;

v. Ability to communicate effectively v. Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical people;

vi. Ability to function effectively as an individual and in a group

ix. Function effectively as an individual and in a team;

x. Be aware that a professional engineer’s work have social, cultural, global and environmental ramifications

x. Be aware of a professional engineer’s social, cultural, global and environmental responsibilities.

ix. Recognize the importance of and be able to engage in life-long learning

viii. Recognize that electronic communication is a fast evolving field and is committed to carry out life-long learning;

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Sustainable Development

• Climate change - global issue most concerned today

• From scarcity of water to new supplies of fossil to meet energy demands

• Minimum impact to the environment

• Minimize energy consumption

• Minimize use of material and waste

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Industry Expectation

Engineers are expected to make quick and useful contribution in work.

Not enough to rely on technical expertise; employers will expect you to demonstrate a range of practical skills and soft skills.

You will therefore need to think about the skills that you have to offer the employer.

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Learning Process in OBE

• Traditional education: students learn what lecturer teach → students lack of creativity and innovation.

• OBE: students told what skills are required, students find own ways to learn, prove/show lecturer that required skills are achieved.

• Discourages traditional education approaches based on direct instruction of facts and standard methods.

• Lecturer act as manager and guide (ask question, set assignment, examine achievement of required outcomes)

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Assessment Method in OBE

• Examination

• Problem-based Learning (PBL) – Assignment, Presentation

• It requires the students to demonstrate that they have learnt/acquired the required competency (technical, attitude, soft-skills)

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Programme Objectives & Outcomes

• Programme Outcomes describe the attributes that the students are expected to attain at the point of graduation.

• Programme Objectives describe the career and professional accomplishments that the programme would prepares the graduates to achieve in a few years after their graduation.

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Programme ObjectivesProgramme Objectives of 3E Programme Objectives of EC

The graduates of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Programme will use the latest knowledge and techniques in developing, maintaining, servicing, sales and marketing, and research of electrical and electronics technologies

The graduates of Electronic and Communication Engineering Programme will use the latest knowledge and techniques in design, developing, maintaining, servicing, sales and marketing, and research of electronic telecommunication and technologies

The graduates will assume technical, managerial and ethical roles effectively in the organizations they work in.

The graduates will assume technical, managerial and ethical roles effectively in the organizations they work in.

The graduates will be involved in the affairs of professional institutions and keep abreast of the nation’s needs and developments, and provide services to the engineering communities and the nation

The graduates will be involved in the affairs of professional institutions and keep abreast of the nation’s needs and developments, and provide services to the engineering communities and the nation

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Online Student Survey

• Self Assessment • Log on to UTAR Student Portal• Student Survey → Programme Outcomes• March 2010• All final-year students must do the survey.

(FYP mark will be deducted for those who skip.)

• Survey on Programme Objectives will be done 5 years after graduation.

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Importance of FYP in OBE

• To demonstrate achievement of POs• Technical skills• Ethical and professional skills• Teamwork and leadership skills• Communication skills• Awareness of cultural, global and

environmental responsibilities• Life-long learning

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Assessment Methods

• Progress report

• Oral Presentation

• Project Demonstration

• Written Report

• General Effort

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How to choose FYP title?

• Choose one that will give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you have attained the 10 desired POs

• Involve problem-solving: technical skills• Fundamental, Specialize knowledge,

Formulation, Systematic approach, Sustainable Development

• Require further reading beyond what you have learnt in the classroom: Life-long learning

• Fill up the form, get supervisor signature and pass it to FYP coordinator (Dr. Stella).

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Demonstrate PO Achievement

• Working with peer, supervisor, technician, and supplier: teamwork

• Do not plagiarize, create original thoughts, citation of references: ethical and professional skills

• Give clear explanations in oral presentation, demonstration, and written report (according to required format): communication skills

• Highlight Awareness of cultural, global and environmental responsibilities

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• Literature Review: find out what others have done? what are their merits and demerits?

• Info source: journal, magazine, books, handbooks, encyclopedia, patent, www, etc.

• Think out-of-the-box: better way of doing things

• Make design trade-offs to achieve a good balance of cost and effectiveness

• Keep a design logbook• Test plan, measure and compare with

analysis

How to carry out research?

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How to write a good report?

• Content is the “King”

• Logical flow of topics

• Standard format: abstract, introduction, background theory, design analysis, test plan, measurement and discussion of the results, conclusion

• Marking scheme

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Content

• Facts that show you posses the desired quality of an engineer: POs

• Be professional: don’t think of yourself as a student, imagine you are an engineer reporting to your employer/supervisor.

• Supervisor’s role: evaluate achievement of POs and provide guidance

• Supervisor is not suppose to give solution.

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Abstract

• A summary of the report which contains the statements of what was done, how it was done, the results and the conclusion drawn.

• It is usually written last after the main body of the documentation is completed.

• It should not be used to define the purpose of the project or to give a general introduction.

• It should be short and concise, containing only the most critical information meant for the readers who have limited time to read the full report.

• Very often, technical professionals only read the abstract and will continue reading the entire report only if the abstract attracts their interest.

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Example 1“Many wireless communications systems must be able to measure received signal strength. To provide sufficient bandwidth to cover the Ultra Wideband (UWB) spectrum, improvements are accomplished to an integrated CMOS broadband detector that uses the nonlinear behavior of a CMOS transistor in deep triode mode. The detector is incorporated into a feedback loop for gain and filter control of an impulse-UWB receiver.

