Workshop on Viva Voce Preparing for a Thesis Defensetaminmn/Viva Voce Examination_Slides...1 12th May 2014, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM Professional Course Series –VIVA

112th May 2014, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM

Professional Course Series – VIVA VOCE Examination

Workshop on Viva Voce

Preparing for a Thesis Defense

Prof. Dr. Mohd Nasir TAMIN, CEng

12th May 2014

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM

www.fkm.utm.my/~taminmn/

http://www.fkm.utm.my/~taminmn/



08:30 Registration

09:00 Part I - Introduction

10:15 Morning Break

10:30 Part II - Examiners Expectations

11:00 Part III - Slides and Presentation

12:45 Part IV - Handling Q&A Session

13:00 Lunch Break

14:00 Part V - Open Discussion

15:00 Closure

The program



What

When

Why

Where

How

Viva Voce



Viva voce is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice,"

but most often translated as "by word of mouth."

It may refer to:

• Word of mouth

• A voice vote in a deliberative assembly

• An oral exam, especially in a thesis defense in academia

• Spoken evidence in law

• Viva Voce (band), an American indie rock band

(VEEvah VOchay)

Viva voce From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Viva Voce

What

When

Why

Where

How



At the conclusion of an academic research program

Viva Voce

What

When

Why

Where

How



• To ensure of the candidate’s work

• To clarify and defend issues in the thesis

• To assess the candidate’s general knowledge in the

chosen field of study

• To evaluate the standard of the thesis

Viva Voce

What

When

Why

Where

How



One of the viva voce rooms, Level 2, Block F54, SPS

Viva Voce

What

When

Why

Where

How



Through ORAL presentation by the candidate,

Q&A session and

discussion with examiners.

Viva Voce

What

When

Why

Where

How



Sharing examiners expectations and perspective.

Tips – Do and Don’t for your viva voce session.

Discussing opinions on relevant and related issues.

Learning from mock-up viva voce

How to avoid failing your viva voce

The Workshop is about:



Sharing examiners expectations and perspective

Tips – Do and Don’t for your via session

Discussing opinions on relevant and related issues

Learning from mock-up viva voce

The Workshop is about:

The Aim is:

To better prepare you for a thesis defense



Contents:

The SLIDES

The PRESENTATION

Q&A and DISCUSSION session

The EXAMINERS



Contents:

The SLIDES

The PRESENTATION

Q&A and DISCUSSION session

The EXAMINERS



The Examiners’ Expectations

The thesis is of sufficiently high standard

Original contribution to knowledge

Methodologically strong

The thesis is well written, concise and argued

Worthy of publication

You are able to engage in Q&A and discussion session

LEARN ABOUT THE BACKGROUND OF YOUR EXAMINERS



The Slides

Summary of work - gist

Concise – use diagrams, graphs, pictures, tables

Word economy

Accurate data / information

Avoid cut-and-paste of published work

Organized



The Slides – [10/20/30 Rule]

Typical lengths for 30-mins presentation

Background (2 / 2 mins)

Objectives (1 / 2 mins)

Theoretical Framework / Literature review (2 / 5 mins)

Methodology (3 / 5 mins)

Results and discussion (5 / 10 mins)

Recommendations / contributions (1 / 3 mins)



Features of Good Slides



Sheet metalsFabricationprocesses

Service conditions

Evolution of sheet metal products

- Reliability- Crashworthiness- Environment

- Composition-Thermal treatment- Anisotropy- Rate dependency(Material Integrity)

- Localized plasticity- Residual stresses- Optimized parameters

Features of a Good Slide



Ductile fracture

by initiation, growth and

coalescence of voids

Crack bridging mechanism

showing matrix cracking, fiber

pull-out, fiber/matrix interface

debonding and fiber fracture

SiC/Ti MMC, 500 oC, 10 Hz LCS sheet, tensile failure

Fracture Mechanisms

Condition at the end of test




• Surface or volume-like discontinuities in materials at microlevel.

(eg. microcracks, microvoids)

• Processes involving damage phenomena include ductile damage,

creep damage in metals, matrix cracking, interface delamination and

fiber fracture in composites, corrosion fatigue.

• Damage causes degradation (reduction in properties and

performance)

• Damage evolution is irreversible (dissipation)

Damage




Framework for a Validated Methodology

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

0 0.5 1

Init

iati

on

pla

stic

str

ain

Stress triaxiality

FEM

Mechanics

Mechanisms

Failure Model

Quasi-static

0

10

20

30

40

0 2 4 6 8 10

To

ol F

orc

e (

kN

)

Displacement (mm)

Experiment

FEAP

d

P

Validation

Interpretation

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0 10 20 30 40

Pla

stic

str

ain

Along Path (mm)

Outer

Inner

c

b

a

d e

o

oa

c

b

ed




The Presentation

The scenario

The D-day – date, time, venue

Audio-visual – how to use

Bring 1 hard-copy of your submitted thesis manuscript

Who will come

Duration of viva voce session



The Presentation

How to present yourself

Attire - conservative

Facial expression and body language

Personal conduct – confidence, professional, well-prepared

Mental state



The Presentation

Oral presentation

Think about the examiners

Speak slowly and clearly

Maintain eye-contact

Use body language effectively

Stress on significance of your findings

Do not read the slides! (but write your presentation)



Q&A and Discussion

Reflect on the question before answering it

Remain confident and focus on the scope of your research

Remain calm and take criticism objectively

Analyze long questions

Differentiate between a question to answer or an opinion to give

Question outside your scope of study

Be honest if you do not know the answer, but…



Q&A and Discussion

Reflect on the question before answering it

Remain confident and focus on the scope of your research

Remain calm and take criticism objectively

Analyze long questions

Differentiate between a question to answer or an opinion to give

Question outside your scope of study

Be honest if you do not know the answer, but…

Remember that you are THE EXPERT of your own

research, provided that you know your thesis like the back of your

hand.



Sample questions

What made you do this research?

Who are the key researchers in the field?

Did your study meet your expectations?

How do you see your research being developed in the next few years

What were the most interesting and important things you see in your

research?

How did you address the ethical considerations?

Who do you think will be influenced by your work?

Why did you choose the methodology?

What do you mean when you use the term…

Why should we accept your interpretation?

What is your most important recommendation and why?

Ref: Taken from slides of Dr. Adlina Abdul Samad, Language Academy, UTM, March 2014.



Good Luck

Documents

Workshop on Viva Voce Preparing for a Thesis Defensetaminmn/Viva Voce Examination_Slides...1 12th May 2014, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM Professional Course Series –VIVA