WRITING TECHNICAL REPORTS

K. M. Tanvir Ahmmed

OVERVIEW

Technical writing

Purpose and planning of a report

Presentation of a report

Format of a report

Conclusion

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, BUET

TECHNICAL WRITING

Dissertation

Journal Paper

Thesis

Report

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PURPOSE

To communicate the results of their work

Inform readers of the research results concisely

and specifically

Keep in mind the needs and interests of the

anticipated readers of the report

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, BUET

PLANNING

Before writing, consider:

Why you are writing this report?

Who are your readers?

What do you want to achieve?

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, BUET

PRESENTATION OF A REPORT

Appearance

Organization

Languages

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APPEARANCE

May be typewritten, otherwise neatly handwritten

No handwritten correction is acceptable in a

typewritten report

Use Equation editor

Report should have a cover page

All pages should be numbered

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DO NOT USE “PURPLE PROSE”

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1830), Paul Clifford:

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“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”

“That night in London there was a storm.”

LANGUAGE: SOME POINTS TO PONDER

End of thinking creatively (E.T.C.). Avoid using "etc.”

“Unique”: This result is more unique than the

previous one.

Do not use "hopefully" unless you state exactly who is

doing the hoping. Avoid all "...fully" words if you do

not specify who is doing the action.

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FORMAT

Title page

Summary

Table of contents

Introduction

Theory

Experimental

Summary of Observations

Treatment of data

Results

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FORMAT (CONTD.)

Discussions

Conclusions (and recommendations, if any)

Literature cited

Nomenclature

Appendices (if any)

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SUMMARY

Always comes first

Microcosm of entire work – contains key information

from each section

Contains essential information only – it is brief!

Covers research highlights

Gives the research problem and/or main objective of

the research

Indicates the methodology used

Presents the main findings and conclusions

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, BUET

PREPARATION OF TABLES

Each table should have a proper descriptive title

and be numbered

Columns should be properly titled

Units should be clearly stated

Each table must be referred to and explained in

the text

Orientation

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FIGURES

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Fig. heat transfer coefficient versus x/D

PREPARATION OF FIGURES

Each figure should have a proper descriptive title

and be numbered

Place Figure No. at the bottom of the figure

Units should be clearly stated

The ordinate and abscissa should be clearly

shown

Data points and lines should be clear and bold

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FIGURES

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Fig. The effective thermal conductivity influence on the

convective heat transfer of nanofluids

RULES FOR ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS

(1) If the digit to be dropped is greater than 5, the last retained digit is increased by one. For example,

12.6 is rounded to 13.

(2) If the digit to be dropped is less than 5, the last remaining digit is left as it is. For example,

12.4 is rounded to 12.

(3) If the digit to be dropped is 5, and if any digit following it is not zero, the last remaining digit is increased by one. For example,

12.51 is rounded to 13.

(4) If the digit to be dropped is 5 and is followed only by zeroes, the last remaining digit is increased by one if it is odd, but left as it is if even. For example,

11.5 is rounded to 12, 12.5 is rounded to 12.

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SIGNIFICANT FIGURE

(1 (1) All nonzero digits are significant:

1.234 g has 4 significant figures,1.2 g has 2 significant figures.

(2) Zeroes between nonzero digits are significant:

1002 kg has 4 significant figures,3.07 mL has 3 significant figures.

(3) Leading zeros to the left of the first nonzero digits are not significant; such zeroes merely indicate the position of the decimal point:

0.001 oC has only 1 significant figure,0.012 g has 2 significant figures.

(4) Trailing zeroes that are also to the right of a decimal point in a number are significant:

0.0230 mL has 3 significant figures,0.20 g has 2 significant figures.

(5) When a number ends in zeroes that are not to the right of a decimal point, the zeroes are not necessarily significant:

190 miles may be 2 or 3 significant figures,50,600 calories may be 3, 4, or 5 significant figures.

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, BUET

RULES FOR MATHEMATICAL OPERATIONS

(1) In addition and subtraction, the result is rounded off so

that it has the same number of decimal places as the

measurement having the fewest decimal places (or

digits to the right). For example,

100 (assume 3 SF) + 23.643 (5 SF) = 123.643,

which should be rounded to 124 (3 significant figures).

(2) In multiplication and division, the result should be

rounded off so as to have the same number of significant

figures as in the component with the least number of

significant figures. For example,

3.0 (2 SF ) × 12.60 (4 SF) = 37.8000

which should be rounded to 38 (2 significant figures).

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LITERATURE CITED

Citing:

Shows your credibility as a researcher

Gives proper credit to authors and researchers

Protects you from accusations of plagiarism

In the text

Listing:

Finnemore E. John and Franzini Joseph B. (2002) Fluid Mechanics

with Engineering Applications, 10th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.

Asian Institute of Technology Language Center. (2003).

Writing Up Research Guidebook. Asian Institute of

Technology. Retrieved June 9, 2005 from

http://www.clet.ait.ac.th/el21open.htm

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THE JOB IS NOT FINISHED

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Until the paperwork is done…….

CONCLUSION

Content of a report vary depending on subject

matter. But the basic structure, presented here,

is all the same.

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REFERENCES

www.scn.org/cmp/

http://Owl.english.purdue.edu

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, BUET