Having Trouble Writing your Career Episode Report ?

A competency demonstration report (CDR) requires migrant engineers applying to Engineers Australia to write three career episode reports (CERs). Career Episode Report for Engineers Australia gives detailed information on technical and other skills an engineer applied to the project described. You must demonstrate your professional competencies in your career episodes. Here is a writing style for a Career Episode Report Example for Engineering Technologist.

I have chosen the laboratory project entitled “Wave Tank- Design and Dimensioning” for describing my career episode 1. This was one of the biggest projects which I accomplished during my four years Bachelor degree from 2011 to 2015 on Maritime Technology. I did my undergrad course from XXX (University name and location). The duration of the project was from 01.10.2013 to 27.01.2014 and was completed under the supervision of Prof. Dr A. After the completion, the project report was submitted to the Department of Maritime Technology and presented in front of faculty members and classmates. This was the teamwork of five people, and I was one of the members.

In my engineering bachelor degree, I got involved in various projects. Those projects not only helped me to excel in various subjects but also allowed me to gain real-life experience. In order to satiate my desire for learning about the planning and operation of maritime energy, I took “Measuring and plant Engineering” as my course subject in term 3. As the university required the students to undertake projects of real-world challenges, I accomplished this project during my studies in term 5, relating to the subject of Maritime Energy Systems. The main aim of the project was to design the wave tank for the laboratory uses.

The main aim of the project to increase the ken of engineering knowledge and to work in as a part of the team. The main objective of this project was to construct the wave tank for the purpose of simulation.

The other important objectives are as follows:

This project was the team work of five members and completed during my bachelor degree program on Maritime Technology at the XXX (University name and location). The following organizational structure shows my position during the project:

This project was done on the group of five people, so every person in the group was allocated a different part of managing. My first duty was to make a time chart, i.e. Gantt chart to plan for the starting and ending time of the activities that are to be carried out in the projects. My main task in the project was to design the wave absorber within the given working space and check for its stability. I also created the foundation plate for the tank to make the surface of the plate smooth. Finally, after projection completion, I presented it in front of the faculty members and classmates.

This was the laboratory project during my Bachelor degree and done in a team of five people. To make the project successful, I had to complete my responsibilities appropriately and accurately. Initially, I made the time chart, i.e. Gantt chart to plan for the initiation and completion of various activities during the project period. My knowledge of project management helped me to design the chart easily. After this basic step, I had to design the wave absorber. To accomplish this, I had to do a lot of research in the wave theories as well as in the theory of absorption. After going through the research in different journals, course books and internet, I gained insight on various factors to be considered during the design phase. Through the literature review, I had the knowledge about different absorbers used until now. After the completion of wave absorber design, I designed the foundation plate for the elimination of uneven surfaces.

My main responsibility in this project was to develop the prototype of a wave absorber system. For this purpose, I not only had to determine the principle behind the absorption but also had to choose the suitable design materials. Suitable design materials refer to the materials that are not expensive, do not have the problem of corrosion when used in water, and readily available in the market. To select these materials, I used my knowledge gained in the subject of material science.

Wave absorption is a phenomenon of energy transfer between the photons and the electrons of an atom. Wave absorbers are the equipment which restricts the wave from reflection. First of all, the design was divided into two different parts to design the wave absorber system. The front part of the absorber consisted of 25 plates placed parallel to each other and each having the equal length of 15cm. Back portion consisted of the single big triangle. Due to parallel plates, the wave was unable to revert back, thus, breaking of the wave took place time and again. This prototype was made up of Perspex.

After the completion of the tests of the first absorber, the result was unsatisfactory. So, I had to design the next prototype. I designed the second prototype by modifying the back section of the previous absorber. A large triangle was disintegrated into two smaller portions of which one was an acute angle. By doing this, there was a 70% reduction in the wave height, thus fitting our design space. Thus, it was proved to be the better one than the first design.

