Guide to Research Projects for Engineering Students

For students embarking on their first research project, sieving through the vast amount of information on the Internet can be a daunting and time consuming task. Research projects require not just understanding of the research methodology, but also complementary skills including information search, technical writing, oral presentation, and software knowledge. This book is written especially for students who need a quick and concise handbook to support them in conducting research so that they can devote most of their time to their research.

Eng-Choon Leong is currently an associate professor at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has more than 300 publications in international journals and conferences and is a recipient of the 2004 ASTM Best Practical Paper for Geotechnical Practice Award and of the 2012 Koh Boon Hwee mentor award. Carmel Lee-Hsia Heah is a senior lecturer at the Language and Communication Centre at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and formerly a senior lecturer in professional communication at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include EL teaching and learning, ELT and engineering curriculum and course design and Language for Special Purposes. She has done significant research work in ELT pedagogy and course development as well as professional communication skills training. Her research output includes co-authored textbooks and an English grammar reference book. Kenneth Keng Wee Ong is a lecturer at the Language and Communication Centre at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He teaches courses at graduate and undergraduate level on research writing and technical communication. He has also received the Dean's Commendation for Research award in 2010 and 2011 conferred by the National Institute of Education, Singapore. His current research interests include bilingual language processing and semantic/conceptual representation, second language vocabulary acquisition and computer-mediated discourse analysis.

Introduction. Frequently asked questions (FAQs). PART I. Planning. Choosing a research project. Researching a topic. Writing a research project proposal. Planning a research project. Research methodology and research methods. Keeping research records. PART II. Writing. Starting to write. Grammar, punctuation and word usage guide. Do's and don'ts of technical writing. Strategies for writing a good report or thesis. Writing the introduction and literature review. Writing the materials and methods. Writing the results and discussion. Writing the conclusion. Writing the abstract and front matter. Referencing. Using sources and avoiding plagiarism. Revising and editing. PART III. Presentation. How to create figures. How to create a good layout. How to prepare for an oral presentation. Do's and don'ts of oral presentations. Appendix.