THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

St. Augustine
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering

MENG 1012: SCIENCE OF MATERIALS

Semester I 2020-2021
Format of Laboratory Reports

A. Lab Assignments

• Structured Labs:
o Corrosion Studies (Experiment CS)
o Thermal Equilibrium Diagram (Experiment E)

• Short Labs:
o Creep Measurements (Experiment R1)
o Torsion Testing of Various Test Materials (Experiment T2)

Weighting of the Laboratory Reports

The weightings of the structured and short laboratory reports are 15% and 35% respectively.

B. General Requirements

1) Students should read the guidelines and lab manual before the scheduled laboratory session.

2) Students must complete a general safety induction before commencing the specific labs. This will
take the form of a safety video and a safety quiz. Students can attempt the safety quiz multiple
times until a score of 100% is obtained. This section only needs to be completed once before
proceeding to the specific lab demonstration sections.

3) Each lab has an associated Virtual Laboratory Induction Exercise (VLIE), consisting of a video
demonstration followed by a pre-lab quiz. This exercise must be completed before students receive
the results to begin the lab write-up. Note that students MUST receive a score of 100% in order to
complete the VLIE. Students are allowed multiple attempts at quizzes in order to achieve a
successful result. The VLIE will be available on Wednesdays from 8:00 am – 10:00 am, and
should be completed within this time frame.

4) The following information must be provided on the front cover:

• Department / Faculty / University
• Course / Year
• Name of Experiment
• Date Conducted / Date Submitted
• Name of Student / Student ID
• Lab Group

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 5) Laboratory reports are divided into short and structured reports.

6) Structured reports are to be completed during the laboratory session (Tuesdays 3:00 pm – 6:00
pm). These reports must be submitted at the end of the laboratory session.

7) Guidelines for structured lab reports: You are encouraged to use the demonstration video as a
guide to answering the questions. You may also use online resources to assist. Write in the space
provided in the structured lab script. If more space is needed you can utilize additional pages.
Graphs as well as extra working must be appended to the script. Typed or hand-written submissions
will be accepted. Students can utilize any scanning software to upload their reports electronically.

8) Guidelines for short lab reports: These lab reports should conform to the report guidelines given
in Section C. Short reports are due one week after results are made available to students (Tuesdays
4:00 pm). A penalty of 10 marks will be deducted from the mark obtained in the lab for each day
the lab is submitted after the due date, until the lab mark has been reduced to zero.

All lab reports are to be submitted via the MyElearning portal in Portable Document Format
(*.pdf) only, and are checked using TURNITIN software for plagiarism. Plagiarism reports above
30% will not be marked and will be deemed unsatisfactory.

9) Students can discuss how to write up the experiment, but do not share electronically or otherwise
your written report – even in draft form – or you may unwittingly infringe University plagiarism
regulations. Be aware of plagiarism and that the University has a zero tolerance on the act of
plagiarism on any assignment. A Plagiarism Declaration Form must be filled out and
submitted with each lab report.

C. The Laboratory Reports

The short reports are normally written in the third person, passive voice. Short reports are not to
exceed seven (7) pages, excluding the cover page, table of contents and appendices. Allocation of
marks and page limits are given below:

1) Presentation – 10%
All reports should be prepared using word processor and formatted according to the following
guidelines:
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt, Normal.
• Spacing: 1.5. Justified.
• Correct generation of table of contents, table of figures as well as grammar, punctuation and
spelling
• Headings:
o Main headings should be bold, 18 pt.
o Sub-headings should be bold and underlined at 14pt.
o Further sub-headings should be 14pt and normal font.
o ALL HEADINGS SHOULD BE NUMBERED ACCORDING TO CHAPTER
NUMBERS (e.g. 1.1.1, 1.1.1.1).

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 • Reference to figures should be made in Figure captions and hyperlinked to the text that
references it. Direct citation should be made where appropriate.
• Figure captions must be positioned below the figure while table captions are positioned above
the table. All captions should be bold, 11pt and centered.

2) Executive Summary – 50% (1 – 2 pages)

This is a concise and accurate summary (no more than 500 words) of the objectives of the
experiment; the procedures followed; the results obtained; discussion of the results; the
conclusions drawn; sources and error and recommendations. The Executive Summary is placed
before the Table of Contents and must be paginated using roman numerals.

3) Results and Calculations – 40% (4 – 5 pages)

If an analysis is done in duplicate a mean value is required. Tables and graphs are useful for
presenting data. Remember to caption tables at the top of the table and caption graphs and figures
at the bottom. The title of a table must be simple and accurate (avoid “Table showing…”). Graphs
must be fully labelled and units of axes provided. Software plots are allowed.

Any statistical treatment used in your data must be justified, to show a clear understanding for its
application. Sample calculations must be shown and the uncertainty/precision of the results must
be presented where applicable. Experimental data are to be placed in the appendix. Assumptions,
simplifications and justifications for their use must be clearly presented.

