MCG4322A/MCG5170:

Capstone Report
Project Code
Group Name

Photo of Group Members

Name and student number of each group member
Date

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Outline
The following outlines the mandatory organisation for the Capstone Report. Your report must
follow this layout. Any modification must be approved by the professor.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Title page including a group photo

Abstract
Table of contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of acronyms (optional)
Nomenclature (optional)
Introduction (this should be page 1 of the report)
a. Team or Partner project mandate
b. Group problem scope
c. Parameterization outline
9. Proposed design
a. Description of the winning concept including 3D SolidWorks images of the
complete system and cross-sections of complex assemblies
b. Discussion on interconnectivity with the team project or external infrastructure
10. Analysis
a. Analysis outline
b. High-Level parameterization including a GUI flowchart detailing the user inputs
and sequence of individual component optimization (MCG4322 only)
c. System modelling
d. Component analysis (for each component or sub-assembly)
i. Description of the inputs and the outputs of the component/subassembly being analysed
ii. Assumptions, simplifications, and inputs/constants/parameters fixed by
the group. Quantify and justify where applicable
iii. Stress and failure analysis using free-body diagram from sketches or
SolidWorks cross-sections with all forces/moments/reactions clearly
labeled
iv. Critical review of initial analysis results, and discussion on modifications
to the design (if any)
v. Description of component/sub-assembly parameterization with flowchart
and review of optimal result
11. Discussion and critical review of the design

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12. References
13. Appendices
a. Instructions for installing and running the GUI (MCG4322 only)
b. Design Code (MCG4322 only)
c. Additional material (if any)
d. Data sheets (if any)
e. Engineering drawings
i. Parts list
ii. Complete system drawing including cross-sections
iii. Sub-assembly drawings
iv. Individual part drawings
f. Minutes (of every week)
g. Recommendations for improving the course (constructive suggestions are much
appreciated)

Digital Copy
The section outlines the mandatory content of the digital copy to be submitted with your
Capstone Report. The CD/DVD/USB must include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

The Literature Review Report

The Concepts Report
The Modelling Report
The Design Dossier (optional)
The Analysis Dossier (optional)
The Capstone Report
The SolidWorks files
The Programming files (MCG4322 only)
A Read Me file (MCG4322 only)

Note: All documents must include and editable version (Word, LaTeX, etc.) and a PDF version.
Notes:

To facilitate marking of the parameterisation and programming, it is recommended that

the readme file and shortcut links to your assembly and GUI (MCG4322 only) be located
in the root directory.
Do not include your working files (i.e. do not dump the entire contents of your project
files on your CD/DVD/USB).

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Include all the drawing files in the SolidWorks folder, in addition to the part and
assembly files.
Include the original SolidWorks rendered images (that were used in your Capstone
Report) in a subfolder of the Capstone Report folder.
No compressed files!
The mandatory folder organisation is shown below, where Year must be replaced by
the current year (e.g. 2016) and GroupCode must be replaced by your groups code
(e.g. BAJA3A):

Additional guidelines for the preparation of the report

Writing style

The Capstone Report is a technical report and as such it should be written in technical
language as opposed to everyday language, i.e. uses more formal language.
- For example, instead of using a word like done use performed, conducted,
completed, etc.
- Instead of got use found
- Avoid words like nowadays use currently or presently instead
- Instead of wont use will not

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- Instead of saying something is high or low, present the actual values. If it is stated that
something is small, large, thin or thick, quantify it or compare it to provide a
clearer description.
-Avoid qualitative adjectives like good and great. Use engineering or quantitative
terms.

It should be written in the third person singular (e.g., it was found)

To keep the readers attention, there should be variations in sentence structure (passive
versus active, short versus long sentences, etc.).
Although the passive voice is frequently used in technical writing, an active voice is
preferred (i.e., the principal verb of the sentence is within the first part of the sentence).
If you are using long sentences make sure that it is readable in one breath. Another
danger of long sentences is that they may end up being confusing. To avoid these
problems split into shorter sentences and use punctuation marks.
Make sure you spell check the report.

Page format

All the pages should be numbered except the Title page.

Page numbering should start with the first page of the introduction.
All the pages prior to the introduction, including the abstract and the table of content,
list of figures, list of tables, list of abbreviations and acronyms should be numbered with
lowercase Roman numerals (i.e., i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, viii, etc.).
Page headers and footers are recommended, with page numbers appearing in the
footer outside of the margins.
Numbered sections (i.e. Chapter 1, 2, etc. and Table of Contents, List of Figures, etc.)
should start on the right hand side of the page.
The Title page must include all the information listed in the title page of this document.
Other than the Title page and Proposed Design section, the report must be printed in
black and white.
Reports must be printed on regular 20lb paper except for the pages with color images.
Duplex printing. Marks will be deducted for single sided documents
Text must be in 12pt font and line spacing must be 1.5 (in Word) or \linespread{1.3} (in
LaTeX).
Capstone Reports are limited to a maximum of 125 pages, from the Introduction to the
Conclusion inclusively. All content above 125 pages will not be read and will not count
towards the report mark.
Reports should be comb bound (for ease of recycling).

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Figures and Tables

The purpose of tables and figures is to illustrate points. If you present a table or figure
you need to discuss it. If it is not discussed it should be taken out.
Figures illustrating the proposed design should be annotated to indicate the different
parts.
To help the reader place figures and tables in the page immediately after they are first
mentioned in the text. Not before.
The title of a table and figure should be fully descriptive of the illustration; the reader
should not have to rely on the text to figure out what this illustration presents.
Whenever a table, map or figure is extracted from another source, that source should
be cited within the caption of the table, figure (e.g. Figure 1: Motor design [1]).
When citing a figure within the text consistently you should use the same format (i.e.
Fig. X or Figure X)
The table caption should be typed in bold should be located above the tables. The text
should be single spaced.
The figure captions should be in bold and should be located below the figure. The text
should be single spaced.
Figures copied from the web should be cited and referenced.
Scanned figures and tables are frequently fuzzy, skewed, and/or illegible. Try to
minimize this. To have more legible illustrations, photocopy and cut and paste.
Sometimes the fuzziness can be decreased by decreasing the size of the figure. Note
that different quality pdf files are often available for journals, use the higher quality
version.

Parts of the Capstone Report

The Capstone Report must include a title page, an abstract, a table of contents, a list of
tables, a list of figures, an introduction, the body, a conclusion, a reference section, and
appendices.
The sections starting with the introduction should be numbered. If a particular section
is subdivided, these should be numbered accordingly, example section 2.1. Sub-subsections should also be numbered accordingly (i.e. section 2.2.3). Further numbering of
lower sub-sections is not recommended (i.e. section 2.2.3.1 is not recommended).
As the professor has limited time, the abstract, the introduction and the conclusions
must convince the reader that it is worthwhile for him/her to continue reading.

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Therefore these sections must be written with utmost care and should be concise. Do
not copy the syllabus!
The Abstract and the Conclusions sections should be limited to half a page each.
The Table of Contents, List of Figure, and List of Tables should include a column in the
right hand side with the page number associated with every section listed. These
sections should all start on the right hand side of the report.
The entries in the List of Figures (and List of Tables) should include the full title of each
figure (or table). If the title includes a reference as to the source of the figure, this
reference does not have to be reported in the List of Figures (or List of Tables).
Also add a List of Acronyms and Abbreviations after the List of Tables if there is a
significant use of acronyms in the report.
The Introduction should start with a discussion of the importance of the problem. Try to
impress the reader by presenting numerical information (such as costs, statistics,
population affected, etc.), health effects, etc. to stress the importance of the problem.
The Introduction should include a project schematic linking your design to the team
project or industrial partner problem. The flowchart must be described in the text.
The information within the Design, and Analysis sections must be categorized and
appropriately subdivided.
An abbreviation should only be defined once in the body of the paper. If it used in the
abstract, it will also have to be defined there.
The material in the Conclusions section should be only based on the material discussed
within the text. The conclusions should be concise and the ideas presented should be a
restatement of ideas already presented within the body of the report.

Equations (for groups using Microsoft Word)

Use Microsoft's Equation Editor (insert, equation).

Whenever an equation is presented, the equation should be numbered and all the
variables not previously defined should be defined and accompanied by their units.
To number the equations:
Use the insert tab above to create a 2 column-1 row table;

Place the equation in the left column box, and then place the equation number in the
right box;
(1)

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Go to the middle bar (until shows) and move it to the right to move the equation to the
right. You may also want to change the justification of the cells.
(1)
Reformat the box borders so that it has no lines. Click the table so that it changes
colour, look for the dropdown menu Table Tools, click Design, click borders, then
click the No border option.
(1)
For subsequent equations, start by copying the box of the first equation and then
modify. This way you keep the alignment.
Analysis

WHENEVER A VARIABLE, AN ABBREVIATION OR AN ACRONYM IS USED IT SHOULD BE

DEFINED FIRST. The only exception is the variable first appears within an equation. It
should be defined in the body of the report, then it should be defined immediately
afterwards.
Whenever an equation is presented, the equation should be numbered and all the
variables not previously defined should be defined.
Numerical results must be presented in the analysis. Intermediate results in large
analyses must also be presented.
Parameters and inputs must be specified such that the results are verifiable.
All results must be presented in SI units (N, m, mm, etc.). If a particular set of equations
requires imperial units, the inputs and results must be converted to SI.

