Guidelines ForME Students v3

Guidelines for ME students
Project Management
The learning objectives of the course are to familiarize with the research process that would be encountered in the engineering practices, and participate in a research project to obtain some hands-on experience. To achieve the above objectives, the students will be asked to be involved in the typical research processes as follows: 1. Identification of research needs (defining phase of the project). A research proposal (1-2 pages) will be prepared by the student, based on his OWN understanding of the project. In the research proposal, the student needs to discuss about the importance of the project, existing work and research gaps, research approaches, timelines and budget etc.. An example is attached in the next page. Normally the research projects are available from the lecturer and naturally the research needs have been identified already. However it is still very important for the student to organize the ideas and form a complete short proposal. The library literature review course will help the student to identify the research needs himself. 2. Creation of a research plan (planning phase of the project). A detailed research plan will be then created, based on the research proposal. In the research proposal a rough plan has already been discussed. A more detailed plan that can be directly implemented needs to be created to guide weekly research activities. The format should be a Table of Contents for the final thesis with detailed deadlines (deliverables). An example is attached. 3. Conduct of research work according to the plan (implementing phase of the project). After the plan has been created the research work can be started. The plan should be followed and outcomes be handled to the supervisor for review and comments. Record keeping is essential in this process. It is required that the student keeps records on what has been attempted, what has been achieved and what difficulties have been met, etc.. The record will be used as a reference by the student himself and also an evidence of work. An example is attached with more details included. 4. Presentation of research results (completing phase of the project). After the work has been done it is important to present the results to colleagues. The student will present the results in the annual student conference, and also in the final thesis. An abstract for the conference will need to be prepared and a thesis needs to be submitted at the end of the project. It is also required to submit an interim report after one semester. To summarize, the table below lists all the requirements for a student to complete the course with Dr. Bo Feng, in order to help the student achieve the learning objectives and complete the project smoothly and successfully. Requirements by the other lecturers may differ. Please come and discuss with me if you have any difficulties.
BF, v1.0, Jul 04, v1.1, Aug 04, v1.2, Oct 04, v1.3, Jun 05, v1.4, Feb 06, v1.5, Jan 07, v2.0, Dec 08, v3.0, Feb 13
List of requirements (Please note that you need to read the course profile as well) No Submissions Deadline Notes 1 Research proposal Week 3, 1-2 pages Friday Example attached 2 Research plan (Table of contents Week 5, No page limits, as detailed of thesis, focusing on deliverables) Friday as possible Example attached 3 Chapters (deliverables) Continuing According to your own plan (sample below) Chapter 1 Introduction ? Chapter 2 Literature review ? Chapter 3 Experimental ? Chapter 4 Results and discussion ? Chapter 5 Conclusion and ? recommendation 4 Research journal Weekly Record research activities and results each time doing the work Example attached 5 Interim report End of Summary of what has been done and what is left Sem1 6 Final report End Sem2 of Final report
Attachments A research proposal A research plan Research record keeping About meetings I will be available for consultation every Wednesday afternoon. Please email me the best time for you if you need to see me (half an hour). Assessment Please refer to the attachment for details about the assessment. Marking criteria for project execution (20%, see attachment) Standards for the interim report (15%, please see attachment) Standards for the final report (65%, please see attachment) Questions & Answers Q: How much time should I spend on the project each week? BF, v1.0, Jul 04, v1.1, Aug 04, v1.2, Oct 04, v1.3, Jun 05, v1.4, Feb 06, v1.5, Jan 07, v2.0, Dec 08, v3.0, Feb 13 2
A: a minimum of 10 hours a week, like a standard #2 course. This is the minimum time that you have to allocate each week to do the project. Q: Do I need to spend money on my project? A: No. You will be fully supported. But you have to spend within the budget of your project. Q: What is the procedure of placing an order? A: For internal purchasing, just fill in an internal requisition form. For external purchasing, you need to fill in a different form or place an order online. Q: What if I have a question before the Wednesday meeting? A: Just send me an email and arrange a time for discussion. Important: 1. All the students who need to do experiments have to do a safety induction and risk assessment before entering the laboratory. Now both the safety induction and risk assessment can be done online (http://www.uq.edu.au/ohs/index.html ). After completing online inductions you need to do a lab induction with the lab manager, and a risk assessment for the project you are doing.
A research proposal
(for demonstration only) This is a proposal by Yit Mun Lai. It is used here as an example to show the elements of a research proposal, such as significance of the project, aims and objectives of the project, background information, research approaches, budget and timelines. ____________________________________________________________________
Name: Yit Mun, Lai Student Number: 40605764 Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Bo Feng
Thermoelectric material for power generation

