114 Writing for Science and Engineering

Checklist for a Progress Report to a Commercial

Organisation
□ Does your report clearly show how your work will benefit the company’s activities?
□ Does it use language that can be understood by a non-expert in your immediate field?
□ Does it explain terminology that may not be familiar to the company’s personnel?
□ Does it clearly show the direction your research is taking?
□ Does it refer back to your previous progress reports?
□ Does it explain your progress since your previous report?
□ Does it describe any procedure that you have used and was not projected in previous
reports?
□ Does it show the expected time frame for future activities?
□ In the final report:
□ Does it tie up all your work into a logical story?
□ Does it clearly describe your recommendations?
□ Does it show how the work could be further developed?

A Project Team’s Progress Reports

Purpose
To report at intervals on the progress of a management project undertaken by several
individuals.

Possible structures for a series of progress reports

1. Initial report at the start of the activity
This is likely to be similar to a project proposal, in which you describe how you
will approach the task. As with any plan, it will involve intelligent and informed
guesswork. Use the principles given in Chapter 5: A Research Proposal.
You will probably need the following elements:

Cross-Reference to Relevant Part of

This Book
1. Executive Summary Chapter 3: An Abstract, a Summary, an
Executive Summary, page 60
2. Objectives Objectives, Chapter 2: The Core Chapter,
page 30
3. Initial analysis of the problem Problem Statement, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 32
4. A preliminary literature survey Chapter 4: A Literature Review, page 63
5. A clear statement of how you propose Materials and Methods, Chapter 2: The
to tackle the first stages of the project, Core Chapter, page 36
together with a brief description of the
methods you will use
Progress Reports 115

6. If needed: Schedule of Tasks Schedule of Tasks/Time Management,

Chapter 2: The Core Chapter, page 33
7. Allocation of responsibilities Allocation of Responsibilities, Chapter 2:
A description of the roles of the various The Core Chapter, page 33
individuals in the team.

2. Intermediate reports
For intermediate progress reports, use the principles given in this chapter in Progress
Report to the Funding Body or Organisation, page 111.
3. The final report
Again, use the principles given in Progress Report to the Funding Body or Organisation,
page 111, and also take the following into consideration:
This report will probably need to be longer than the preceding reports.
l

It will need to tie up the whole body of work into a logical story.
l

It should concentrate on the results, conclusions and recommendations.

l


l
If required, include a description and possibly a peer review of the tasks undertaken
by the various individuals.

l
If appropriate, include a description of how the work you have done could be fur-
ther developed in the future. See Suggestions for Further Development, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 41.

Checklist for a Project Team’s Progress Reports

Does your first report:
□ Give your team’s objectives?
□ Give an initial analysis of the problem?
□ Give a brief preliminary survey of the literature?
□ Describe the various tasks you foresee?
□ Describe the techniques you will use?
□ Give a schedule and time frame for the various tasks?
□ Describe the roles of the various individuals?
Do your intermediate reports:
□ Clearly show the direction your work is taking?
□ Describe your progress since your previous report, with brief reference to those
reports?
□ Describe any method or technique that you have used and was not projected in previ-
ous reports?
□ Give your conclusions from the work so far?
□ Show the expected time frame for future activities?

Does your final report:

□ Tie up the whole body of work into a logical story?
□ Concentrate on results, conclusions and recommendations?
□ If required, give a description of the tasks and peer review of the various individuals
in the team?
□ If appropriate, show how the work can be developed further?
8 Consulting/Management Report and
Recommendation Report

This chapter covers the types of reports for the following purposes:
1. As a report directed to the senior management personnel of an outside
organisation, as a result of work you have carried out for the organisation.
2. As an internal assignment for a university course of study. In this case, your
assessor will probably need it to be written as though it is for an outside
organisation. Check that this is so.
3. Checklists
See also A Project Team’s Progress Reports, Chapter 7: Progress Reports, page 111.

A Consulting or Management Report

Purpose
To inform senior management personnel of the results of consulting work you have
carried out for them.

IMPORTANT: This report should be written so that someone with no

technological or scientific knowledge can understand the overview, mean-
ing and implications of it.

