MIME 1650 MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Spring 2008
Introduction to
Materials Science & Engineering Laboratory
The laboratory portion of MIME 1650 Materials Science & Engineering seeks to give the
engineering student a hands-on appreciation of what Material Science is all about. In this
portion of the course the student should gain an understanding of material properties and these
properties are affected by different processes. The knowledge of these effects is valuable when
selecting a material for a part or design. For example, certain applications require a material
that will not buckle under stress; others require more strength while others require more
ductility. In addition to selecting the right material, engineers must make their design cost
effective.
There will be seven (7) laboratory exercises spread over the course of the semester. Each
student will be required to submit a lab report which will be due one week after the completion
of the lab unless otherwise specified. ALL reports must be typed. Failure to do so will result
in a rejected report. Details on what is expected from your report are in the Report
Requirements section. If there are any questions about a particular lab, please talk to your
Teaching Assistant (TA) about your concerns and they will provide the needed help. They can
often critique your report upon request. Do not hesitate in asking questions if something is
confusing to you as asking questions is an excellent way to learn.

Laboratory Report Requirements

Introduction
All engineers and scientists are required to write reports documenting their work. Each
organization establishes its own required format. Reports are used for a variety of purposes.
First and foremost, it is a historical document of what, when, why and how something was
done. A reader of the report should, by the report alone, be able to replicate the experiment. A
report is often used by management to determine whether or not a project is meeting
expectations. Decisions of where to allocate available resources (such as labor and capitol) are
often made based on the written report. Engineers and scientists that communicate well
through the written report are in demand by industry.

Report Style
The report must be clear, concise and complete. A well written report avoids engineering
jargon and specialized language. The writer must remember that the reader often does not have
the knowledge or background that the writer has. Ideas must be expressed in a logical flow and
in complete sentences. Furthermore, the report must be concise. What this means is that the
writer should favor simple sentences where possible. Long, flowery sentences with many
subordinate clauses and qualifications are not appropriate in an engineering report. On many
organizations, the pertinent ideas being reported on must be stated in one page, often called
The Executive Summary. Regardless of what the organization may require, shorter but
complete reports are desired over long reports. A complete report indicates the writer is
honestly reporting what happened and why. If a project or experiment failed, the writer should
clearly state this and then explain why. The report should be decisive.
The report is a historical document of what occurred. Therefore, the report should be written in
third person as well as in past tense. Proper English is required throughout the report. Slang
words are not understood from generation to generation and may be misinterpreted when a
report is read a decade or so after the writing of the report. Since the report is archival, the
report must be prepared using word processing software. Hand written reports are not
acceptable. Not only is this unprofessional, but it reflects poorly upon the writer.
Report Formatting and Presentation
The following formatting guidelines must be followed
Report must be printed on 8 inch x 11 inch (letter size) white paper.
All pages of the report including raw data, appendices and sample calculations should
be numbered with the page number centered or right aligned in the bottom margin
(footer).
Font size should not be smaller than 10 point Times New Roman.
All sections headings should be in bold font.
Report should use double or 1.5 line spacing.
Reports must be stapled in the upper left corner before submission. Stapling of the
report is the authors responsibility as a stapler will not be provided.

Report Structure
The following report structure is required for all laboratory reports submitted by students in
MIME 1650: Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory. Lab reports will be graded out
of 100, with each section weighted as shown.
Title Page
Objective
Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
Procedure
Data
Results
Discussion and Conclusion
References
Appendices

5 points
5 points
5 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
10 points
15 points
15 points
5 points
10 points

Title Page
The title page will consist of the report title, the names of the author(s) of the report, the
laboratory section and the date of the experiment. This will be a single page cover sheet.
Objective
The objective of the Report should be stated in ONE sentence. Several examples are provided
below.
The objective of this report is to describe the automations of the 280-OBI Stamping line at
Shiloh Industries.
The objective of this report is to report the measurements of the sample block taken during
Laboratory Exercise One.
The objective of this report is to investigate the heat treating of AISI 4340 steel.
Abstract
The abstract should describe the entire report including significant results. The abstract should
not exceed 250 words in length. The Abstract should indicate to the reader what was
attempted, what was accomplished and what the results were.
Introduction
The report introduction should be one or two paragraphs which describe the background
material for the report and place the report in context (e.g. why this test is important and what
the results of this type of test are used for). It should be interesting to read and should
encourage the reader to read the remainder of the report. The material contained in the
introduction should be general in nature. The remainder of the report will provide specifics
where needed. The main purpose of the introduction is to prepare the reader for what follows
in the report.

