Tutor:
Hello Kathy, how's your dissertation on water pumps going?
Kathy:
Not too bad, thanks.
Kathy:
I'm getting on well with the literature review now and my lab work's fine so far.
Tutor:
Remember you should aim to have your results section completed by the end of next month, so there's plenty of time to finalise the whole thing by the summer deadline.
Tutor:
Anyway, looks like you're on track.
Tutor:
I've been through your first chapter now and I was quite impressed.
Kathy:
Oh, that's a relief.
Tutor:
Well, sometimes your sentences are a little long and over-complex, but the overall structure of the piece is very clear.
Tutor:
I'd recommend you get a critical friend to go through it with you.
Tutor:
Then, once you've built in citations of other work in the field, I think it'll be pretty good.
Kathy:
I was pleased I decided to focus on water pumps.
Tutor:
You seem to be testing an appropriate range of pump design.
Tutor:
Lots of students make the mistake of either restricting their range too much, or conversely, not narrowing it down enough.
Tutor:
You've managed to avoid those twin traps.
Tutor:
However, I think you'd get more convincing results if you took some additional measurements.
Tutor:
I've noted exactly what I mean on your work.
Kathy:
Yes, I thought that might be necessary, and I know I need to get down to some more library work too.
Tutor:
Well, I don't think that's essential at the moment.
Kathy:
So what do you suggest I do next?
Kathy:
Repeat my last experiment using different variables?
Tutor:
Well, you could have a word with James Higgins tomorrow.
Tutor:
He's coming here to give a lecture on hydraulics to the faculty, and it would be a great chance to have a chat with him.
Tutor:
Especially as your experimental work has drawn so heavily from his last article in the British Engineering Journal.
Tutor:
And you never know how successful a chat with him might turn out to be.
Tutor:
I got my first research post when I was a final year student and asked a visiting professor to explain what he meant in some article he'd written.
Tutor:
So I urge all my students to take any such opportunity that arises.
Kathy:
But times have changed.
Kathy:
People like that are too busy to talk to mere students these days.
Tutor:
I don't know about that.
Tutor:
Anyway, is there anything else I can help with?
Tutor:
Any practical information about layout, perhaps?
Kathy:
Well, I suppose I'm a bit unsure about how the bibliography should be presented.
Kathy:
Mind you, I can just check what's normally done in journal articles, so that's not something to bother you with.
Kathy:
I'd welcome some guidance, though, about what I should or shouldn't include in the appendices.
Kathy:
I know some things – some of my data tables or details of specs, perhaps – are not really needed in the main body of the text, and I'm likely to be pushed for words there.
Tutor:
OK, I can certainly help you with that.
Tutor:
But it will take a while, so can we deal with that next week?
Tutor:
I've got that solar panel seminar to go into in a few minutes.
Tutor:
There's plenty of work you can be carrying on with in the meantime.
Kathy:
Sure, that's no problem.
Kathy:
I think I'll go and investigate the latest version of the CAD software to see if it might help with my pump design experiments at all.
Tutor:
Before you go, though, I'd like quickly to run through what you should be doing over the next few months, not just for your dissertation, but also to help your chances of getting the research post you'd like.
Tutor:
Is that OK with you?
Kathy:
Yes, that would be really helpful.
Tutor:
Well, you certainly need to become a member of the Mechanical Engineers Society, and then you'll be able to go along to their meetings.
Tutor:
There you must make a point of making yourself known to various people, like Professor Jones.
Tutor:
He's the current president and is very approachable.
Kathy:
OK, so I could do some networking there.
Tutor:
Also, I think you should try to set up some visits to industry.
Tutor:
Go to a lot of different workplaces just to see how things are done.
Tutor:
It's actually a very good way of making sure you're familiar with the cutting edge of what's going on.
Tutor:
Textbooks, even academic articles, sometimes lag behind industry.
Kathy:
That sounds really interesting.
Kathy:
Also, I'd love the chance to do a bit of work abroad for a while.
Tutor:
Well, that's actually the next thing I was going to recommend.
Tutor:
I'm sure we could set up a month for you in either the States or Canada, and that would be a great way to find out how things are done elsewhere.
Tutor:
And the last thing I was going to suggest was that you could go to the European Water Engineering Conference being held in Spain in May.
Kathy:
I could even present my dissertation there.
Kathy:
Thank you so much.
Kathy:
That's all really helpful.