A management report is likely to be read by non-experts

When writing this report, imagine that the academic staff member who will assess it
is a senior manager in a commercial organisation. The staff member will, of course,
read the whole report and has the background to understand the science or technol-
ogy behind it. But, in imagining this organisation where your report is going, the fol-
lowing points need to be remembered:
1. Senior management may not read a whole report. They rely heavily on the Executive
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations to give them an overview of the substance
of the report. A longer report may also need section summaries. They will expect to
understand the following from these:
What your work means
l

How it will benefit the company’s activities

l

Writing for Science and Engineering.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-098285-4.00008-X
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
118 Writing for Science and Engineering

l
Any further work that needs to be done
l
(Probably): What it will cost
See:
l
Executive Summary in Chapter 3: An Abstract, a Summary, an Executive Summary,
page 60
l
Conclusions (page 39) and Recommendations (page 40) in Chapter 2: The Core Chapter.
2. Senior management of an organisation may not have your specific knowledge of the
field. They may have expert scientific or engineering that is not specifically in your area or
be even further removed such as accountants or lawyers and so on. Moreover, your report
may be passed on to other people whom you may not have expected to read it, e.g. local
government personnel. This means the following:
l
Your report should be able to be understood by non-experts – at least in overview,
meaning and implications.
l
It also needs to be written so that everyone can extract from it what they need, without
having to read the whole document.
l
Even if they read the whole document, readers will need a clear pathway to help them
navigate through it. The Executive Summary, Recommendations, Conclusions and sec-
tion summaries are crucial parts of this. See The Importance of Overview Information,
Chapter 1: Structuring a Document: Using the Headings Skeleton, page 11.

Possible structure of a management report

Section Cross-Reference to Relevant Part of This Book

Title page See Title and Title Page, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 19
Letter of transmittal (Cover letter), See Letter of Transmittal, Chapter 10: A Formal
if needed Letter (Hardcopy or Online), page 131.
Executive Summary See Chapter 3: An Abstract, a Summary, an
Executive Summary, page 60
Recommendations See Recommendations, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 40
Table of Contents See Table of Contents, Chapter 2: The Core Chapter,
page 23
List of Figures See List of Figures, Chapter 2: The Core Chapter,
page 26
List of Tables See List of Tables, Chapter 2: The Core Chapter,
page 26
Glossary of Terms and See Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations, Chapter
Abbreviations 2: The Core Chapter, page 27
Acknowledgements See Acknowledgements, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 23
The following four sections may be
required in a consulting report:
  Purpose Statement See Purpose Statement, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 31
  Problem Statement See Problem Statement, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 32
Consulting/Management Report and Recommendation Report 119

Section Cross-Reference to Relevant Part of This Book

  Scope (or Scoping) Statement See Scope Statement, Chapter 2: The Core Chapter,
page 32
  Procedure Statement See Procedure Statement, Chapter 2: The Core
Chapter, page 32
Background or Introduction or See Background and Introduction, Chapter 2:
both The Core Chapter, page 32
The body of the report
 I
  (structured under a series of
headings appropriate to your
topic)
 I
Conclusions (if not placed at the See Conclusions and Recommendations, Chapter 2:
beginning) or Conclusions and The Core Chapter, page 39
Recommendations
References (if needed) See Chapter 15: Referencing, page 169
Appendices See Appendices, Chapter 2: The Core Chapter,
page 42

Checklist for a consulting/management report

□ Is it written in a style that enables a reader with no specialist knowledge in this area
to understand it?
□ Does it contain a clear road map made of overview information throughout your
document: an Executive Summary, Recommendations and Conclusions, and in a
long report, section summaries? These are vital sections to aid a non-specialist’s
understanding.
□ Will the reader understand how your work will benefit the company?
□ Do you state what needs to be done next?

A Recommendation Report
Purpose
To make a recommendation or a series of recommendations, supported by a reasoned
argument, together with appropriate background material, facts and data.

How to write it
A recommendation report is focused towards the future: it should show the ability to objec-
l

tively assess a set of conditions and to recommend actions to be taken.

