Home » Thesis » Writing a masters thesis in engineering

Writing a masters thesis in engineering

Engineering remains one of the most important fields in any country, as it serves as the backbone for the operability of the economy. Almost all areas of manufacturing, maintenance, and repairs tie directly into mechanical engineering in particular. This subject is one which takes computer science and combines it with the tenants of physics.

That being said, writing about mechanical engineering affords you the opportunity to contribute to the increased knowledge about the way the world works, and how the devices and structures which make the world move function.

If you are writing a thesis and you need mechanical thesis topics. look no further. Below you will find a list of potential topics for your thesis.

How to Test Tools Which Are Created by Mechanical Engineers
How Your Favorite New Mechanical Device Was Developed and Designed
How Mechanical Engineers Develop the Machines which Produce Energy, Including Wind Power Machines and Power Stations
How Computer Aided Manufacturing, the Result of Mechanical Engineering, Creates Top-Tier Products for the Masses
Thermal Management for Individual Electronic Devices and Electronic Systems
Standard Mechanical Engineering’s Reliance upon Mathematics and Physics
How Wave Guides and Mathematical Optimization Are Used in Modern Mechanical Engineering
Student Involvement in Engineering Research at the Undergraduate Level
Daily Duties of Mechanical Engineers
History of Mechanical Engineering: Your Favorite Time Period
Unraveling the Secrets of the Mayans: Using Mechanical Engineering
Understanding the Pyramids: How Mechanical Engineering Explains History
Ancient Roman Construction: Where Architecture and Mechanical Engineering Meet
Multi-View Orthographic Projections in Modern Engineering
Modern Use of Ceramic Engineering
Reductionism and Its Relation to Quantum Mechanical Descriptions of the Human Mind
Quantum Mechanical Descriptions of the Modern Computer
Computers and the Brain: Mechanical Engineering Connections
New York’s Famous Architecture: The Use of Mechanical Engineering to Make Tallest Buildings
Mechanical Engineering and Clean Water: How to Solve the Biggest Crisis on Earth

It is important to understand that the mechanical thesis topics provided above are a bit narrow for a larger thesis and a bit broad for a short writing assignment.

Writing a masters thesis in engineering one of these topics, be

However, they can be converted in order to fit with your writing task by combining a few, adding a time frame, adding a specific engineer, or reviewing a specific mechanical process. These topics are meant as a guide. They might not necessarily be fit as they are for your thesis. What is important for you as the writer is to review the list from above and search for something that is interesting to you.

Before you start writing on one of these topics, be sure to check with your advisor or teacher about whatever topic you want to select, and ensure it fits within the parameters of your thesis paper. You might have the freedom to select anything you want but you also might have to select something within predefined limits set out by your teacher. Having your teacher review the topic beforehand can save you a false start.

Choosing a topic and supervision of thesis work

When you want to choose your thesis topic, please contact either the professor in charge of your major, or the Learning Services. The topics of theses vary a great deal and they can originate either from the needs of businesses and industries or from the needs of the academic community. The School’s departments continuously offer topics for theses. Students can also suggest a topic based on their own interests. A suitable topic can, for instance, be a research and development project carried out for the industry or for a smaller company.

Students must agree on starting the theses with the professor in charge of the major or the professor whose field of research best matches the topic. It is advisable to organize an initial meeting to start the thesis work. (template: Initial master’s thesis meeting (docx) ). As soon as the topic has been agreed upon with the supervisor, the student should have the topic, supervisor and instructor(s) approved by the Degree Programme Committee. In other words, the student must apply for thesis topic approval:

Applying for master’s thesis topic approval

The thesis topic is officially approved by the Degree Programme Committee. At the same time, the Committee approves the language of the thesis as well as the thesis supervisor and instructor(s). Students must apply for thesis topic approval as soon as they start the thesis process.

It’s possible to apply for thesis topic approval when the bachelor’s degree and at least 45 credits from the master’s degree have been completed. If the student has not yet submitted a personal study plan for the master’s degree, it must be submitted at this point, at the latest. The thesis topic and the completed thesis cannot be approved in the same committee meeting. The Bachelor of Science degree must also be approved (graduation date already passed) before the date of the committee meeting where the master’s thesis topic approval application is processed. Schedule: Academic Calendar

Before filling in then application you must agree on the topic with the supervising professor. The supervisor’s written agreement must be attached to the attachment form of this application. Examples of a written agreement include an email conversation, signed memo from the thesis meeting or other written agreement.

Please note that the topic must be entered in the exact same wording as it is on the written agreement.

The master’s thesis topic is valid for one year from the date of approval. If the topic expires before the thesis is ready, the student can apply for re-approval of the same thesis topic from the degree programme committee.

Also, if the topic of the thesis changes significantly or if the thesis supervisor and/or instructor(s) change, the student must apply again for the approval of the topic. However, there is no need to re-apply for topic approval if only minor changes are made to the wording of the thesis title, for example.

