10 Tips for Writing an Engineering Technical Report
An Engineering Technical Report documents facts and conclusions about your designs and other projects. Typically, a technical report includes research about technical concepts as well as graphical depictions of designs and data. A technical report also follows a strict organization. This way, when other engineers read what you write, they can quickly locate the information that interests them the most.
- Know the report purpose. Why are you writing this report? Is it for a laboratory-based class or competition? Clearly state the purpose and refer to it before documenting other sections of the report.
- Review the required format. Usually instructors provide an outline as to the required sections. If your instructor did not provide an outline, refer back to the purpose. Engineering reports contain an abstract, introduction, web and literature review, procedures and methods, results, discussion, conclusion and recommendation. Specific engineering reports contain more sections.
- Know your audience. Is this report for one instructor, a team of judges, or a customer? Create a title page with audience names on it, spelled correctly. Always include the names of your design partners. As you develop your report, remember your audience.
- Use simple fonts. Technical reports are usually written in Times New Roman (Traditional) or Arial (Modern) font. Save fancier fonts for PowerPoint presentations. Spelling, grammar and neatness are important components of report writing.
- Tables and graphs should be well organized and clearly labeled. They should be able to stand as separate entities. Scaling of graphs should be done in such a manner that the graph is not crowded in a corner or on the side but covers a major part of the sheet. The divisions on the graph paper should coincide with whole numbers of the units plotted along the axis. Document the charts and graphs. Label each chart or graph with a header/footer. Label both axes on graphs. Once you set up your data and graphs and charts in Excel, save them. Your report may be copied, make certain charts and graphs can be read in grayscale format.
- Remember the 4 C’s in writing: clear, concise, complete, and correct.
- Use white space and bullets. Most reports are scanned by the grader or reader.
- Start early. For SAE competitions, robot competitions, and senior design projects, start writing your report at the beginning of the project. For large team reports, assign each section at the beginning of the semester. Each week, perform a status check with your teammates to review.
- Be honest. Clearly state the data you collected. Reference data obtained from other sources.
- Always spell-check your final document and confirm all figures are correctly labeled within your graphs. Backup your documents. Create a copy of your final report in paper or electronic format.
