MEEG 867 Term Paper 2022
MEEG 867 Term Paper 2022
The objective of this assignment is to read and evaluate scientific literature on a topic relevant to the area of Multiscale Materials and of interest to you. You will write a paper based on a single key article published in the archival literature and at least two related papers.
This assignment will give you the opportunity to read outside the classroom content of the course, about topics of your interest in subjects closely related to the area of Multiscale Materials.
Writing a good paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are in R&D, academia, or in commercial-based research, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration, and create a written report of your findings. Employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.
Task: select two to three articles from the scientific archival literature. Rank them according to your preference. Submit your selection for approval.
Your selection should be based on the following criteria:
Ease of understanding of the covered subject matter. Hint: if you cannot make any sense of the abstract, you need to find another paper.
High relevance to the course: the paper must be related to the area of multiscale/composite materials.
Highly cited article: that’s easy to check. Just cut and paste the title in Google Scholar. If the number of citations is high (say over 100), this is a decent paper.
Peer-reviewed article in scientific journal: do not select theses, final reports, web-based articles, etc.
Tip 1: favor “older” paper, as they would typically be simpler and have time to mature to have an impact.
Tip 2: don’t just read the title, read the abstract to find out more about the paper.
Tip 3: avoid papers in which the bulk of the study is experimental.
Where to look:
Use databases:
Web of Science: https://www-webofscience-com.udel.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/basic-search
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com Google is very useful to give you the number and sources of all works which have cited your selected paper.
Use specific journals (not recommended): e.g. Journal of Multiscale Modelling, International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering, Multiscale Modeling and Simulation (SIAM), etc
This is borderline acceptable: although this is an important paper (over 600 citations!), it is primarily experimental work. The reference to Maxwell-Garnett theory is mainly to assess the behavior of the composite material.
This is much more acceptable, as this is a highly cited (nearly 900 citations) review article encompassing many areas relevant to the course.
You will start your paper by writing a short but informational synopsis of your chosen research article. The research analyzed should relate to a topic covered in class (you will clearly identify the covered topic/concept). Try to distill the significance and essence of the work in your chosen paper in a clear, informative and interesting manner. You should then describe the method(s) used by the author(s) and discuss the results found.
In the second part of your paper, you will provide a critical evaluation of the conclusions drawn by the authors of the article, and discuss the significance of the work with respect to the larger field of science and mechanics, physics, mathematics, etc. To do this, select two to three (or more) papers from the list of citations. With a brief description of the scientific work generated by your selected paper, you should be able to assess its significance.
You should write in a style that is concise, technical and scientifically rigorous. Write your paper for an audience of mechanical engineers that is not familiar with the specific area of your selected research work.
Do not copy verbatim from the paper or any other source (this would be plagiarism). However, you are expected to include (i.e. copy) the salient non-textual results (such as equations, tables, or figures) selected from the paper. Include them sparingly.
Total expected length: 8 to 12 pages single-spaced, counting figures/equations, references.
The paper should be typewritten using a standard word-processing software, and then converted to pdf.
1. Title Page. Use the title of your selected paper. However, your own short catchy title will help draw interest. The title page should also have ”Keywords”, so people can find it when doing a library search. Also include your name, date and a word count in the term paper.
2. Introduction & Synopsis. In this section, the goal is to provide a general description of the research work, discussing the background information and its significance, which allows placing the work in a broader context. Try to engage the reader by identifying the purpose of the paper such as the central phenomenon, process or hypothesis that the article you chose is presenting. The introduction should end telling the reader what they are going to learn with this paper.
3. The Paper. Tell the reader what was done, how it was done (the method), and the essential results. Due to limited space, give only a brief synopsis of mathematical (and possibly experimental) methods used. Select the most important graphical output(s) of the paper and explain its importance in the context of the paper’s goal.
4. The Evaluation. Explain in your own words why the research work you’ve described is important work. Critically evaluate the method, results and conclusions drawn by the author(s) of the paper. Discuss the significance of the work. Why is this an important contribution? Then refer to a few papers which have cited your paper to find out the impact it made in the scientific community. Give your reader some perspective on the work. What can we expect next as a result of the research you reviewed? Use section headings to discuss the specifics.
5. Conclusion. Write a conclusion by summarizing the content of your write-up.
6. References. At the end of the paper, under the heading “References”, provide a complete citation for all articles cited in the text, in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. Use the style typically found in the journal articles. Be sure to cite the papers that are the main subject of your term paper, and any related papers mentioned.
Introduction & Synopsis (15 points)
The paper (25 points)
description of the (theoretical, numerical or experimental) method(s) used to arrive at results.
presentation of the result(s) in clear and compelling way
definition of all technical terms and symbols (all stated equations can be understood).
main figure(s) clearly presented with a proper caption.
demonstration of an understanding of the concept(s) and method(s)
Critical Evaluation & Discussion of Impact (25 points)
Conclusion (15 points)
Style & mechanics (5 points):
Bibliography (5 points):