UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report

A guide for undergraduates

BY

Olayinka Okeola
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Ilorin
1. INTRODUCTION
The importance of the final year project can be seen in the heavy credit units allotted to it in both the first and
second semester. It is in the final year project that students move away from threshold of classroom and
laboratory training to real life field experience. In this instance all the previous four years undergraduate courses
are put in to practice to solve a specific engineering problem more or less like a professional engineering
consultant. At the end of a session work, students would have acquired, developed and consolidated different
skills and tools of solving practical real world problem. These include (discipline specific) data gathering, field
surveys, questionnaire drafting & administration, monograph, application software packages (such as AutoCAD,
Orion, CivilCAD, Pipenet, Goggle Earth among others and of course general usage of Microsoft Words, Excel, and
Power point.

This guide is written specifically to assist students to get through this important huddle of preparing final year
report with less hassle and substantially hitch free. At this juncture, students must realize that handling
constructive criticisms is very important to writing an excellent and satisfactory report.

2. PROJECT PROPOSAL
It is strongly recommended that students should discuss in earnest with one or two lecturers specializing in their
core area of interest viz: structure, transportation, water etc. At the end of the 400Level, each student should
have an idea of the area of specialization that he/she would want to do the project work. This can be enhanced by
studying past project works in the department, library and the internet. In addition, it can also be through
identifying engineering problems in the students’ hometown or elsewhere in need of solution to either improve
the infrastructure or social-economics of the particular community. Any idea conceptualize is tentative and must
be worked upon by the student under the guidance of his/her supervisor.

3. AIMS OF THE PROJECT PROPOSAL

 to articulate a project topic that addresses a specific engineering problem either in theoretical or practical
formulation.
 to identify the required data/information needed and how to obtain them
 to state the methods of data analysis and the expected results
 to discuss relevancy of results to the problem and give suggestion on improvement
and further work.

4. ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT PROPOSAL

 Project proposal is like a blue-print. It guides the students on what to do and how
to do them.
 It also allows the students to focus on the work and ensure compliance with the schedule of work.
 The long term benefit is to help the students in acquiring the art of proposal writing which would be
required in the students’ future career either as an academia or professional person.
 Developing a proposal is in the best interest of the students for it allows for self progress monitoring and
assessment. Ditto for the student project supervisor.

5. STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT PROPOSAL

The final year project proposal comprises mainly of the following elements:
1. Title
2. Introduction
3. Aim and Objectives
4. Literature Review
5. Methodology/Material/Tools
6. Expected Result
2

7. Time Frame (schedule)

Page

8. References

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
5.1 Title
This should contain simple and short description of the proposed work and must not be ambiguous. This title albeit
tentative at the beginning may be modified until a final title is settled upon in consultation with the student
supervisor. Examples:
1. Analysis of a five story reinforced concrete framed structure stiffened with earth wall
2. Design of pump and transmission pipes for a water supply system
3. An appraisal of construction industry and sanctity of contract
4. Properties of fan-palm fibre reinforced cement composites
5. Flow frequency analysis for selected gauging stations along rivers Niger and Benue

5.2 Introduction
This gives general background information and knowledge on the topic and subsequently narrow down to
proposed specific title.

5.3 Aim and Objectives

The aim of the project must be clearly stated. This simply is the project goal statement; and should adequately
explain or capture its essence. There may also be specific objectives to accomplish the aim (main objective) of the
project.

5.4 Literature Review

This section discusses past similar works relevant to the project topic along with cited references. It should be
general and then narrow down to student own specific-topic. Discussion of theory should be significantly
minimized.

5.5 Methodology
This is a description of the methods or technique to be adopted in the study. This does not include the theoretical
background of the method but the appropriateness of the methods should be stated.

5.6 Expected Results

This section attempts to answer questions such as: What results or findings are expected? How has it contributed
to the project stated goals? What are the implications to the study? How does it aid suggested recommendations
and conclusions?