The wideband RF power-detection system uses NMOS devices operating in the triode regime to generate an average current that is proportional to RF input power. Using a piecewise linear logarithmic approximation, the current is converted to voltage and then amplified. The power detector occupies an active area of 0.36 mm2 in a 0.18-µm process. It consumes 10.8 mW from the power supply. When measured at discrete frequencies, error between the output and a linear-in-decibel best-fit curve is ±2.4 dB for a 20-dB input range. It achieves ±2.9 dB accuracy when dynamic range is defined to include all of the frequencies within the UWB spectrum.

The measured power metric is applied to an algorithm that tunes a notch filter to remove narrowband interferers from the UWB spectrum. For the algorithm to operate correctly, the power detector must produce a frequency-independent output within the band of interest. The output response varies by less than 1.8 dB for fixed input power as frequency is swept across the UWB spectrum.”

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Example 2“The release of a license-free 7-GHz band around 60 GHz has prompted researchers around the globe to focus on millimeter-wave circuit and system design for this frequency band. Although such frequencies suggest the use of semiconductor processes like GaAs and InP, the constant scaling of CMOS technology has spawned receivers that are fast enough for millimeter-wave operation. In the current project, a 90-nm, digital-CMOS, two-path, 52-GHz phased-array receiver based on local-oscillator (LO) phase shifting is demonstrated. The quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) flaunts an 8-GHz tuning range. The receiver achieves 30 dB of maximum gain and 7.1 dB of minimum noise figure per path around 52 GHz while consuming 65 mW. It occupies an area of just 0.1 mm2.

To implement beamforming, the 52-GHz phased-array receiver relies on phase shifting in the LO path. The receiver comprises two antenna paths that each has a low-noise amplifier (LNA), mixer, and phase generator. A QVCO generates quadrature LO outputs, which are buffered and distributed to the phase generators. The QVCO is tunable between 48.2 and 51.7 GHz. It boasts phase noise of –87 dBc/Hz offset 1 MHz from the carrier and draws 19 mA from a +1.2-VDC supply.

A high-impedance cascading approach is adopted between stages. An algorithm to allow in-situ measurement of the LNA center frequency is proposed. Using the techniques for implementation of variable gain and expansion of QVCO tuning range, a gain-selection range of 12.6 dB and a QVCO tuning range of 8 GHz are achieved.”

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Introduction

• An introduction is necessary to give an overview of the overall topic and the purpose of the report.

• Project Objective: targeted spec. or achievement

• The motivation to the initialisation of the project can be included.

• Its content should be general enough to orientate the reader gracefully into the subject materials.

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Theoretical Background / Literature Review

• This section is to discuss the theoretical aspects leading to the implementation of the project.

• Typically, this involves the historical background of the theories published in the research literature and the questions or ambiguities arose in these theoretical works.

• Citations for the sources of information should be given in one of the standard bibliographic formats (for example, using square brackets with the corresponding number [2] that points to the List of References).

• Explore this background to prepare the readers to read the main body of the report. It should contain sufficient materials to enable the readers to understand why the set of data are collected, and what are the salient features to observe in the graph, charts and tables presented in the later sections.

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Research Methodology

• Awareness of various possible investigative / design methods

• Main tasks, difficulties and problems are listed and explained

• Operating principles of various designs are explained

• Evidence of planning and organization to achieve milestones and demonstrate problem solving skills

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Experimental Method, Procedure and Equipment

• This section describes the approach and the equipment used to conduct the experiment. It explains the function of each apparatus and how the configuration works to perform a particular measurement.

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Observations, Data, Findings, Results

• The data should be organized and presented in the forms of graphs, charts, or tables in this section.

• Raw data which may take up a few pages, and most probably won’t interest any reader, could be placed in the appendices.

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Discussions

• The interpretation of the data gathered is discussed in this section.

• Sample calculations may be included to show the correlation between the theory and the measurement results.

• If there exists any discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental results, an analysis or discussion should follow to explain the possible sources of error.

• The experimental data and the discussions may also be combined into one section, for example, under the heading called “Discussion of Experimental Results”.

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Conclusion

• The conclusion section closes the report by providing a summary to the content in the report.

• It indicates what is shown by the work, what is its significance, and what are the advantages and limitations of the information presented.

• The potential applications of the results and recommendations for future work may be included.

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Appendices

• The appendices are used to present derivations of formulae, computer program source codes, raw data, and other related information that supports the topic of the report.

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List of References

• Journals, magazines, books, handbooks, encyclopedia, patent, rather than websites

• The sources of information are usually arranged and numbered according to the order they are cited in the report. The reference materials must be entered in the required formats.

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Other Guidelines

• Chapter organization shall be individualized• Don’t include datasheet as appendix: not

your work, just cite it in the text and list it under references, or cut the essential info

• Don’t talk about things that are too basic like what is transistor, diode, capacitor, etc

• Follow the required report format (sequence, spacing, font size, etc.): read the guidelines, don’t simply follow senior

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Final Remarks

• Know what is OBE

• Know the 3-PEO, and 10-PO

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Purchasing Procedure

• < RM100 per receipt• > RM100 must get HoD prior approval

(Purchase Request form, 3 quotations)• Cannot claim if not following procedure• Claim at the end of project (fill up the

required forms and attach receipts)• Max claim: RM500 per student• Return all components to supervisor at the

end of project.