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President University
Mechanical Engineering Study Program
Thesis Guideline
Thesis Structure
Title
Title of your thesis represents your work. Try to include all of the keywords of
your thesis in the tittle.

Abstract
The abstract starts from the importance and purpose of your thesis topic.
Briefly explain your methodology/approach. Then, discuss your results and
considerations. It is recommended to show important results in numerically
(give numbers you find).
Oftentimes, the abstract of your thesis is presented separately. It must be
completed as it is.
The abstract does not have a section number.

Subsections
Chapters are separated into subsections. Each subsection is numbered and
placed in theoretical order. The heading of the subsection follows the number.
Chapter 1, 2, …
1.1, 1.2, … (subsections)
1.1.1, 1.1.2, … (lower-level subsections)

Front matter
Declaration of originality
Final project report approval
Abstract
Table of contents
List of figures
List of tables
Nomenclature

Introduction
Discuss the importance of your research/project. Start from broader
importance of the topic to entice wider audience. Then, narrow down the
subject.
(*New in 2019) Include background literature review. The literature review
does not have to be an independent chapter. It can be brief but must be
relevant to your topic. It is strongly recommended to include some journal
papers to show what research topic is interested in your research field. Avoid
discussing detailed literature survey.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these previous works. Then,
briefly explain how your research/project contribute to the current situation.
You may want to include objectives, scope, or problem statements in
introduction.

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Literature Review
Literature Review section can be an independent chapter. You do not have to
try to write long. If you find you do not have much to write, it is okay to include
the literature review part into Introduction.
You should not copy someone else’s writing. Avoid discussing too many
details. Avoid discussing irrelevant information.

Methodology
Methodology specifically means the analysis, calculation, measurement,
experiment, or design methodology. You should not be confused with
research methodology as a whole. (Many of your seniors misunderstood this
point.)

If you are working with experiment/measurement

Probably, you want to explain your experiment apparatus/setup with a figure,
and how you take what data. Give equations to show how you analyze your
results. Discuss your assumptions and measurement conditions.

If you are working on manual calculation/analysis

Discuss your analysis model with a figure. Explain your calculation conditions
and assumptions. Discuss your calculations with equations. You may want to
write the theories behind.

If you are working on numerical simulation using software

Discuss your simulation model, boundary conditions, and assumptions. You
should not treat software as a black box. You need to give the governing
equations used in the software to show you are not treating the software as a
black box. Check software manual for the governing equations. It is a good
idea to compare your simulation results with simpler hand calculation results
for model validation.

If you are designing and creating a prototype

It is a good idea to discuss all of the design ideas you created at the
beginning with design sketch (hand-written sketches are acceptable). Show
how you selected the final design. Discuss assumptions and design
specifications. Explain your design method with figures and equations.

Results and discussions/considerations

Results are what you find from your research/project. Show your results with
figures or tables. If you are able to show your results with figures, use figures
rather than tables. Visual display (figures) is much easier to grasp than pile of
numbers (tables). Avoid including large tables with numbers. You should not
give your results in tables, if the same results are shown in figures.
Discuss what you find by indicating the figures/tables in your words.

Discussions or considerations are what you think from your results. It is the
most important part of your research/project. Discuss the significance of your
results.
You may want to compare your results with someone else’s results you find in
literature.

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You may want to discuss how your results can be used in practical situations.
Discuss the causes of calculation/measurement errors. (Point out, if the
assumptions you discuss in the Methodology section are related to the error.)
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your design/results.

Conclusions
It is recommended to write your conclusions by summarizing the whole
theses. Briefly discuss:
The importance of your research/project
What other people have done in this field (literature review results)
The significance of your research/project
Your methodology
Your results and considerations
You may want to add “Recommendations” at the end of your conclusions.
Your Recommendations should be based on your research/project
experience, rather than your imagination.

Figures
Each figure must have a figure number and its title/caption. The figure number
and caption are at the bottom of the figure. Always label x and y (and z for 3D
figure) axes in charts. Do not forget to indicate the units. Use legend, if
needed. Adjust the size of the letters in figures for easy view in printed format.
All of the figures must be indicated with the figure number in the body of your
wiring.

(Example)
1200
Predicted
Global Horizontal Irradiance (W/m )

Measured
2

1000

800

600

400

200

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12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30
Time
Fig. 10. Comparison between measured and predicted global horizontal irradiance
prediction for the 1-step method, 4-axis
case, 1 minute in advance, on a typical partly sunny day (26 September,
2016) [1].