The topic approval form is submitted electronically in eAge and you can use this form as an attachment.

Master’s thesis supervisor

A master’s thesis has a supervisor and one or two instructors who guide and support the student in thesis work. The supervisor must be a professor who is a member of the Aalto University Professors’ Council (students studying according to the degree regulations of 2005/11, i.e. according to the modular structure, can also have a fulltime docent as a thesis supervisor). A master’s thesis instructor must have completed at least a master’s degree.

The student is entitled to getting guidance in the thesis work from both the supervisor and the instructor(s). It is the supervisor’s responsibility to provide guidance on the scientific validity and format of the thesis and on the thesis as a whole. Whereas the instructors take care of daily guidance and support the student in the planning and execution of the experimental part of the thesis as well as in the writing process.

Useful background material for a stuent writing a master’s thesis: Timo Laakso’s book on How to Write a Diploma Thesis (pdf)

Those who are writing their thesis in English can get language support from the Aalto University Language Centre’s Writing Clinic service. if needed.

Please note that the master’s thesis is a public document in its entirety once it has been approved. The thesis can have no confidential sections.

Turnitin -tool is available for students. Turnitin is a help for practising scientific writing and prevention of plagiarism.

Master’s thesis template

The thesis can be written using the master’s thesis template. The thesis template of the School of Electrical Engineering is a source code file made for the LaTeX typesetting programme and students can edit the file to create their own work. Even if you don’t use the LaTeX programme, you can use the template to check the recommended positioning, formatting and structure for theses in the School of Electrical Engineering.

The master’s thesis template package can be downloaded from the thesis template wiki page .

An abstract must be attached to the thesis: Sample thesis abstract and title page. The abstract can also be published in the Aaltodoc publiaction archive, if the student gives permission for this (more details on publishing below).

The target time for completing the thesis is six months, but if the thesis has an extensive experimental part or the student is taking several courses alongside the thesis work, it can take longer. The thesis topic is valid for a maximum of one year after approval. The student must give a seminar presentation and write a maturity essay when the thesis is complete or almost complete. The completed thesis must also be printed and hardbound:

The student gives a seminar presentation of the thesis when it’s complete or almost complete. Details of the presentation are agreed upon with the thesis supervisor. The seminar presentation must be given before applying for the approval of the master’s thesis and a notification of the given seminar presentation must be delivered to the student services office. The notification of a seminar presentation will be attached to the student’s thesis approval application. Please agree with your supervisor whether the notification is delivered to the student services office by the department or if you should bring it yourself.

A maturity essay is also a part of the thesis process. The essay is organized by the department of your thesis supervisor. When you submit the application for thesis approval, the maturity essay should already be written and a notification of a completed maturity essay must be delivered to the student services office. The completed maturity essay will be registered into Oodi. The content of the essay will be checked by the thesis supervisor. If the student has not demonstrated their language proficiency when completing the bachelor’s degree, the language of the essay will also be checked in the Aalto Language Centre. However, usually the language proficiency has already been demonstrated their language proficiency for the bachelor’s degree.

Getting the thesis hardbound

The completed thesis must be hardbound for evaluation. Usually students are expected to ask the supervisor for permission to have the thesis bound. By asking for permission, the student makes sure that the work can now be approved as a thesis and that the supervisor considers the thesis to be ready.

The thesis is printed one-sided on A4 size paper. The covers of the hardbound master’s thesis book must be black and the writing on the cover must be in gold. The front cover of the book must have the text “Diplomityö” or “Master’s Thesis”, according to the language of the thesis, and the name of the author. The spine of the book must have the author’s name and the year when the thesis has been written. The back cover should have no text on it. You should have at least two copies of the thesis hardbound. The cost for the binding is paid by the student. Most bookbinding service providers also provide thesis binding, e.g. Unigrafia.

Approval of the master’s thesis

The master’s thesis will be evaluated in the Degree Programme Committee meeting. The topic of the thesis must still be valid at the time of thesis approval. The topic is valid for one year from topic approval.

1. Check the deadlines for submitting applications from the Degree Programme Committee schedul e

2. Submit your application for master’s thesis approval and an electronic version of your thesis in eAge by the application deadline.

Fill out the electronic application form according to the instructions and upload the final version of your thesis in pdf/A format into the eAge system.

Make sure that the electronic version of your thesis is the final version and identical to the hardbound copies you submit. This must be the final version where you’ve already made all the corrections. The thesis you submit electronically will be used as the official version in case of an appeal, for example. Please note that you cannot submit the application for processing before you have uploaded the thesis pdf as an application attachment.

If you don’t wish to apply for thesis approval electronically, please contact the student services of the School of Electrical Engineering: Study Affairs Secretary Reetta Jokela or the planning officer of your programme.

If you want to graduate with the Master of Science degree at the same time when having your thesis approved
please also fill out the application for graduation.