5.7 References
This is the listing of all literature that was referred in the proposal

6. INSTRUCTIONS ON PROPOSAL DOCUMENTATION

A student can easily give impression of his/herself from presentation of work. Therefore it is imperative that
students read draft of their proposal thoroughly and make use of Ms Word tools such as spelt and grammar check
before proceeding to produce final report. The following instructions are given to ensure a satisfactory
documentation of the proposal report ready for submission:

1. Provide a separate cover page to include the following information as shown in the
attached template 1.

2. Thereafter, the text page 1 and remaining pages should follow the template 2.

3. Essay should be typed using Times Romans, Arial or Calibri font size 12 on A4-paper
with 2cm margins on all sides.

4. Within the text, the headings should be in Uppercase/bold and Capitalized/bold each
3

word for the subheadings.

Page

5. Essay should not exceed 2000 words using 1.15 line spacing.

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
 FINAL YEAR PROJECT PROPOSAL

BY

NATHANSON, Gafar John (02/40GB0000)

Department of Civil Engineering
University of Ilorin. Ilorin, Nigeria

Project Supervisor: Dr. B.B. West

September 2011
4
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
 Final Year Project Proposal Nathanson, G. J. (02/40GB0000) 2012

ANALYSIS OF A FIVE STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAMED STRUTURE

STIFFENED WITH EARTH WALL

By
NATHANSON, G. J.
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

1. INTRODUCTION

5
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
WRITING FULL PROJECT REPORT

I. Introduction
The structure of a report is typically made up of three main divisions: (1) preliminary, (2) body and (3)
supplementary (Table 1). Each of the sections contains a different kind of content as indicated in the
Table 2. The project text should be organized and presented in logical manner with headings and
subheadings listed in the Table of Contents as shown in (Box 1). A separate page is required for listing of
tables, figures, notation and appendix in the report. See Table3 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively for illustrative
examples.

Table 1: Divisions and sections of a report*

Broad Divisions Individual Sections

Preliminary material 1. Title of Report

2. Table of contents
3. Abstract

Body of Report 1. Introduction

2. Literature Review (sometimes included in the introduction)
3. Methodology
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion
7. Recommendations (sometimes included in the conclusion)

Supplementary material 1. References or Bibliography

2. Appendices

Table 2: Content of individual section*

 Title of Report Concise heading indicating what the report is about

 Table of contents List of major sections and headings with page numbers
 Abstract Concise summary of main findings
 Introduction Why and what you researched
 Literature Review Other relevant research in this area
(sometimes included in the introduction)
 Methodology What you did and how you did it
 Results What you found
 Discussion Summary of results/findings
 Recommendations What needs to be done as a result of your findings
(sometimes included in the conclusion)
 References and Bibliography All references used in your report or referred to for
Background information
 Appendices Any additional material which will add to your report

*Learning Guides (2008) Writing Centre. The University of Adelaide, Australia.

www.adelaide.edu.au/writing centre/
6
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
 Box 1. Extract from a Project table of contents

Table of contents
Content Page
Cover page i
Title page ii
Certification iii
Approval page iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgement vi
Abstract vii
Table of contents ix
Figures xiv
Tables xvi
Notations xvii
Appendix xix

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Introduction 1

1.2 Problem Identification 5
1.3 Justification of the Study 6
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study 7
1.5 Scope of the Study 7
1.6 Description of Study Area 8

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 General Review 14

2.2 Theoretical Background of the Analytical Tools 32
2.2.1 Statistical approach 32
2.2.1.1 Minimum value
. . .
. . .
. . .
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY
. . .
. . .
. . .
CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
. . .
. . .
. . .
CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusion 142
5.2 Recommendations 143
References 145
Appendix A 152
. . .
. . .
. . .
7

