2. An engineer’s perspective from the trenches today… “My ideal scenario for writing a report will be to have enough time to do it. As engineers, we tend to overlook the "writing" aspect of a job, focusing on doing the"real" work. We never leave enough time to complete the writing task. These days, not being a good writer/engineer, is extremely career limiting.” - 2006 MEPP Student, Practicing Engineer

3. Technical reports provide more than just straight facts. Recommendations Analysis Clear technical descriptions Audience aids

4. Who may be your audience on the job? Photos from: http://sta.rtup.biz/

5. Organization of reports is aided by their format.  What context do they need first?  What background assumptions can be made?  What level of technical detail do they require?  How will the material build from known to new?  What will they read?

6. From the trenches… “My worst experience was writing an ill formatted report. After revisiting the report a year later, I couldn't understand what was the meaning of the information included in the report. Worst part, when I was asked by a colleague about test results, I couldn't provide an accurate answer. Promised myself to never do that again. ” - 2006 MEPP Student, Practicing Engineer

7. The structure of our MTR is an outgrowth of a format familiar to you.  Introduction  Methodology  Results  And  Discussion

8. Our MTR format  Title Page  Executive Summary  TOC/List of Figures  Introduction  Appropriate Body w/ Headings & Subheadings  Conclusion  References Page

9. Abstracts, executive summaries, and introductions all invite readers into the material - in very different ways. Abstract Executive Summary Introduction

10. Abstracts simply allow a read/no read decision to be made. Keywords Length ~ 1 paragraph Results given w/o much support A taste of what’s to come

11. You are NOT required to write an abstract for your technical report.

12. Executive summaries are often the MOST important part of technical reports. Why?

13. Executive summaries are quick ways to inform decision makers. Executive Summary

14. Report introductions set the context and state the purpose of the work.

15. Introductions should be written for the audience member who is least familiar with your topic.

16. How did your sample perform on-  Setting the purpose  Defining terms in text  Avoiding vague terms  Introducing/discussing images  Citing sources  Emphasizing key points in topic sentences Critique of samples:

17. In addition to your conclusion, you may want a recommendations section.  Based on these conclusions, we/you/the company/the agency should… Do xx now Look into yy in the future Continue to zz as practiced

18. What needs to be cited?  ANY concepts, data points, specific wordings, or images used OR derived from a source. Direct quotes Paraphrases Images Raw data Unique concepts  ALL need to have a citation linked directly to them (in the same sentence).

19. With so many citations, how is it still my work? Your learned expertise sews all the parts together.

20. Appendices are not required for all MTRs, but they can be useful.

21. A glossary can also be used to augment in-text definitions.

22. Report Reviews  Break into groups of 3  Print out, and read the report assigned to your group from our class website  Bring a copy of the report to class Thursday for discussion/critique  Each team member must choose a focus: Purpose Technical descriptions Use of sources

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