Recommendations are your subjective opinions about the required course of action, but
l

this doesn’t mean you can go into wild flights of fancy.

No recommendation should come out of the blue; your report should contain adequate sup-
l

porting information for each recommendation.

120 Writing for Science and Engineering

Possible structure of a recommendation report

Title Page See Title and Title Page, Chapter 2:

The Core Chapter, page 19
Executive Summary or Summary or Abstract See An Abstract, a Summary, an
  Summarise the background material and your Executive Summary, Chapter 2:
investigation. The Core Chapter, page 60
Recommendations See Recommendations, Chapter 2:
  List your recommendations. Or instead, The Core Chapter, page 40
use a section called Conclusions and
Recommendations and place it at the end of
the report (see below).
Contents Page See Table of Contents, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 23
List of Illustrations (if needed) See List of Illustrations, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 44
The following four sections may be effective in
a recommendation report, either before the
Introduction/Background or as sections of it.
  Purpose Statement See Purpose Statement, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 31
  Problem Statement See Problem Statement, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 32
  Scope (or Scoping) Statement See Scope Statement, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 32
  Procedure Statement See Procedure Statement, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 32
Introduction or Background See Introduction (page 28) and
Background (page 30), Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter
Subheadings appropriate to the topic and
covering the methods and results.
Conclusions See Conclusions, Recommendations,
  Note: You may be required to write a section Chapter 2: The Core Chapter, page 39
called Conclusions and Recommendations. In
this case, place it here at the end of the report,
and omit the Recommendations section after
the Abstract.
List of References See Chapter 15: Referencing, page 169
Appendices See Appendices, Chapter 2:
The Core Chapter, page 39

Checklist for a recommendation report

□ Are your recommendations clearly stated?
□ Are your reasons for making these recommendations clearly stated and supported by
reasoned arguments?
9 Engineering Design Report
Note: There is no accepted model for design documentation. You need to check
what is specifically required in your case.

This chapter covers the basic general requirements:

The purpose of an engineering design report
l

Its readership
l

The general characteristics of design documentation

l

The Summary
l

Development of a model
l

Design calculations
l

Checklist
l

Purpose of a Design Report

Design reports are used to communicate your solution of a design problem, usually
to your boss or a colleague.
The design report is a critical component of the design process. An extremely
competent or ingenious design solution cannot be communicated by drawings alone;
it needs to be supported by comprehensive documentation.

Readership
The report should be written for another person of equal or greater competence than
yourself.

General Characteristics of Design Documentation

1. The report should be self-contained, except for references to other specific documents
(e.g. contracts, drawings, and standards).
2. Your report must contain all of the information needed for someone to check how you
arrived at your recommended solution. While carrying out your design, you will have
used analysis to demonstrate that your design will actually solve the problem. This needs
to be clearly set out in your documentation.
Writing for Science and Engineering.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-098285-4.00009-1
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
122 Writing for Science and Engineering

The Workbook
The workbook – either digital or hardcopy – is maintained throughout the process of
designing your solution. All of your analysis will therefore be documented in your
workbook as well as in your final report.
In the professional engineering workplace, a design workbook can become a legal
issue, if for example a design has catastrophically failed. It therefore needs to be
meticulously maintained.

Suggested Structure of Design Documentation

1. Summary
2. Development of a Model
3. Design Calculations

The Summary
Purpose of this section: The Summary should state precisely what the report is
about and answer the following questions. To make sure you don’t solve the wrong
problem, write up the first two before you start the design.
1. What problem does the report address?
l
If the problem was defined in writing (assignment, tender or contract document), just
refer to this briefly and accurately rather than restate the whole problem. Your reader
will already know what you were supposed to be doing.
2. What criteria were set for deciding on an adequate solution?
l
You can make a sensible design recommendation only if you understand the criteria
that are to be used in judging the success of your design, and obviously you must
know this before you start designing. Again, if these were defined in writing, just refer
to the original document.
l
Sometimes there are other constraints such as national standards that must be met.
These should also be stated.
l
If the criteria were incomplete or contradictory, for example between the cost and
durability of a new product, you need to decide the relative importance of the criteria to
be used in making your decision. You need to explain this in a subsequent section.
3. How did you model the problem?
Outline very briefly the factors influencing how you went about your design:
l
The analysis that was needed
l
How many different options were considered
l
The main factors influencing the design
Note: If you are designing something that is routine, this section would be very short.
4. What did you conclude?
State the following simply:
l
What you concluded. Refer to drawings or other details of your recommended solution.
l
If you considered various options, summarise why you chose your particular solution.
Engineering Design Report 123

