Developing field experience for Mechanical Engineering students

Introduction

Engineering students at Mechanical Engineering Departments are required to undergo training in a professional capacity at a company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or abroad. This training is normally conducted during the Summer semester 2020 at the beginning of students’ senior year. It consists of 8 weeks’ internship with a professional company under the supervision of engineers and experts. Venues for this training have to be approved by the department.

The Internship program/course is aimed at developing field experience for Mechanical Engineering students. The completion of this program is achieved through internship in industry and other field experience organizations approved by the Mechanical Engineering Department. The course is structured to help graduating seniors gain practical engineering experience in the real-world environment off campus. Students will practice communication skills, critical thinking and technical problem-solving methods to execute engineering projects in an industry setting. Technical project reporting and presentation skills are put to practice through this course. At the end of the Internship, student is expected to:

• Gain field experience in the areas related to applied Mechanical Engineering.
• Gain exposure to the latest technologies and tools available in industry.
• Learn how to apply theoretical engineering skills gained in academia into real-world engineering problems.
• Learn how to prepare engineering project proposals, practice technical problem solving, and communicate/present engineering project outcomes.
• Learn business, financial and economic aspects of field engineering practice.
• Learn organizational skills, work ethics, team work skills, and time management in a field

A requirement of the Internship Program is the preparation of a Final Technical Report. The purpose of the report is to demonstrate the skills and attitudes you acquired during your work period. In order to achieve these goals, students are required to:

• Preparation of a biweekly Progress Technical Report.
• Preparation of a Final Technical Report due after one week of finishing the internship.
• Preparation and presentation of a Seminar on your internship experience after one week of finishing the internship

Technical Report

In preparing the Progress (bweekely report) and Final Technical Reports, A well-organized and easily readable report is expected. The grading of the report will therefore be based primarily on the completeness of presentation with evidence of technical reporting skills. The following points are provided as general guidelines in writing a good engineering report:

• Plan ahead on writing the report at the beginning of and during the internship period. This step is to ensure that the information, when still fresh in the mind and at the time when motivation is high, is being recorded.
• Straightforward functional style of writing is recommended. Describe all relevant facts, work experience, and observation without off the point information.
• The report describes the tasks that they have actually conducted during their training.
• Catalogues and brochures information are referred to in the literature survey part of the report only, or the appendices, but should not constitute the whole report.
• Reports are not duplicated or copied from other students (no plagiarism).
• Reports should be submitted in the preset deadlines.
• Report should be written in proper English language:
• Coherent ideas are grouped in separate paragraphs.
• The report should not be written in point form.
• Each section should have a title.
• Pages should be numbered.
• Each figure should be properly numbered, and has a caption (title) below it.
• Each table should be properly numbered and has a title above it.
• All tables in the report should have a unified format.
• Appendices, if any, should be brief and contain details that are normally not described in the main text of the report.
• Report cover should be the very first page of your report.
• Students are required to fill up the Student Feedback Form on their Internship to be attached at the back of the Final Technical Report and upload them in PDF format (Max. 3MB) onto the Blackboard web system or hand it to the Internship Advisor.

It is the student’s responsibility to follow up with his advisor and check if the report needs any corrections or modifications.

 

 

Final Technical Report

The Final Technical Report should carry intellectual contents to highlight the student’s experiences and benefits gained from the internship. Students are required to submit a minimum of 15-20-page report at the end of their Internship. Students are to hand the Internship reports to their supervisors in their Internship companies, get them approved and upload them in PDF format (Max. 3MB) onto the blackboard web system or hand it as a hard copy to their Internship Advisor to grade. Students undertaking Internship will be graded.

All Internship Students should follow the following guidelines to prepare their summer semester 2020 Internship Final Technical Report. The report will not be accepted without the suggested format.

• Report Cover / Title Page

This page should have the following: Title of the Study, Student Name and Student Id, Name of the Company, Name of the Department and College and the University. (Appendix A)

• Abstract

It is a brief explanation about the work/study in about 100 words. It is intended to inform the reader about the subject of the report, where the information has been obtained, and the key findings.

• Acknowledgements

To acknowledge training provided by the management of the company, the assistance received from other persons during training, etc.

• Table of contents (see Appendix B)
• List of Figures (if any)
• List of Tables (if any)
• Main text

The organizational structure and principal activities of the company may be briefly described. Its training schedule, assignments undertaken in chronological sequence and objectives may be described. Technical and other implementation details may also be described.

Students are expected to display a broader interest and within the limits set by his status, to gain information and form impressions on various aspects of corporate functions. Activities of particular technical interest, whether or not within a student’s own major field should also be described.

 

• Introduction

This section should introduce the reader to the work being presented. It should clearly mention and discuss the aims and objectives of the Internship and introduce the content of the report.

• The Company

A brief introduction should be provided about the company, the product, the size, its age, production volume, location, etc. The department in which the student worked, its objectives and tasks should also be mentioned in relation to other departments in the company.

• Activities and responsibilities

The type of work done (activities involved) by the student and his responsibilities should be clearly mentioned. This involves the description of the day-to-day activities in the department.

• Major tasks or projects

The students should clearly mention the objectives of the project (or main task) conducted by him individually or as a member of a group. The task (or project) description and objectives should be clearly stated followed by the Tools or Software used and presents their results.

• Conclusion

This section should provide conclusions, summary of their work and observations and training experience. The conclusions should be closely related to the objectives of the work and in a condensed form.

 

 

• References

All the references quoted in the report, manuals and other relevant literature, if any should be listed in alphabetical order.

• Appendices

If the work involved data collection, or mathematical derivations, or supporting drawings/ pictures, etc., they can be added as Appendices at the end of the Report (always after References) including copies of biweekly Progress Technical Report.

All data taken from the company should be approved by the company before you attach it at the end of each report. Once cleared, you are required to upload/handed in your report for your Advisor to assess.

 

 

Progress Technical Report

The construction of the Progress Technical Report is a short version of the formal report that contains:

• Report Cover/ Title Page

This page should have the following: Title of the Study, Student Name and Student Id, Name of the Company, Name of the Department and College and the University. (Appendix A)

• Summary

It is a brief explanation about the work. It is intended to inform the reader about the progress achieved and its effect upon schedule.

• Background

This section should introduce the reader to the work being presented. It should clearly mention the situation and events leading up to the report.

In your first Progress Technical Report you should include this additional information:

1. The starting day of Training.
2. The name of the company where the training is conducted

• The name and contacts of the training supervisor.

1. The company’s training schedule.

• Progress

The students should clearly mention:

1. Planed work.
2. Work done.

• Plans

This section should plans of the work to be done and schedule adjustment.

• Appendices

If the work involved data collection, or mathematical derivations, or supporting drawings/ pictures, etc., they can be added as.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University College of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Internship Report at [Name of Company] Reporting Period: [dd/mm/yyyy – dd/mm/yyyy] Submitted by: [Name of student] [Student Number] [submission date (dd/mm/yyyy)] Mechanical Engineering Department Summer 2020

 

 

 

 

Table of Content

	Page
Abstract
Acknowledgments
Table of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction
The Company
Activities and responsibilities
Major tasks or projects
Conclusion
References
Appendix A
Appendix B
Student Log Sheet
Student Feedback Form
Progress Technical Reports