Citations

Whenever a piece of information from a source (such as technical paper, a newspaper

or magazine article, or a conversation with an expert) is used, it should be given credit
by citing the source of the information within the text and presenting the full reference
in the References section.
Failure to do so will lead to at least a zero grade on the Capstone Report. This applies
even when direct copying is not involved. THIS IS CALLED PLAGIARISM AND IT COULD
EVEN LEAD TO DISMISSAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY.
Fear of plagiarism should not lead to the overuse of direct quotations. One of the aims
of the report is to improve your writing, so summarize in your own words the
information from the literature and give credit to the source of that information by
referencing it within the text.

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Quotes and references should be formatted properly.

All direct quotes need to be presented marked by quotation marks.
The references used in the Capstone Report should be listed in the References section
immediately after the text and not as footnotes.

References

A bibliography is not acceptable. Sources must be cited in the text!

The sources used in the Capstone report should be listed in the References section
immediately after the Conclusion.
For journal articles: author's Last name, comma, author's initials, period, the year of
publication in brackets, period or comma, "Title of the paper, Name of the journal (in
italics or underlined), volume number, issue number (only necessary for journal with
non-sequential page numbering such as the Journal of the American Water Works
Association), page numbers. Some people put the year at the end within brackets, this
is also acceptable but consistency must be maintained.
Example: Soleimani Karizmeh, M., Delatolla, R., and Narbaitz, R.M. (2014),
Investigation of settleability of biologically produced solids, and biofilm
morphology in moving bed bioreactors (MBBRs), J of Bioprocess and Biosystems
Engineering, 37:18391848.
For books, author's last name, author's initials, the year of publication in brackets,
period, title of the book underlined, period, the publisher, publishers location.
For thesis, author's last name, author's initials, year in brackets, period, Thesis title,
comma, Master's thesis (or PHD thesis), department, University name, university
location.
For government or institutional reports there are many different ways depending on if
the author(s) is clearly identified. If the authors are identified, then use the authors
name. If the authors name is not identified use the company producing the report as
the author or if there is company then use the government department. For
government reports there should always be the government department from which
the report may be obtained followed by the city location of that department. If there is
a report number or contract number it should also be included.
If the reference has more than one author they should all be listed in the following
order: first author's last name, comma, first author's initials, period, comma, second
author's last name, comma, second author's last name, period, comma, and, comma,
last author's last name, comma, last author's initials, period. Remember you have to
have an and before the last author.

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For websites, author's last name, author's initials, the year of publication in brackets,
period, the title of the article underlined, period, followed by Retrieved from URL.
Example: Satalkar, B. [2010, July 15]. Water aerobics. Retrieved from
http://www.buzzle.com
An example of inconsistent referencing is when in one (or more) references the journal
name is written in full while in other references the journal name is abbreviated.

Appendices

Appendices should be named Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. In addition each appendix

should have a title.
The figures in an Appendix A, should labeled Figure A.1, Figure A.2, etc. and Table A.1,
Table A.2, etc.
The page numbering should continue that from the text.
The appendices should be located after the references.

Engineering Drawings and other components

All engineering drawings should be complete. They should include all dimensions (with
the exception of assembly drawings), mounting holes and methods of attachments.
Assembly drawings should indicate bolts locations using center-lines.
The use of off-the-shelf components (e.g. motors) must be approved by the professor
and a data sheet for the component must appear in the Appendices.
The assembly drawings should also have a list of components contained in the assembly,
their drawing numbers and the number used in the assembly of each component.
The dissection laboratory sketches should not be included in the report.

Program

Comment your program. Each program segment solving an equation should be

commented, and the comments should reference the equation numbers or the sections
in your report.
Programs must calculate the design parameters. Programs that merely choose design
parameters from pre-calculated values will not be accepted.
Only MatLab will be accepted. The version of which must be available in the Faculty of
Engineering computing facility.
Programs should be user friendly, i.e. have a GUI interface and a ReadMe file with
instructions on its operation.
Executable files will not be used to evaluate the program. M-files will be compiled when
evaluated.

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Your program must be located in the following directory:

Z:\Year\MCG4322A\Digital Files\GroupCode\Programming
Where Year is replaced by the current year (e.g. 2016) and GroupCode is replaced
by your group code (e.g. BAJA2A). It is recommended that you create this directory in a
USB key, change your drive letter and run your parameterization from the USB at all
times.

Engineering drawings

The engineering drawings describing your design should must have a title block indicating
the designer name the drawing name and number, the scale, the date and the material
used.
Assembly drawings should have a title block as above without the material used.
The assembly drawings section must start with a list of components contained in the
assembly, their drawing numbers and the number used in the assembly of each
component.
Do not include engineering drawing for standard parts such as bolt or bearings.

Other guidelines

Your Capstone Report and Digital Copy media will not be returned. It is strongly
recommended that you keep all your files in a secure location for future use (e.g. for
interviews).

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