D. Guidelines for Report Writing and Submission

A report, even one produced during a University course, is made for the purpose of conveying
information, not for boosting the paper industry.

During the writing up of the report, always remember to be precise, brief and complete. Marks will be
deducted for reports that are too long.

Notes to remember:

1) A paragraph has a maximum of 10 sentences and should be indented throughout the report write
up.

2) Writing concisely means sticking to the point of reference that you maintain. Referencing should
ALWAYS be sourced when discussing or validating data. No Reference means no
evidence/support. Aim for at least 5-10 references.

3) Trendline functions on excel should be utilized where appropriate to find gradient or functions.

4) Correct grammar, punctuation and spelling are vital in providing readability to your report.

5) Table of contents and Table of figures should be generated using the same font and spacing. Should
be numbered in roman uppercase numerals.

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 6) The University Logo should not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES be used on the title or any
page in your report.

7) References should be maintained according to university standards, i.e., Chicago Manual of Style
16 b.

8) Be aware of the tense you use throughout your report. Past tense should be made reference to
where appropriate.

E. Safety in the Laboratory

To greatly lessen the occurrence of a major accident, students must know the rules of safety, and
diligently practice these rules at all times.

GENERAL SAFETY RULES FOR THE LABORATORY

1) Students must come to the laboratory prepared. The more prepared you are when you enter the lab
the safer your experience will be. You have the right to know about the chemicals you will be
working with during the laboratory. Information concerning the chemicals is available in several
reference books in the library, from the Internet (Material Safety Data Sheets), or from the
technician.

2) No student may begin any experimental work without the knowledge of the Laboratory Supervisor.

3) Experimental work is not permitted outside regular laboratory hours without specific permission.

4) Students must know the locations and use of all first-aid and emergency equipment (fire
extinguishers, safety showers), and know emergency telephone numbers to summon emergency
assistance (these are posted on the Notice Board).

5) Sandals, slip-ons, open-toed shoes, slippers, or high-heeled shoes are not permitted in the
laboratory. Only sneakers with socks and steel tipped boots with socks are allowed. Long pants
and shirts must be worn. Shorts, skirts and sleeveless tops, open jackets and loose ties are not
permitted. Students arriving at the lab with inappropriate footwear will be required to go home and
change or will be dismissed from the lab.

6) Contact lenses should not be worn in the laboratory. Gases can become trapped between your eye
and the contact lenses. Some gases may cause irreparable damage to your eyes. If you wear contact
lenses and do not possess glasses you must notify your lab instructor.

7) No food or drinks may be brought into the laboratory. Use of tobacco products and gum chewing
are not allowed. Be sure to wash your hands after you are finished in the lab.

8) Students should conduct themselves in a professional manner when in the laboratory, since
horseplay, joking and teasing are distractions and considered hazardous. Visitors to the laboratory

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 while students are conducting experimental work are discouraged. DO NOT LEAVE
EXPERIMENTS UNATTENDED!

9) All injuries, accidents, spills and near misses must be reported as soon as possible to the Laboratory
Technician / Laboratory Supervisor. They will guide you in the proper course of action. Some
common problems encountered in the laboratory are included below with a general description of
the proper action you should take.
• Cuts – For minor cuts, thoroughly wash with soap and water, remove foreign particles (e.g.
Broken glass), and bandage. Major cuts should be treated by medical professionals.
• Burns – For burns obtained from hot objects, chemicals or flames, flush the area of the skin
for 10 mins with cold water.
• Fire – Small fires usually can be extinguished by smothering with another object. For example,
placing a fire blanket over the top can smother wastebasket fires. The fire extinguisher can also
be used to put out small fires. If there is any question as to whether you can put out a fire, don’t
attempt it; exit the laboratory and inform the relevant personnel.

10) Personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, lab coats, earplugs, gloves and aprons must
be worn when specified by the Laboratory Supervisor. Failure to wear the specified personal
protective equipment will result in dismissal from the lab.

11) You should clean up your work area before leaving the lab. This clean-up should include turning
of all equipment and returning it to its proper location, and wiping down the bench. You will be
penalized on your performance lab score if you leave a messy work area.

12) If your experimental work involves the use of chemicals:

• Never directly inhale chemical vapours.
• Reagents that give off fumes or vapours should be handled in the fume hood.
• Do not use a bunsen burner in the presence of flammable substances.
• Double check reagent labels before use.
• Check all glassware for breaks and star cracks before use.
• Dispose all waste materials properly. Your lab instructor will direct you in the proper disposal
of each material, but you should become familiar with the following general guidelines:
(a) Organic liquids (acetone, ethanol or other carbon-based compounds) should be placed in
the designated bottle.
(b) Solid waste chemicals should be placed in the Solid Chemical Waste Jars.
(c) Broken glass should be placed in the appropriate box.
(d) Paper towels are to be disposed of in the regular trash.
(e) If you aren’t sure on how to dispose of something ask your technician.

KW/SSG/TLC/ALC Oct. 2020 (v.Covid-19)