Appendix F 209
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
II. Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter begins the introduction that gives general background information and knowledge on the
project topic, discusses the previous work on the subject and finally gives insight into the motivation and
justification to embark on the study. The aim of the project must be clearly stated. This is fundamentally
the project goal statement; and should adequately explain or capture its essence. The scope of the work
is a self-imposed limitation in which the study will not transcend. This is necessary because of dynamic
nature of most studies. It simply implies doing your very best that is meaningfully conclusive and then
leaves the rest suggestively for further studies. Most civil engineering study focuses on a physical
domain. That is a geographical entity. It is therefore imperative to discuss the description of the area. The
introductory chapter 1 normally encapsulates the headings listed in box 1.

III. Chapter 2: Literature Review

This section discusses past similar works relevant to the project topic along with in-text references. It
should be general and then narrow down to student own specific-topic. A literature review is not a
summary and it is not a list. Citing the studies that have been done and obtained results without
evaluation is nothing more than a book report. The literature review should be exhaustive in the full
project report (chapter 2: box 1). It may also contain theoretical background of the study.

IV. Chapter 3: Methodology

This is a systematic description of the methods adopted to do the work and the justification for its
adoption. It is also acceptable to have materials and methods in lieu of methodology. It is important to
note that it is not a step by step chronology of the adopted process or a set of instructions. Rather the
section should include the description of field work, experimentation, equipment, sampling, data
collection, design and administration of questionnaire, statistical analysis, and computer programme are
normally brief under the “Introduction” Chapter 1 (Box 4) and full detail are discussed under
“Methodology” Chapter 3 (Box 4).

V. Chapter 4: Results and Discussion

This section presents the results from the study highlighting the significant interest. The crux of the report
is in its analysis and interpretation. The discussion should interpret the findings in respect of the results
obtained. However, results should be in past tense and presented with clarity and precision

VI. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation

The conclusion actually round up the project report by summarizing the salient findings in line with the the
objective and also give the direction the future work should take. Practical inference and deductions are
drawn

VII. Others: Tables, Figures, Equations, Notations, Abstract

Tables, Figures, Equations, and Notations:
Figures should appear in numerical order, be described in the body of the text and be positioned close to
where they are first mentioned. Tables and figures are meant to introduce new information and not to
duplicate text itself. The standard format of table is devoid of vertical and horizontal lines. Tables should
be self-explanatory without reference to the text. All equations should be written with Microsoft Equation
3.0.

Abstract:
A good abstract is concise, readable, and quantitative. This is usually done at the end of study by virtue
of its purpose. Abstract is the summary of the study objectives, major results, findings; implications,
conclusion and recommendation drawn. An abstract should be complete without specific reference to the
main project report, figures or tables. The third person should be used and the text written in past tense.
8
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
Table 3 : List of tables format

LIST OF TABLES
Table Description Page
3.1 Watershed parameter for river Oyun 17
3.2 Synthetic unit hydrograph parameter for 10hrs storm duration 19
3.3 Storm hydrograph ordinate for Oyun watershed 25
3.4 Coordinates of the design hydrograph 27
3.5 Forces due to self-weight and resisting moment 32
3.6 Design parameter for the concrete weir from the analysis 37
3.7 Bill of engineering measurement and evaluation 38

Table 4 : List of figures format

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Description Page

1.1 Existing weir discharging water to the downstream side 6
1.2 Existing weir showing the water reservoir at the upstream side 6
3.1 Satellite map showing the location of the existing weir 16
3.2 A plot of 50-yr, 24-hr storm hydrograph 26
3.3 Hydrograph curve showing a plot of discharge againt time 28
3.4 Concrete weir section and pressure diagram 29
3.5 Concrete weir section divided into three sections 30
3.6 Uplift pressure diagram when there is water on the
downstream side 34
3.7 Uplift pressure diagram in the body of the concrete weir 35

Table 5 : Notations format

NOTATIONS

Angle made by axial force to the vertical at the downstream

Storage coefficient

Storm duration
9
Page

Overturning stability

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
VIII References
All the in-text citations must be collated and listed in acceptable format under the references list. All
references cited in the text must be listed at the end of project report. There are various format of listing
references. Reference listing is very important in any scholarly report. What to note are:

1. If the source is a textbooks, Peer-reviewed Journals, Conference Proceedings, Final Year Projects,
Public Lectures, Public Symposiums, Workshops etc.
2. Then note the date, the source, the publisher’s name & place, Journal name, open access publication
and accessed date etc.

