Engineering Design GE121 Reporting the Outcome

1. Engineering DesignGE121Reporting the Outcome Lecture 7A

2. Quizzes • Quiz 1 will be next lecture class (Thursday January 27th 2009) • Chapter 1 • Multiple Choice, with clickers • Be sure to bring your clicker! No hand written answers accepted!

3. Reporting the Outcome • Presentation of Techniques for Reporting the Results of the design process • Some types of reporting: • Final Reports • Presentations • Design Drawings

4. General GuidelinesTechnical Communication • Basic Elements of Effective Communication • Know your purpose– Design documentation examples • Seeks to inform client about features and design elements of selected design • May be trying to persuade client of best alternative • May wish to report how design works, to users • Know your audience • What is the technical level of the target audience? • What is their interest in the design being presented? • May prepare multiple documents – Technical / Management

5. General GuidelinesTechnical Communication(continued) • Choose and organize content around your purpose and audience • Sometimes reporting the design process is important, other times, only the result is important • Organizational Patterns (some options) • General Overviews  Specific Details • Specific Details  General Overviews • Chronological (not recommended) • Describing Devices or Systems • Develop a unified, coherent document - avoid repetition

6. General GuidelinesTechnical Communication(continued) • Write precisely and clearly • Effective use of: • Short paragraphs that focus on a single thesis or topic • Short, direct sentences that contain a subject and verb, and allow the reader to clearly understand what is being said • Opinions should be clearly identified as such

7. General GuidelinesTechnical Communication(continued) • Design your pages well • Utilize your Media wisely • Use Headings to support / extend structure of report (a long section divided into subsections helps sustain readers) • Select Fonts to highlight key elements or to indicate different types of information • White space helps keep readers alert • Careful planning of support materials (slides / transparencies) • Font size and choice enhance readability • White space helps – try to limit words

8. General GuidelinesTechnical Communication(continued) • Think visually • Audiences are helped by judicious use of visual representation of information • Design Tools that we have used in class • Detailed Drawings • Assembly Drawings • Tools readily available in most software – no excuse! • Be careful not to cloud your slides / report with distracting backgrounds or images

9. General GuidelinesTechnical Communication(continued) • Write ethically! • Present facts fully and accurately • Don’t present only favorable results / test outcomes • Give full credit to authors or researchers whose work you use

10. The Project Report:Writing for the Client, Not for History • Communicate with the Client in terms that ensure the client’s thoughtful acceptance of team’s design choices • Clear representation of the Design Problem • Analysis of the needs to be met • Alternatives considered • Bases on which decisions were made • Decisions that were taken • Clear, understandable language • Highly detailed or technical materials in appendices

11. Project Report (continued) • Best managed and controlled with a structured approach • Structure of the Report is not intended to displace initiative or creativity. One example: • Determine purpose and audience • Construct rough outline of overall structure • Review outline with Team / Team Manager • Construct Topic Sentence Outline / review with team • Distribute individual writing assignments, then assemble, write and editinitial draft • Solicit initial reviews from Managers/Advisors • Revise/rewrite initial draft in response to reviews • Prepare final version of report and present to client

12. Purpose of / Audience for Final Report • Final Report may be read by a much wider audience than simply the Client’s liaison • Other readers may have different level of technical knowledge • Client liaison may be able to help guide • Must understand what recipients will do with report • May have wanted to see many alternatives • May want to see only a single one that works • May have multiple audiences • Can start with general descriptions, then increase technical level in subsections or appendices

13. Rough Outline:Structuring the Final Report • Reports must be planned! • First step is building a good rough outline • Identify major sections • Major sections have been identified for our class project reports

14. Rough Outline: Structuring the Final Report (cont’d) • Typically, some of these sections are: • Abstract • Executive Summary • Introduction and Overview • Analysis of the Problem including relevant prior work or research • Design Alternatives considered • Evaluation of Design Alternatives and basis for Design Selection • Results of the Alternatives Analysis and Design Selection • [Detailed Design] • [Acceptance Tests] • Supporting Materials – Often in Appendices

15. Rough Outline: Structuring the Final Report (cont’d) • Supporting Materials / Appendices (cont’d) • Drawings and Details • Fabrication Specifications • Supporting Calculations or Modeling Results • Other materials that the Client may want • Each Section: • Should be clear / coherent / stand by itself • Should tell a complete story of some aspect of the project, and its results • Important to have an idea where you’re going, and organize / assemble it along the way! Fewer last minute details for report

16. Topic Sentence Outline:Every Entry Represents a Paragraph • Every single paragraph should have a topic sentence that indicates paragraph’s intent or thesis • Topic Sentence Outline (TSO) is very useful to identify and detail the themes or topicswithin each section of the report • Helps identify any issues that may not be addressed • Helps prevent duplication • Forces Team to agree on topics to be covered • Makes it easier for someone to take over / finish if someone else is unable • Makes life easier for editor to ensure ‘one voice’

17. First Draft:Turning Several Voices Into One • The larger the writing team, the greater the need for an authoritative editor • Editor’s Responsibility to ensure: • Continuity • Logical Sequence, Follows Topic Sentence Outline • Consistency • Common terminology, abbreviations, acronyms, notation, units – discrepancies noted and explained • Accuracy • Technical work done and reported to professional standards • Completeness • All topics in the TSO have been covered • All references have been included • All appendix material has been included • Speaks in a Single Voice • Has to sound like it was written by a single person • Formal and impersonal

18. Activity • Write a topic sentence outline for your midterm report • You may want to start with a brief team meeting to update progress made since the last team meeting • The topic sentences should be worded to make clear how Section 2 is different than Section 1. • Each team member can be responsible for topic sentences for the portion of work that they have completed to date.