WRITING ENGINEERING REPORTS: SUMMARY

THE READER(S)

• The Executive - A one minute reader

For example, the vice president of the company is finding that your project will make a profit and is informed about the technology used, the capital investment needed, the risks involved, the market conditions, etc.

• The Manager - A five to ten minutes reader

For example, the manager of basic engineering has been told to implement or evaluate the cost of implementing the project. He/she will make a judgment of how many people he/she needs, how much time will it take, what budget is needed and mostly will express a judgment about the technical merit of the project. He/she will browse the report looking for information about the technology used, making sure that the results make sense, etc. This person is unlikely to find mistakes in your report (unless they are major blunders) but will form an opinion. You need to have everything he/she needs available at a glance.

• The Detailed Reader - The thorough and picky reader

For example, the engineer that will be in charge of conducting further studies based on your report or implementing your findings/ suggestions. A golden rule to address this type of reader is that he should have all the information about the data you used, the assumptions you made, the tools (algorithms, software, etc.) you used and the steps you took , so that he can repeat the process without having to ask you a single question. This does not mean that you have to overwhelm the readers of the report with ALL the details of what you did, step by step. You could risk annoying the manager and executive readers. So a balance needs to be present.

1. Do some of the work
2. Identify the reader(s).
3. Determine the purpose of the report - which may be different than the purpose of the work. Moreover; the purpose of the report may or may not be included in the report.
4. Plan the presentation
• How can I best get these ideas understood?
• What charts, graphs, tables, graphic representations should I use?
• What should the report look like?
1. Write the body of the report.
2. Write the summary.
3. Keep working an filling the report with more details. The first time around in this process you may end-up with no more than a skeleton of your report.

 

1. Title
(Use separate title page for reports longer than about five pages long.)
2. Summary
(1/4 to 1/2 of a page - include major recommendations)
3. Table of Contents
(For reports more than about 8 pages long)
4. Introduction
5. Background
(if appropriate)
6. Problem Statement, Explanation, Test Method, Other Sections
7. Results and recommendations
8. Appendices