Most sciences and engineering disciplines adopt the conventions’ of the American Psychological
Association (APA) for in-text citation and general reverence listing styles. This style uses in-line
acknowledgement of sources without footnotes and endnotes common in arts and Humanities.
References are very important and therefore carelessness that may cause unintentional plagiarism MUST
be avoided. Hence keep track of all sources of literature information. On listing style, consider illustration
in Box 1. This paper published by IWA is listed using different styles to give you insights into the need for
consistency emphasis.

Citations in text
In the text, a reference identified by means of an author‘s name should be followed by the date of the
reference in parentheses. Use surname of author and year of publication: Gafar (2002) or (Gafar, 2002).

When there are more than two authors, only the first author‘s name should be mentioned, followed by ’et
al‘ : Okeola, et al., (2008)

Two or more years in parentheses following an author's name are cited in ascending order of year. For
example: Adedeji (1999, 2002).

Different references cited together should be in date order, for example: (Smith, 1959; Thomas and John,
1992; Solagberu, 1999).

Box 2: Reference listing format

Journal name: Water Science and Technology: Water Supply

Paper title: Measuring Willingness to Pay for Improved Urban Water Supply in Offa City, Kwara State. Nigeria.
Authors: B.F. Sule and O.G. Okeola
Year of Publication: 2010; Volume 10; Number 2; and Pages it appeared: 933- 941
Format Styles for above same paper:

B.F. Sule and O.G. Okeola Measuring willingness to pay for improved urban water supply in Offa city,
Kwara State. Nigeria. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. 2010; (10)2, 933-941.

Sule, B. F. and Okeola, O. G. 2010 Measuring willingness to pay for improved urban water supply in Offa city,
Kwara State. Nigeria. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. 10(2), 933-941.

B.F. Sule and O.G. Okeola (2010) “Measuring Willingness to Pay for Improved Urban Water Supply in Offa City,
Kwara State. Nigeria”. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. (10)2, 933-941.

Sule, B.F. and Okeola, O. G. 2010 “ Measuring Willingness to Pay for Improved Urban Water Supply in Offa City,
10

Kwara State. Nigeria”. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply 10, No. 2: 933-941.
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
Listed below are related examples and take cognizance of sources type and date:

Alais, C. and Linden, G. (1999) Food Biochemistry. Aspen Publishers Inc. Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.

Adebosin, H.O.O. (1986) Siting of reservoirs in river Oyun basin. Final Year Project. Department of Civil
Engineering. University of Ilorin. Ilorin. Nigeria.

Adeyemi, S.O. (1987) Water policies for the future. Convocation lecture. University of Maiduguri,
Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Adeyemi, S.O. (1988) Nation’s quest for water. 31st Inaugural lecture. University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.

FAO (2000) Applications of contingent valuation methods in developing countries. Economic and Social
Paper 146. http://www.fao.org (Accessed July 6, 2005).

Godwin, A. (2005) FG plans N19 bn water project for Lagos. The Punch, Tuesday, July 19, 2005, Pg 19.

National Population Commission (2007). Federal Republic of Nigeria official gazette. Vol 94, No 24

Gordon, D. (2001) Incorporating environmental costs into an economic analysis of water supply planning:
A case study of Israel. Master of Resources Management thesis. Simon Fraser University, Israel.

