1. Tips for Creating An Award-Winning Engineering Notebook

2. What is the purpose of an Engineering Notebook?
Show the process that your team takes to create their robot
Act as a storage unit for design ideas
Help team members successfully communicate with each other and remember reasoning behind ideas
Rep your team
Keep team on track

3. DECIDE YOUR MEDIUM FIRST
TIP #1:
DECIDE YOUR MEDIUM FIRST

4. Handwritten vs. Electronic
Shows originality and team work
Harder to remove pages
Easier to loose
Illegible handwriting
No stubborn Word formatting
Really difficult to loose
No illegible handwriting
Can’t tell who wrote what
Easier to remove content

5. For Electronic Notebooks…
No larger than 1.5” binder
Sheet protectors look professional
All pages must be numbered and in order
2 people must sign each entry: the person who wrote the entry and a witness

6. For Handwritten Notebooks…
Must be spiral bound, laboratory, or documentation notebook
No loose leaf
Numbered pages are highly recommended (but not necessary)
The person who wrote the entry must sign their name

7. According to FIRST…
“Teams may choose to record their season with either handwritten or electronic or online documents. No distinction is made between handwritten and electronic Engineering Notebooks during judging.”

8. BE ORGANIZED FROM THE START
TIP #2:
BE ORGANIZED FROM THE START

9. Regardless of your medium, you should have…
Title page (team name, number, game name, game year, the words “engineering notebook”, and maybe a picture of the team)
Table of Contents that use the title of each page as reference
Page numbers on every page
Titles on every page
The author of each page should sign and date their work
Sticky Tabs (6-12)

10. TIP #3:
GET PERSONAL

11. The judges want to know who they are judging, so…
Include individual bios of team members, coaches, and mentors with pictures
Name, grade or age, interests, reason for joining FTC or robotics team
Outreach activities and community involvement
Team activities
Show team spirit and personality
Sticky Tabs (6-12)

12. TIP #4:
FORMAT ALWAYS

13. Just like school papers, engineering notebooks have a specific format…
Caption all visuals (nothing worse than unexplained, random content)
Number pages
Table of contents
Leave no blank spaces

14. For Handwritten Notebooks…
Blank space should be X-ed out neatly with a signature and date
Visuals should be outlined in ink so if they fall out, it is known they should be there
Use both sides of the page
Signature and date
Page numbers
Start a new page each meeting

15. For Electronic Notebooks…
Somehow indicate who authored what content and when
Use headings and styles for easy table of content population
Leave no blank space
No crazy fonts and font sizes (recommended size 12, Times New Roman or Arial)
Page numbers

16. TIP #5:
Use visuals

17. Some people are more visual
Include:
Charts
Graphs
Data tables
Pictures
Drawings
CAD Models
BUT adding content without explaining it is adding random content, use captions!

18. A few notes about visuals
Electronic
There is a caption function in Word, right click on the picture and choose insert caption.
Handwritten
Visuals should be outlined so if they fall out, it is known they are missing.
Visuals should also be captioned.

19. TIP #6:
SHOW YOUR PROCESS

20. Include…
A page in the front of the book with your team’s engineering process
Follow this process throughout the book
Great place for a visual!

21. Identify Constraints and Strategize
Brainstorm
Design
Build
Identify Constraints and Strategize
Test
Refine
Build

22. TIP #7:
SHOW TEAMWORK

23. Teamwork can be shown in a number of ways…
If everyone writes something in the notebook
If pictures and visuals demonstrate teamwork
If writing demonstrates teamwork

24. TIP #8:
GET SCIENTIFIC

25. The Notebook is About Engineering…
Show design rationale
Use data, models, prototypes, etc.
Basically, explain not only your design but also HOW and WHY you came up with your design
Explain revisions in order to show design evolution

26. TIP #9:
BE NEAT

27. If you can’t read it, they can’t!
Use neat handwriting
Draw a SINGLE line through mistakes, initial and date them
Tape in pictures (it looks and feels better than glue)
Use permanent ink (not pencil)
Treat your notebook with care (it shouldn’t look like the team dog chewed it up!)

28. KNOW YOUR REQUIREMENTS
TIP #10:
KNOW YOUR REQUIREMENTS

29. Requirement Reminders
Bill of Materials (one in notebook and one at competition for inspection)
Team name and number on title page and cover
Pages in order
Sticky Tabs (6-12)
Team bios

30. Useful Resources Usfirst.org
All information regarding the Engineering Notebook is on pages of the Game Manual Part 1
Examples of scanned winning notebooks available at usfirst.org
You can Mary or I with questions:

31. Hope this helped! Questions?