Aims and objectives of the project: The aim of the project is to identify the appropriate thermoelectric material for power generation. The objective is to investigate and evaluate the potential, applications and types of thermoelectric material for power generation. This project will study the limitations and appropriate applications of thermoelectric materials in different types of power generation applications. Then suggestions are made for suitable techniques and materials that should be further developed for replacing current energy sources.
Background and significance Thermoelectric material power generation, direct energy conversion from heat to electrical power, presents several advantages compared to the other energy conversion technologies. It has proved to be reliable, can operate unattended in hostile environments, and is also environmentally friendly (Rosi 1968). However its application has been limited up to now because of the relatively low conversion efficiency of traditional thermoelectric materials used in the devices. Traditionally, attempts to improve their economic viability have concentrated primarily on improving the conversion efficiency by increasing the figure of merit of thermoelectric materials, with only marginal successes.
Thermoelectric materials are ranked by a figure of merit, ZT, which is defined as
ZT S 2 T k where S is the thermopower or Seebeck coefficient,
is the electrical
conductivity, k is the thermal conductivity, and T is the absolute temperature. Since Developing new thermoelectric materials with high figures of merit (ZT) has been a topic of interest; a ZT larger than 3 will allow thermoelectric coolers to have a coefficient of performance comparable to that of a kitchen refrigerator. For the past 5 decades, the ZT of the best bulk thermoelectric materials has remained at a value of about 1(Gao & Rowe 2002). It is not until the recent emergence of nanotechnology that allows possibility of creating new design of nanostructured materials for achieving high ZT (4, 5) (Majumbar 2004). Materials that are currently under research for thermoelectric power generation include:1. Li-doped NiO and (Ba,Sr)PbO3 2. Low thermal conductivity Skutterudite materials 3. Lead telluride 4. Zn-Sb alloys 5. Segmented Bi2Te3 based materials 6. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 / Be2Te2.4Se0.6
Research plan and timeline The preliminary stages of the project would be to study fundamental governing properties of thermoelectric materials. With that knowledge, a study on all types of research done on thermoelectric materials will be carried out to identify its potential and applications. With a broad and in depth understanding on the past and current developments of thermoelectric materials, future developments and research efforts can then be properly directed into creating a useful advancement in this field. Therefore studies will be conducted on the basic fundamentals that govern thermoelectric materials, techniques for optimizing such materials and its potential as a reliable energy source. The entire theses will be progressively documented
according to the research plan. A brief outline of the research plan is presented on the flowchart below.
Semester 1, 2005
Semester 2, 2005
Budget justification This project is a theoretical and literature base project, therefore funding will only be influenced by purchase of printing materials which will cost no more than $150 for the entire length of the project. Other research materials or facilities used will be available in University of Queensland that will be free to access.
References Gao M, & Rowe DM 2002, Recent concepts in thermoelectric power generation, Proceedings of the twenty first International of Conference on Thermoelectronics, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, pp.362-374. Majumbar, A 2004, Thermoelectricity in semiconductor nanostructures, Science Magazine, vol.303, pp.777-778. Rosi, FD 1968, Thermoelectricity and thermoelectric power generation, Solid-State Electronics, vol.11, pp.833-868. ____________________________________________________________________ END OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL
A research plan
(for demonstration only) This is the table of contents of Jason Tans thesis. He is doing a literature review type of project, therefore, he is able to give detailed content as well as deadlines. The table of content should be as detailed as possible, and may be changed with the progress of the project. Please note that the deadlines indicated here are the dates when I am expecting a chapter in written form. _____________________________________________________________________
Table of content
1. Introduction ---------------------------------------------------20 June 1.1 1.2 1.3 Current energy status in the world Future energy scenario, H2 energy. Outline of the report
2.
Hydrogen production ----------------------------------------1 August 2.1 2.2 Overview of Hydrogen production technology Current development of hydrogen in: 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4 2.2.5 2.2.6 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bio-hydrogen process Redox process Hydrogen production from fossil fuel Hydrogen production from natural gas Hydrogen production from solar energy Hydrogen production from photovoltaic process