Patankar, U.R. (2003) An approach for sustainable water resources in Maharashtra. Proceedings of 29th
WEDC International Conference. Abuja. Nigeria. Pg. 339-342

Sule, B.F., Adeyemi S.O., Agboola, D. and Catchy, C.C. (1999) Water supply in Kwara State: Problems
and prospects. Proceedings National Engineering Conference, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ilorin,
Nigeria. Pp 258-269

Karamouz,M., Szidarovszky, F., and Zahraie, B. (2003). Water Resources Systems Analysis. Lewis
Publishers. USA. (This is example of multi-author work)

HR Walliingford (2003) Handbook for the Assessment of Catchment Water Demand and Use. HR
Walliingford, Howbery Park, Walliingford, Oxon, UK. (This is an example of multi-author work)

WHO/UNICEF (2000). Joint Monitoring Programme on Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) Global water
supply and sanitation assessment 2000 report.
http: www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/Globalssessment/Global5-5.htm(This is an example of report)

Okeola, O.G. (2009). “Occupational Health and Safety Management in Building Construction”. Paper
delivered at Workshop organized by Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB) Ilorin.
Held at NOCBUL Hotel, Ilorin, Kwara State. 21st -22nd April, 2009. (This is an example of Technical
paper)

NOTE :
1. FOR YOUR PROPOSAL AND PROJECT REPORT ADOPT APA STYLE OF REFERENCING BOTH
IN-TEXT AND IN LISTING

2. ADOPT TEMPLATES 3 AND 4 FOR PROJECT REPORT COVER AND TTTLE PAGES
11
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
 BEWARE OF PLAGIARISM !
The usage of literature material is important in final year project report because It gives credence to broad
reading and in-depth knowledge of project topics. It also shows ability to source, collate and use
information. However all sources must be credited otherwise it may be tantamount to plagiarism.
Plagiarism is a serious form of academic dishonesty which has been described as academic suicide and
in British academia; it is a ‘mortal sin’ (Putre & Rugg, 2005). Therefore what is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is
the use of another person’s ideas, words or material either directly or indirectly without crediting the
original author. It also includes cutting whole or part of someone work and pasting it in your own work.

It is important for student to be very mindful of this so as not to unintentionally commit academic suicide.
A student in whose project plagiarism is uncovered has automatically failed. It may also attract other
punitive measures that are specific to individual University. The rules are very simple and clear to comply
with and guide against a terrible experience. These include:
 Any usage of ideas, words or material of any sort from a specific source, it must be attributed to the
source. Even paraphrasing requires explicit attribution.
 If a usage of someone else’s words verbatim, then it must be in quotation marks and attribute them
to that person.

OTHERS
Useful web sites
www.criticalthinking.org (Provides excellent resources to aid critical thinking)
www.edu.salford.ac.uk/academic-learning-skills/report-writing/
www.plainenglish.co.uk/reportsguide.pdf

Bibliographic software packages:

Endnotes: www.niles.com
Reference manager: www.risnc.com

REFERENCES:
IWA Publishing –Water Science and Technology Journal –Instruction for authors (www.iwaponline.com/wst/i2a.htm
(accessed on 28/8/200)

Petre, M. and Rugg, G. (2010) The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research. Open University Press. McGraw-Hill Education. The
McGraw-Hill Companies. UK.
12
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
 DESIGN OF AN OVERFLOW CONCRETE WEIRFOR
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN SUGARCANE RESEARCH FIELDS

BY

ADEBAYO, LUKMAN
(08/30GB092)

13

JULY, 2012.
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)
 DESIGN OF AN OVERFLOW CONCRETE WEIRFOR
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN SUGARCANE RESEARCH FIELDS

BY

ADEBAYO, LUKMAN (08/30GB092)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
ILORIN, NIGERIA.

A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL

ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF
ENGINEERING DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
14

JULY, 2012.
Page

Writing Final Year Project Proposal & Report Olayinka Okeola (2012)