After the trials of two differently designed absorber, the third one was developed using more modifications. The material for this design was aluminium instead of Perspex, which is cheaper and readily available. This absorber consisted of 48 parallel plates of length 0.15m, the thickness of 1mm and the 5-degree slope angle in the middle section. Use of a larger number of parallel plates is the next modification in this design. 11 parallel plates of 0.06m length and 2mm thickness stood at an angle of 45 degrees to the waterfront. The following is a diagram of the final absorber.

At these plates, the waves were diverted into the next plate and production of eddies took place. These produced eddies prevented the backflow of the waves. The following figure illustrates the concept behind the final absorber.

After designing the various types of absorber, I also calculated their stability. I did the calculations for the second moment of inertia of all the absorbers using the computer. The formula for the second moment of inertia is:

After designing the final absorber, I designed the foundation plate. Foundation plate allowed the design for making the operation ground smooth and for easily assembling all other components. The material used for the foundation plate was Polyoxymethylene due to its lower creep, higher stability as well as low water absorption. I provided extra mounting points in the tank so that there will be no mounting problems in the future.

During the project, all of the team members were required to submit a weekly report on the work completed. So, I also used to write the progress report each week and submit it to the supervisor. Finally, by a compilation of all the reports of each individual members, the final report was made and submitted to the department. I also did the presentation of my portion in front of faculty members and classmates at the end of the fifth term.

During the project, there occurred various problems, and I dealt with them with different procedures. The first issue was due to the boundary condition of length. Because of the use of prefabricated basin, working space was limited only to the length of 2.5m, the width of 0.5m and height of 0.66m. During the simulation, I realized that the shallow water entails a wave of the longer length to be disturbed, so I had to look for alternatives. After facing difficulty in using a passive absorber, I thought about using an active one. But, through research, I came to know that active absorber is very expensive. So, I modified the previous passive absorber using my knowledge of fluid mechanics. From the internet research and through discussion with other team members. I was able to improve the absorber by decreasing the slope angle of the middle section to 5 degrees.

The second problem was in the stability of front plates of the absorber. The first designed absorber was very unstable, so I had to look for another modification. So, I changed the angle in the middle of the absorber. The result was the highest stability of absorber with a 5-degree angle in the middle section. I achieved this solution from my extensive research in the field of wave absorption theory as well as through interaction with my supervisor Prof. Dr A.

This project was the achievement of the teamwork. We were a total of five people in the group, and each team members were assigned with different responsibilities. In order to know about the development of our project, we regularly used to meet after our classes. We also used to write the weekly progress report and present it at the group meeting. After discussing progress, I used to evaluate it according to the Gantt chart, and if the aim was not completed as planned, we would try to complete it during another week. Not only this, but we would also talk about the difficulties faced in the project through cell phones and other means of communication such as Skype, email, etc. I also used to meet with our supervisor once in a week and often communicated with him through e-mails. Our supervisor used to guide us during the difficulties. In this way, through regular communications, we were able to accomplish our tasks on time.

This project “Wave Tank- Design and Dimensioning” was the first academic project in my life which helped me to gain knowledge of various principles of physics and wave theory. It also allowed me for the application of theoretical knowledge to real-life problems. It enhances my knowledge on the wave characteristics especially wave absorption. The aim and objectives of the project determined at the beginning of the project were achieved within the provided time period. Excellent team coordination and communication helped the project to be accomplished on time. The diligence of all the team members was applauded by everyone in the department, especially by our supervisor. I individually designed two critical components of the wave tank namely wave absorber and foundation plate. Although I faced various challenges during the project, I successfully solved them using my knowledge of different subjects and through the help of internet. By equal contributions of all members, we were able to achieve our objectives successfully. Finally, after the completion of the project, it was presented in front of faculty members and their classmates. In sum, I successfully accomplished my task with great diligence and enthusiasm and my knowledge of physics also increased.