Methodology
This section provides the reader with a general understanding of the type of experiment which
was performed and how it was conducted. The background theory for the experiment should
be succinctly discussed. If an analysis method will be used to process the data, it should be
described here. This section mostly discusses what method was used for the experiment and
the reason why that method is preferred. The length of this section will vary depending on the
experiment.
Procedure
This section describes exactly how the experiments were performed. If necessary, a sketch of
the test setup should be provided. Exact equipment (with serial numbers for the specific
equipment) used will be described. The order of tasks shall be presented so that any other
experimenter should be able to follow the procedure. Long, detailed procedures should be
placed in the Appendix and referenced here.
Data
This section will present the raw data values obtained using the procedure of the previous
section. Where the data is lengthy, the raw data is placed in an appendix and referenced here.
Actual data recording forms should be placed in the appendix. This section should begin with
text describing the data and referring to tables and graphs that contain the actual data values
when necessary. This section will consist of only values actually measured. No computations
are allowed on the data values. Computations made on data are presented in the next section.
Results
Results include observations based on the methodology, the procedure and the data. It may
consist of computations and presentation of the results in a tabular or graphical form. When the
computations involve a long string of computations, the sample computations should be placed
in an appendix and referenced in this section.
Graphs and Tables
The preparation of graphs, figures and tables require that they be clearly labeled and
professionally presented. In some cases, this may require that they be presented on a complete
page in landscape orientation (i.e. sideways to the normal vertical (portrait) direction). If this is
the case, they should be rotated such that the upper right hand corner of the graph, figure or
table corresponds to the upper left hand corner of the report. The top of the graph, figure or
table will be at the normal left hand margin of the report.
Graphs should be plotted using computer software such as Excel, Matlab, Mathcad, etc. Each
axis should be labeled with its variable, symbol and appropriate units. An appropriate scale
and gridlines should be used. The graph should be labeled with a suitable title. A legend
should describe the symbols, line styles on the graph, and units. Gridlines should be numbered
according to the scale used.
Tables should be treated similarly. Tables should be inserted in the text immediately after they
are referenced. Long tables should be placed in an Appendix. Tables should be numbered and

titled. Each column will be labeled with a short heading, including the units. Where tables run
over several pages, the table will have headings on each page. Columns of numbers should be
aligned by the decimal point. Columns should be boxed since free form tables are not allowed
in the report.
Discussion and Conclusion
In this section, the writer reports on the conclusions drawn from the experimental work.
Conclusions are the important finding determined from the experiment. All statements must be
supported by the data and the results. Actual values should be stated or referenced for support.
New information not reported on earlier can not be introduced in this section. Any judgments
made should pertain directly to the work. For example, a judgment: The experiment
corresponded well to the theory since the data differed at most by 3% from the prediction is a
valid statement to make in this section since it is directly supported by the work. However,
The experiment corresponded well to the theory because the tools used were new is not valid.
In many cases, the writer may feel that additional work needs to be performed on the subject
matter of the report. This may be included in a few short statements at the end of this section.
References
Any resource used as reference for the work should be documented here using standard
referencing techniques.
Appendices
This section should be separated from the main report by a single page with the word
APPENDICES centered on the page. Each separate appendix should be titled, and labeled by
a letter starting with A (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.). Appendices usually consist of
materials which are lengthy in nature and would make the report difficult to read if included in
the main body of the report. Typical appendices are raw data, sample calculations and long,
intricate procedures.