MATS1192 CONFERENCE REPORT AND PRESENTATION
You will select a specific application of a material of your interest. For example, you could choose
the Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloys for hip implants, X-750 nickel alloys for aircraft engine
turbines, glass fibre reinforced plastic composites for wind turbine blades, silicon for
photovoltaic cells, etc.
You will prepare a written report on your chosen topic and give a 5 minute presentation during
the conference in Week 10.
The written report should include the following:
1. Cover page: This should include the title of your report, your name, student number (zID),
email address and the date of submission.
2. Table of contents: This part of your report will serve as a guide to the reader indicating the titles
of various sections and subsections of the report as well as the corresponding page numbers.
3. Introduction: In this section, you can give a brief overview and background information about
the material and its application that you have chosen, e.g. briefly describe the material and
application, discuss why it is important, give the global production volume and leading
manufacturers, etc. If the material you are focusing on is non-commercial or a research product,
then you might explain how, when and by whom it was discovered. You can include the
importance of your material from an Australian perspective.
4. Material properties: Here you should provide information about the chemical composition and
atomic structure of the material, and the particular physical and mechanical properties that are
relevant to your chosen application.
5. Production processes: In this section, you should explain the various processes/technologies
used for manufacturing the material for your application. What are the raw materials used and
where do they come from? You may also give advantages and drawbacks for these processing
methods. Lab or pilot scale processes can also be included in this section, if relevant. You
should discuss any issues and recent developments in the processing.
6. Applications: Here you should discuss why that particular material is most appropriate for that
application. If it is a very new material, you can discuss future potential applications. You
should also mention any disadvantages the material has for that application and how these
might be overcome (i.e. areas of current developments or research).
7. Environmental issues and sustainable alternatives: You should discuss the environmental issues
pertaining to the manufacturing process or the applications of the materials. If the material you
have chosen, or its processing method, has been recently developed and offers significant
benefits in terms of environmental friendliness over those previously used, you could discuss
this. You should also discuss how any current environmental issues might be overcome in the
future, or how the material/processing could be made more sustainable (e.g. by replacing non-
renewable raw material sources with renewable sources, by reducing energy intensity of
processing, by making the product more easily recyclable, etc.) and any recent developments
towards achieving this. You can suggest sustainable alternatives from available literature as well
as your own ideas.
8. Conclusion: Briefly summarise the information from your report.
9. References: A list of references used, using a recognised citation style. All references should be
cited in the text. (How to cite correctly will be covered in the Ethics class in Week 5.)
Please structure your report in sections, using the list above as section headings. Include page
numbers in the report.
Report (8 marks)
A written report of ~1000 (1100 maximum) words on your chosen topic should be prepared.
Any text over the 1100 word count will not be marked. The word count does not include the
table of contents, figure/table captions or reference list. Assessment criteria are given on the next
page.
Your written report should be submitted using the submission link on Moodle, by 9 am, Friday,
Week 9. The submitted file must be either MS word or pdf and the filename must be firstname-
lastname-report1192.doc (or first name-last name-report1192_date.pdf).
Note that written reports will be checked for plagiarism. Any plagiarism detected will result in a
mark of zero and possible disciplinary action under the UNSW Student Misconduct Procedure
(https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism). If you are repeating the course, you cannot submit the
same report as when you did the course previously.
Presentation (8 marks)
The presentation should be prepared in PowerPoint. You do not need to include all of the content
from your written report – you should just cover the key points. Assessment criteria are given on the
next page.
The presentations will be given over 3 sessions on Thursday and Friday, Week 10, each of
approximately 1 hour, with 10 students presenting in each session. 5 minutes will be allocated
for each student’s presentation. You must attend the full session in which you are giving your
presentation; attendance at other sessions is optional. You can choose your preferred session time on
Moodle. Further details, including the location, will be announced on Moodle. The conference will
include a pizza party.
Your PowerPoint file for the presentation should be submitted using the submission link on Moodle,
by 9 am, Monday, Week 10. The filename should be firstname-lastname-report1192.ppt.
Peer assessment (2 marks)
You will provide feedback to the other students giving their presentations in the same session as
you. Providing this feedback will help will develop your critical thinking and communication skills.
The feedback you receive will also be useful for improving your presentation skills.
Feedback will be given through the course Moodle site. You should take notes during each student’s
presentation and then upload your comments on Moodle by the end of Week 10.
Points to consider in giving back to feedback include: (1) Did the presenter capture and hold your
attention? (2) Was the talk clear and easy to understand? (3) Was the presenter audible and speaking
at an appropriate pace?
You must include at least one positive comment and one comment on an aspect that you think the
presenter could improve in the future. Your comments should be constructive and considerate.
You will be assessed on the detail and constructiveness of your comments.
WRITTEN REPORT ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Mark (%) Discussion of the Discussion of Discussion of Style
importance of the applications and environmental /2
application, material reasons for material issues and
properties and selection sustainable
processing /3 alternatives
/3 /2
0 Not included --
20 Discussion is included, but content is incomplete and/or Poor structure,
irrelevant, and indicates very poor understanding of the subject. presentation and
clarity of writing.
Few/no figures or
tables are included.
40 Discussion is included, but key points are missing, irrelevant Poor structure,
information is included and/or there is incorrect information. presentation and
Report indicates limited understanding of some important clarity
aspects. of writing. Few/no
figures or tables are
included.
60 Discussion of most key points is included, but the discussion of Presentation and
often are unclear, several important points are missing and/or structure of the
there is significant incorrect or irrelevant information. report is good, but
there are several
grammatical or
spelling errors.
Some relevant
figures or tables are
included.
80 Discussion is mostly clear and detailed, but some key points are Presentation and
missing, some parts of the discussion are unclear and/or there is structure of the
some incorrect/irrelevant information. report is very good;
there are a few
grammatical or
spelling errors.
Several relevant
figures and tables
are included.
100 Discussion is clear and detailed. All key points are included Presentation and
without irrelevant material. structure of the
report is excellent;
no grammatical or
spelling errors.
Several relevant
figures and tables
are included.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATATION MARKING SHEET
Date:
Name of the presenter:
Name of the marker:
The presentation should not exceed 5 minutes.
The evaluation criteria for the content of the conference presentation are analogous to those for the
conference report. Marks will also be given for style, e.g. the oral presentation skills of the presenter
(the way the student presents themself, clarity of the presentation, ability to stimulate interest in the
audience).
Marks:
Content: /8
Style: /2
Total: /10
Comments: