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Join Date: Aug 2009
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thesis topic

08/29/2009 10:56 PM

Hi! i am a mechanical engineering student.

And i just finding a easy and cheap topic for our thesis. My instructor only approve those topics that can be used in extension services like square tamarind molder, copra peeler etc. The approved topics will have its prototype right after the defense.can someone give me topics that is easy and cheap to do for prototype making?

thank u so much. your answers will be highly appreciated.

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#1

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 12:38 AM

If its easy, then it isn't worthy of being used for a thesis!

"The approved topics will have its prototype right after the defense." I believe we have a problem with translation to English. What is to be defended? Defense means to repel or avoid an attack!

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#3
In reply to #1

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 10:37 AM

Maybe what this student will be getting is a worthless "mechanical engineering" degree. It sounds like it since this student believes that his professor would never look here for somebody cheating to find a thesis topic. I could understand this type of foolish approach from an undergraduate freshman. But blatant cheating like this on an open forum does not speak well of this student's school.

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#6
In reply to #3

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 5:16 PM

peswiki.com

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#7
In reply to #3

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 5:21 PM

sorry sir redferd. but what i really meant for the word " easy" is not what you think. I meant that word as "we are after those topics that the materials to be used are available and the prototype result is not time dependent. Any topic which doesnt involve extraction or anything the same as those because they are hazardous and too expensive. Sorry that u misunderstood the word "EASY" in my attached question.

Im just getting advice and asking question from this forum. and I think it is not bad, right? So please dont judge us.I think u can say ur comments in a nice one so no one will be offended. thank u so much sir . God bless.

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#9
In reply to #7

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 11:10 PM

g-cai

While I try to not offend people without reason, I am glad to see that my comments pointed out the dangerous ambiguity in your choice of words. You should present and defend your thesis with better precision and clarity of thought than you demonstrated in your initial question. I can guarantee, my jab will seem like a paper cut if you present a hackneyed concept as your own to a sharp academic committee. This is supposed to be a challenge for you to shine in front of the professors who taught you. Nothing you bring should even seem to be plagiarized. At the same time though, refining your ideas by first proposing parts of your ideas to a public forum can be helpful. But still caution should be your guide. For it would be ironic for you to bring your idea here, and then be cited for plagiarism by a CR4 member of your faculty for using an idea you proposed here yourself. It would also be very tragic, unnecessarily complicate your defense of the skills you should be proud of and very ironic.

So take this and my earlier abuse as a little free lesson for you. Know that I said those things because it appeared to me that you were degrading your schooling, not that I wished to degrade your schooling.

I look forward to you joining this freewheeling community.

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#12
In reply to #9

Re: thesis topic

09/01/2009 6:55 AM

sir redfred

thank u so much. i really appreciated your concern. and I saw your point. thank u sir. and thank u for welcoming me in this forum.

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#4
In reply to #1

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 10:52 AM

In Canada, a thesis must be defended by the student in front of a panel of experts (professors, members of industry) that are knowledgeable in the field before the thesis is accepted for a Masters of PhD. As a fourth-year mechanical/materials engineering student, I think practice in thesis defense would be a great asset -- that can be a daunting task regardless.

In terms of project suggestions, I have none specifically (except the one below). Though I do have a few things to keep in mind when selecting a project, as recommended by some of my professors:

  • Keep it industrially relevant. Crazy theoretical stuff is for scientists (and is exciting, but if it is not realistic or scalable no one will produce it today).
  • If its industrially relevant, its much easier to get funding from industry to help with the project. Also, you may be able to get access to testing facilities and their experience/knowledge base if it will benefit them as well.
  • If you like to be radical in design and implementation of your project, pick an emerging field (i.e. renewable energy technologies) to display your brilliance. (See example below.)
  • Ensure that it will build some skills that are transferable to a future career -- if you're thinking of pursuing materials science and are doing a project in energy generation, think of the range of materials you can use in your incinerator and how they processing/usage history(ies) will affect your emissions, or how lighter/stronger materials can improve efficiencies/reduce costs in your wind turbine, etc.

I just completed my first summer researching under one of my professors at school, and had my eyes opened to the sector. Lots of interesting work gets done, but it can be difficult to convince some of the older faculty that their work is worth combining with another professor's/university's/industry's. One of the most interesting ones I've heard of recently is combining solar energy with agriculture -- something we have a lot of in Canada. Essentially, its possible to build a solar farm with an agricultural farm (i.e. mount solar panels high enough above your crop of corn, wheat, etc. that the harvesting equipment can still navigate underneath them and that the panels do not shade your crop too heavily). Interesting concept, but when I brought it up to some researchers at a biomass conference, they thought I was crazy. Showing that its a viable concept could be very beneficial in some countries!

Best of luck with your project and your final year of study?

Cheers,

-MechMatt

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#11
In reply to #4

Re: thesis topic

09/01/2009 1:26 AM

Thanks for clarifying the defense! I don't recall any such process in my past, but then there are a lot of things I don't recall...and it is very much in the past!

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#13
In reply to #4

Re: thesis topic

09/01/2009 7:49 AM

Mech Matt

thank u so much. U really help us.

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#2

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 12:39 AM

Recently a minister in Kerala (India) has announced a million rupees prize for anyone who can make a machine to climb a coconut tree and bring down coconuts without a human having to climb the tree. Perhaps you can have a crack at it.

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#5
In reply to #2

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 12:54 PM

You should make this a discussion topic in mechanical engineering... It would be interesting to see how many gears begin turning over this topic.

I'm suprised Honda hasnt tackled the chalange simply for publicity on there crew of robots they have that do most everything else but climb a coconut tree!

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#10
In reply to #5

Re: thesis topic

09/01/2009 1:00 AM

It is a mechanical engineering + robotics challenge. However a million rupees is not much. About 50 rupees make a dollar. One of the main reasons why agriculture in poor countries is not mechanised is because of the low labour cost. It costs only about a dollar to harvest two coconut palms. And these palms need to be climbed only once in 45 days or so. I think the economics of it is not attractive to big players. But as a student project, it will be very interesting.

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#8

Re: thesis topic

08/31/2009 8:47 PM

Okay, you mentioned a copra peeler. How about using copra peels in a composter that heats water and generates methane?

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