The eAge application form asks for permission to send electronic notifications. If you give permission, information on the decision on your application will be sent to you by email and you will be able to follow the processing of your application online in the eAge system. If you don’t give permission, you will receive a letter by post informing you of the Degree Programme Committee’s decision.

So-called metadata of all theses is stored and published in the INSSI database. The metadata include the name of the author, the title of the thesis and its translations, the name of the supervisor and instructor(s) as well as keywords. All approved theses are also archived as full text in the Aaltodoc publication archive. Information on the thesis as well as the pdf files are also available through the INSSI database.

The thesis abstract and/or the full text will also be published electronically, if you give permission for this. Permission to publish can be given on the application form. The date of publishing can be postponed by one year from the date of thesis approval, i.e. the date of the Degree Programme Committee. Hence, the thesis does not have to be immediately published electronically if there are other publications, patent applications or trade secrets related to the thesis, for example. However, please note that the thesis is still a public document and it will be displayed openly. The copy that will be public immediately after approval is the hardbound archive copy.

If you don’t give permission for electronic publishing, the archived pdf-file will only be available for the library staff and will not be opened for anyone else.

3. Submit the hardbound copies to the student services

Submit two hardbound copies of your master’s thesis (one copy is for the archive and one for the supervisor) to the student services office (contact information ) for evaluation, by the application deadline. Make sure that the hardbound copies are identical with the pdf/A file which you have uploaded to eAge. The student services will forward the supervisor’s hardbound copy to your supervisor.

Please ask your supervisor if the department of your major would like an extra hardbound copy of your master’s thesis for their own library. If they would like to have a copy, please deliver them one yourself.

The Degree Programme Committee will evaluate the master’s thesis based on the supervisor’s statement.

The common guideline for thesis evaluation and its appendices are used in thesis assessment:

The Finnish and Swedish documents are available in the language versions of this page. The links to the Finnish and Swedish pages are at the top of this page.

The thesis supervisor will write a thesis evaluation statement where he/she proposes a grade for the thesis. The Degree Programme Committee processes the theses and decides on the thesis grades. The evalution statement will be provided to the student after the Committee meeting at the same time when the student receives information on the Committee decision. The evaluation decision is subject to appeal, i.e. students dissatisfied with the evaluation may submit an appeal.
Applying for an appeal

Engineering remains one of the most important fields in any country, as it serves as the backbone for the operability of the economy. Almost all areas of manufacturing, maintenance, and repairs tie directly into mechanical engineering in particular. This subject is one which takes computer science and combines it with the tenants of physics.

That being said, writing about mechanical engineering affords you the opportunity to contribute to the increased knowledge about the way the world works, and how the devices and structures which make the world move function.

If you are writing a thesis and you need mechanical thesis topics. look no further. Below you will find a list of potential topics for your thesis.

How to Test Tools Which Are Created by Mechanical Engineers
How Your Favorite New Mechanical Device Was Developed and Designed
How Mechanical Engineers Develop the Machines which Produce Energy, Including Wind Power Machines and Power Stations
How Computer Aided Manufacturing, the Result of Mechanical Engineering, Creates Top-Tier Products for the Masses
Thermal Management for Individual Electronic Devices and Electronic Systems
Standard Mechanical Engineering’s Reliance upon Mathematics and Physics
How Wave Guides and Mathematical Optimization Are Used in Modern Mechanical Engineering
Student Involvement in Engineering Research at the Undergraduate Level
Daily Duties of Mechanical Engineers
History of Mechanical Engineering: Your Favorite Time Period
Unraveling the Secrets of the Mayans: Using Mechanical Engineering
Understanding the Pyramids: How Mechanical Engineering Explains History
Ancient Roman Construction: Where Architecture and Mechanical Engineering Meet
Multi-View Orthographic Projections in Modern Engineering
Modern Use of Ceramic Engineering
Reductionism and Its Relation to Quantum Mechanical Descriptions of the Human Mind
Quantum Mechanical Descriptions of the Modern Computer
Computers and the Brain: Mechanical Engineering Connections
New York’s Famous Architecture: The Use of Mechanical Engineering to Make Tallest Buildings
Mechanical Engineering and Clean Water: How to Solve the Biggest Crisis on Earth

It is important to understand that the mechanical thesis topics provided above are a bit narrow for a larger thesis and a bit broad for a short writing assignment. However, they can be converted in order to fit with your writing task by combining a few, adding a time frame, adding a specific engineer, or reviewing a specific mechanical process. These topics are meant as a guide. They might not necessarily be fit as they are for your thesis. What is important for you as the writer is to review the list from above and search for something that is interesting to you.

Before you start writing on one of these topics, be sure to check with your advisor or teacher about whatever topic you want to select, and ensure it fits within the parameters of your thesis paper. You might have the freedom to select anything you want but you also might have to select something within predefined limits set out by your teacher. Having your teacher review the topic beforehand can save you a false start.