Development of a Model
Purpose of this section: The first step in an engineering design is to be able to con-
ceptualise the problem in a way that allows standard methods of analysis to be used.
This section should explain how you went about this.
The form of this section: You should use diagrams and equations as needed, but tie
them into a logical presentation using text. Again, for a routine design, this section
need not be very long.
This section would typically answer the following questions:
1. What assumptions were needed?
Every analysis of a real system has some assumptions built into it because the phys-
l

ical world does not behave in the way that engineers need to assume.
Often these assumptions are taken for granted.
l

But sometimes you need to make unproven assumptions to simplify the problem
l

enough to be able to model it for analysis. This is acceptable provided that you state
what the assumptions are and that you check them later.
Your assumptions should therefore be stated clearly at the start of this section.
l

2. How was the problem modelled?

You should now be able to represent the object or system by a simple conceptual model
l

that is capable of being analysed. Use a diagram (e.g. stick, block, circuit and flow dia-
gram) to show this and discuss it if needed.
3. What analysis was used?
State the laws that you have applied. You should state the relevant physical or other
l

laws that you needed to apply. State them by name; you don’t need to write them out or
include any proofs.
These laws will probably result in equations. These should be written out in full,
l

using well-defined variables (include a named list or label to your conceptual sketch).
Simply state the method of analysis you used and make a reference to it. Nearly
l

always, the method of analysis used is standard and can be found in textbooks.
If the analysis is repetitive (because the solution has many components of the same
l

type), you need to document all of this only once.

Design Calculations
Purpose of this section: This part proves that your design will work as it should; the
section will consist mostly of small sketches and steps in solving equations.
Form of this section: Use subheadings to make it clear what each section is about
and emphasise the important results, e.g. by underlining or boldfacing text.
Add numbers to your design and then use conceptual modelling to show that the
l

design will function as it should – i.e. that it will meet the design criteria stated at the
beginning.
The numbers needed are those that would enable someone to actually make your
l

design. Include details of all components (material and dimensions of parts, electrical
components and so on) plus all the physical properties you have used (e.g. strengths, elas-
tic modulus, density, specific heats).
124 Writing for Science and Engineering

Your design report should contain only your final recommended solution. In your
l

workbooks, you may have needed to guess some of the numbers to carry out the analysis.
If it subsequently turned out that your design did not meet the criteria for success, then you
would have changed the guesses and tried again. You may also have tried out several differ-
ent design options before finding one that worked. No matter how long they took you, the
details of the designs that did not work are irrelevant. If they should be needed later,
they can all be found in your workbook.
Where you looked at several very different design solutions, you may want to include
l

detailed results from the best of each to justify your final choice.
For repetitive designs, you may want to use a spreadsheet. In that case, document one
l

example calculation right through as above, and just show the results of the remaining
components on a table (which must include enough of the intermediate results that it can
be checked easily).

Checklist for a design report

□ Is it written for another person of equal or greater competence than yourself?
□ Is the report self-contained (except for references to such documents as standards,
textbooks, contracts and so on)?
□ Is all your analysis also contained in your workbook?
□ Does it state the design problem?
□ Does it describe the design criteria?
□ Does it describe how you modelled the problem so that standard methods of analysis
could be used?
□ Does it state the assumptions you made?
□ Do you tie up diagrams and equations with explanatory text into a logical
presentation?
□ Does it state the laws you applied and the method of analysis you used?
□ Do you show that your design meets the design criteria?
□ Would the numbers on your design enable someone to make it?
□ Does it state your conclusions?
□ Do you present only your final recommended solution?
□ If you considered various design options, does it state why you chose your particular
solution?