Tables
Each table must have a consecutive table number and its title/caption. The
caption with the table number is placed at the top of the table. Notes of the
table are placed below the table.

Citation (references)
When you indicate someone else’s work you have to cite it properly. All of the
references must be cited in the text.

(Example)
Someone’s work can be cited this way [1].

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The cited literatures are listed at the end of your thesis in “References”
section.
(Examples)
Book

[1] Cengel, Y. A., and Boles, M. A., 2011, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, McGraw-
Hill Education.

Journal paper

[2] Kamadinata, J. O., Ken, T. L., and Suwa, T., 2019, “Sky Image-Based Solar Irradiance
Prediction Methodologies Using Artificial Neural Networks,” Renew. Energy, 134, pp. 837–
845.

Website
Indicate when you lastly accessed the site when you cite website information.

[3] Ward System Group, Inc., 1996, “NeuroSHELL 2 User Manual.” (accessed August 7, 2019).

* It is not recommended to cite information in Wikipedia as the authors of the

articles are not disclosed.

Plagiarism
Everything in your thesis must be your won work. If you want to use someone
else’s work, citation is enough.

New in 2019 thesis

Similarity check service “Turnitin” is used to check plagiarism.

Special rule for undergraduate thesis

You are allowed to use figures you find in literature, books, or Internet
materials without authors permission. These figures must be properly cited.
Keep in mind that if you use someone else’s figure in a masters/Ph.D thesis
or research paper, you must obtain original author’s permission.
Even if it is properly cited, you should not publish your thesis or put it in
Internet public domain when someone else’s figure is contained.

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Thesis Proposal
The structure of thesis proposal is similar to thesis. The major difference Is
the proposal does not have results and discussion section. Still, you can
discuss expected results, if you like.
Your thesis proposal may be 2 to 3 page long. It can be longer, if you want to
write more.

Research/Project title
You can revise the title later as you continue your research/project.

Abstract
The structure is similar to thesis abstract. It contains:
Current situation around your proposed topic,
Importance of the proposed research/project,
Methodology you are planning, and
Expected results or what you want to clarify through your research/project.

Introduction
The current situation in your proposed topic (more details).
Background: what people are doing related to the proposed topic. It is a good
idea to include some citation.
What are the problems in the current situation and what is missing from what
people have done previously.
What you are planning to do to solve these problems.

Objectives of your research/project

Briefly list the objectives of your research/project. The objectives section can
be included in Introduction section.

Methodology
Explain the methodology you are planning to do.

Expected results
If you are able to predict your results, discuss what you are expecting.
Otherwise, discuss what you want to clarify.

Conclusions
Summarize your proposal.

References (if you cite someone’s work)

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Appendix
Mendeley (bibliography library software)
Mendeley is free bibliography database software provided by Elsevier. In
order to avoid typing references, Mendeley is recommended to organize your
literature.
With Mendeley, you can:
Create your literature library (database)
Cite literature from the library in your thesis
Crease reference list
Mendeley
https://www.mendeley.com/newsfeed

It is recommended to use one of Elsevier journal citation formats.

To download Elsevier Renewable Energy citation format:
View > Citation Styles > More styles > (Select “Get more styles” window)
Type the journal name “Renewable Energy” in the search window.
(Search results appear in lower area.)
Select “Renewable Energy” (Renewable Energy is highlighted.)
Click on “Use this style” (Renewable Energy citation style is downloaded.)
To change select the citation format you downloaded:
View > Citation Styles > (Renewable Energy must be listed)
Select “Renewable Energy”.

Literature search
When you look for academic literature use ‘Google Scholar’.
https://scholar.google.co.id

To add a literature you find in Google Scholar

Click on “ mark

Select “Bib Tex” at the left side bottom. (Bibliography data in Bib Tex format
appear)

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Select all (highlight all text)

Right click and select Copy

Go to Mendeley
Select any existing literature entry or click on literature window.
Edit > Paste (selected literature appears in the literature window)

To cite a literature listed in Mendeley in your thesis

Mendeley works with Microsoft Word by installing Mendeley plugin.
Put the cursor at the location where you want place citation.
Select “Insert or Edit Citation” (Mendeley citation editor window pops up.)
Locate the literature you want to cite. (Use title, author name, or keywords)
Say ‘OK’. (Citation number with square brackets shows up.)

To create reference list

Put the cursor at the location where you want to place the literature list.
Select “Insert Bibliography”. (Bibliography list is automatically created.)