Engineering
Report Writing
SaMeH Ahmed
s.mohamed@mu.edu.sa
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SaMeH
GE 306
Level 7
College of Engineering
1434/2013
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Overview: Engineering Reports
Engineering Reports are Technical reports
include various types of "technical"
information. For example, if you need to
report why a machine failed, you'd write a
report about the reasons caused that
frailer. Your report could be short full of
details or something in between.
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Many report types are classified as technical
reports. You should always determine
what information you need to convey and
who your audience is before you start
writing.
The following are guidelines to help you
writing an Engineering Report. It is similar
to writing a scientific paper or technical
report.
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Definition of a Technical Report
 Audience
 General Format
 Perspectives on Technical Reports
 Additional Resources
 Example Technical Report
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But it is important…
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It is your duty as an engineer to share
your discoveries with others
Your work is understood only from what
you present / publish / introduce
You are evaluated only based on what you
write in your reports, etc.
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Remember!
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It is your work
You want others to feel the excitement you
felt when you invented the solutions
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A format where the findings/recommendations
follow the main body
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Cover sheet
Title page
Abstract
Table of contents
List (Figures, Tables, Abbreviations)
Introduction
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The body of the report
Conclusion
Recommendations if applicable
References / Bibliography
Glossary (if needed)
Appendices
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Format of Reports
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Title: Less than about 11 words
Abstract: 200 – 250 words
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Introduction
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One paragraph – background / history
One paragraph – motivation
One paragraph – your contributions
One paragraph – organization
Formal Problem Statement – some other name
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Write this at the end
Mention what you have achieved; mention key of expected
results
Mention assumptions of setting under which your solution
applies
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Format (contd.)
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Background – some other name
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Your Solution – in one or more sections
Related Work
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Describe background necessary to understand the rest of the
document
Optional – point to other documents
Use to fill space if required
cite and briefly discuss other related work
mention how it is different from your work
mention their limitations but be polite
people like to see their work here; so mention anything that
seems related if done by a program committee member!
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Format (contd.)
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Performance Model
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Experiments
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Use graphs and tables to show results
Refer the graphs / tables in the text: We see in Figure 1 that …
Discuss intuition behind why the graphs are the way they are
Should sound like: Due to these reasons the results are as
expected.
Conclusions
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Describe your experimental setup and metrics you used to
evaluate your solution against previous work
Like abstract, but some more technical points like merits of datastructures used, etc. – assume reader has already read thru the
document
Can mention possible future work
Acknowledgements
References
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Format of a Report
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Sections become chapters
Sub-sections become sections
In addition, it has:
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a table of contents
list of figures
list of tables
index
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Checklist
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Do a spell-check
Ensure figure / table / section numbers match those in
text
Look at start and end of each page
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E.g. A section title should be at the end of some page
Use no indent after figures / tables
Ensure figures / tables are placed where you want them
Give good names for your algorithms / solutions
Use those names to make your title
Take a printout and read thoroughly
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Other tips: In writing scientific papers
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Use LaTeX
Review lots of good / bad papers; avoid their mistakes
Be ambiguous in your initial abstract
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Be picky about how your sentences sound & feel
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Like changing a software’s design
Finish a draft of the paper at least a week before the
final deadline
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Can you write the same thing in a simpler way?
Can you write the same thing in a concise way?
Are you moving back and forth between two concepts?
A different word may be a better fit to explain this?
Expect to change your organization a couple of times
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Just mention what you achieve without revealing techniques
Otherwise your chance of acceptance reduces to 20 – 30%
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Finally
Writing a Report requires effort, time, an eye
for detail, is addictive, exciting and rewarding.
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