Comments on the technology for each hydrogen production process. Future possible hydrogen productions. References
3.
Hydrogen Storage and transportation -------------------------------20 August 7
3.1 3.2
Introduction of hydrogen storage and transportation Different ways of hydrogen Storage 3.2.1 Solid hydrogen Storage 3.2.1.1 Metal hydrides Description of the process The significance of the storage system Current technology and situation Examples produced from metal hydrides 3.2.1.2 Chemical Storage Materials Description of the process The significance of the storage system Current technology and situation Examples produced from metal hydrides 3.2.1.3 Nanostructure materials 3.2.2 Description of the process The significance of the storage system Current technology and situation Examples produced from metal hydrides
Liquid hydrogen Storage Description of the process Types of transportation Current technology development for liquid hydrogen storage Examples of liquid hydrogen storage The significance of this storage method
3.2.3
Gaseous hydrogen storage Description of the process Types of transportation Current technology development for liquid hydrogen storage Examples of gaseous hydrogen storage The significance of this storage method
3.3 3.4
Future possible storage methods References
Utilization of hydrogen ---------------------------------------20 September 4.1 Introduction on the uses of hydrogen 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.2 Methanol Production Hydrochloric acid production Metallic ore production Hydro-generation of fats and oil
Potential uses of hydrogen 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 Internal combustion engines Fuel cells to provide clean energy for transportation Fuel cells to provide electricity To drives turbine for electricity
4.3
Comparison of technology between turbine and fuel cells for production of electricity. Recommendations References
4.4 4.5 5.
Hydrogen energy situation in the world -----------------------20 October 5.1 5.2 United States Europe 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.3 Asia 5.3.1 Japan United Kingdom Russia Germany France
5.3.2 5.3.3 5.4
Republic of China Republic of Korea
References
6. Conclusion and recommendations ------------------------------- 30 October 6.1 Conclusions 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.1.3 Hydrogen production technology Hydrogen storage and transportation Hydrogen Utilization
6.2 6.3
Recommendation References END OF RESEARCH PLAN
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A Research Journal
(for demonstration only) The research journal basically records everything that you have done related to your project. The key elements are the research time period, the research objective for that period, the research activities in that period, results, and your scheduled next activity. It does not need to be lengthy, but the major points should be there.
Date: July 23, 2004 Time: 10-2 pm Research objective today: Find out the literature on the manufacture of catalysts. (or carry out an experiment looking at the rate of CO2 adsorption on a metal oxide (CaO)). Research method: The following databases were searched: SciDirect and Web of Science. The following keywords were used: manufacture of catalyst, nanoscale catalyst, catalyst for fluidized bed. Google was also used to search the literature on the Internet. The following keywords were used: manufacture of catalyst, nanoscale catalyst, catalyst for fluidized bed. (The thermogravimetric analyzer in Lab 445 was used. The experimental procedure is as follows. First of all, . Secondly, . The experimental data were saved in the computer and copied out.) Results: Scientific database searching results: totally 200 papers were found. Among them 35 papers were found to be closely related to the topic, and have been saved. Google seaching results: 1200 links were found. About 15 were found to be very useful, and they have been saved for further reading. (The experimental results have been saved. The results will be plotted soon.) Next research schedule: Next Wednesday (from 10-12) I will search more databases such as Stetewise. (I will carry out another experiment on next Wednesday. I have discussed with the students in the lab that the equipment will be available to me at that time.)
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Guidelines ForME Students v3

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Guidelines for ME students

Thermoelectric material for power generation

Thermoelectric materials are ranked by a figure of merit, ZT, which is defined as

ZT S 2 T k where S is the thermopower or Seebeck coefficient,

Hydrogen Storage and transportation -------------------------------20 August 7

Future possible storage methods References

5.3.2 5.3.3 5.4

Republic of China Republic of Korea

Recommendation References END OF RESEARCH PLAN

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