D6 Writing in engineering

D6-b: Forms of writing

D6-bRecognize the forms of writing in engineering.

When you take courses in engineering, you may be asked to write any of the following:

project notebooks
laboratory reports
technical reports
proposals
progress reports

Project notebooks

A project notebook is like a personal journal in which you record your work in progress. It is a log in which you can write your observations and data from the experimentation and design processes or brainstorm and explore explanations or interpretations of the data. You might describe the materials you use and the procedures you follow or draw sketches of your design and, later, its construction. A project notebook can be useful as you work through mathematical analysis of your data and your designs and as you pose questions and plan solutions to problems. It can also provide the space in which you make note of tests that work and those that do not. You can write reflections on articles you read, notes from meetings you attend, and logistics for projects you are working on. You might also record your instructor’s and peers’ comments and critiques.

Make your project notebook as complete and as neat as possible; sign and date entries daily. Remember that your notebook will be useful in your later research, design, and writing. If your notebook is part of an ongoing project that someone else will continue after you, then formality, thoroughness, and neatness will be critical. Notebooks are traditionally kept on paper, but you may keep one electronically to make it easier to record, update, and read. As you move into professional practice, these notebooks will become part of any project’s formal records.

Laboratory reports

Engineers present the procedures, materials, and results of their experiments in laboratory reports. These reports are essential to the development of the discipline, as it is through these reports that new knowledge is recorded and communicated to researchers, teachers, and students. Laboratory reports for some assignments may have particular requirements. Generally, the laboratory reports you are assigned will follow the organization used in laboratory reports written by engineers working in industry and government.

Your report will need to accomplish the following:

establish the main question or problem under investigation and provide some background
state the objective of the laboratory work (to measure, to verify, to compare, and so on) and the exact methods and procedures step-by-step
describe and comment on your results, explain what they mean, put any unexpected results in context, and compare your results with established knowledge in the discipline
place your results in the context of your stated purpose; note patterns apparent in the results, implications for future consideration, and any questions that remain unanswered
tell your reader if you achieved the predicted or anticipated results; account for any differences if possible

The structure of your laboratory report will function as “instructions” for anyone who wants to replicate your experiment, verify your results, or use your work as a foundation for his or her own research.

You can use the same method and structure to record and report on engineering design projects.

Technical reports

A technical report describes the structure and functions of a design. If the report’s purpose is to investigate the failure of a design, tool, or machine, then it is a forensic report. The audience for a technical or design report is usually other engineers or a similar audience of experts; it can also be decision makers, regulators, and the courts.

A technical report usually has the following structure:

executive summary, a one-page concise statement of the most important points in the report
introduction
purpose and goals
methods
data and findings
recommendations and action items
conclusion
appendices if necessary

Use tables, charts, spreadsheets, maps, figures, and illustrations in the body of your report to present your data and findings or in appendices to support your conclusions. Your recommendations and conclusion should interpret your data, discuss any limitations or boundaries of your work, and suggest action items for this project or other, related projects. Document your work by citing your references in the style recommended by your instructor or the organization for which you are writing.

Proposals

Engineers write project proposals to seek funding from academic and government sources or to describe a project to potential clients. “Selling” a customer on a project is thus an important function of an engineer’s job. Many proposals are written with cross-disciplinary teams including sales, marketing, production, and legal departments. A proposal for a client may include a price quote or estimate, also called a “bid.”

For your classes, you may write proposals for laboratory projects or to suggest solutions for a hypothetical client (usually your professor) who has given you a technical problem or design problem. Prepare your proposals with sufficient research, appropriate graphics, careful organization, and neat presentation to assist your readers and show them that you are credible.

To make it easy for your readers to say yes to your proposal, give them clear, sufficient information about the project. Begin with an introduction that includes a brief project description and lays out the cost, completion date, and rate of return on investment. In the body of the proposal, provide the following:

background and rationale for the project, describing the need to be met or the problem to be solved
how the project will be accomplished
expected outcomes
materials and methods
method of evaluation that will be used to determine that the objectives have been achieved
timeline (sometimes presented in a Gantt chart, a graphical representation of the overlapping deadlines and milestones for all aspects of the project)
budget, including deadlines and a list of items that must be funded

You can assume that your readers are receiving other proposals, so you might also provide a résumé or a section describing your skills and experiences that qualify you for the project.

Progress reports

Once a proposal is accepted and a project is under way, an engineer must write progress reports regularly to inform the client of the work accomplished. A progress report can be in the form of a business letter or a memo. It describes any milestones that have been achieved or tasks that have been completed. In engineering classes, your progress reports will be written to your professor to document your accomplishments and to describe the work still to be completed.

In your progress report, you might provide the following:

a brief project description as a reminder of the scope of the project
a summary of progress with a list of the tasks that have been completed
a list of any problems that have arisen and solutions implemented or suggested
any necessary alterations in deadlines or the budget
a description of work remaining before the next progress report

Engineers frequently use spreadsheets to present data and provide a “snapshot” of the project at various stages. Spreadsheets can be converted into slides for PowerPoint presentations along with images of the work. Complete project reports will assure your readers that you are reliable, punctual, and in control of progress.