Lnglneerlng Communlcauon

Lnglneerlng Communlcauon
Lnglneers are problem solvers.
Cnce Lhey nd a soluuon, Lhey are supposed
Lo communlcaLe eecuvely Lhelr soluuon Lo
varlous people lnslde and ouLslde Lhelr
organlzauon.
As a sLudenL, you wlll have Lo hand ln
homework asslgnmenLs, lab reporLs, Lerm
reporLs, and pro[ecL reporLs as well as
presenung pro[ecL resulLs.
Lnglneerlng Communlcauon
As a professlonal, you wlll have Lo wrlLe pro[ecL
proposals, progress reporLs, Lechnlcal reporLs,
sclenuc papers, .
?ou wlll have Lo make presenLauons, boLh long
and shorL, formal and lnformal.
1he ablllLy Lo communlcaLe your soluuon Lo a
problem ls as lmporLanL as Lhe soluuon lLself.
lL ls noL up Lo Lhe reader/audlence Lo gure ouL
whaL you have done, lL ls up Lo you Lo explaln lL
properly.
Pomework resenLauon
Pomework reporLs are Lhe mosL lnformal
professlonal documenLs you wlll produce.
1hey can be generaLed on compuLer, by hand,
or a mlxLure of boLh.
1here ls generally no xed formaL unless
specled.
Course code, asslgnmenL number/due daLe,
and your name should be clearly vlslble.
Pomework resenLauon
lL may be a good ldea Lo dlvlde Lhe documenL
lnLo a glven" secuon, a nd" secuon, and
Lhe maln soluuon" secuon.
Label Lhe answers clearly.
8emember LhaL you prepare only one
homework, buL Lhe grader someumes grades
almosL 100 papers.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
As a sLudenL, you wlll have Lo wrlLe lab reporLs
and pro[ecL reporLs. As a professlonal, you wlll
wrlLe Lechnlcal reporLs.
1he parucular formaL of a lab reporL wlll be glven
by Lhe lnsLrucLor of Lhe lab.
ln general, a lab reporL should conLaln besldes
Lhe uLle, an absLracL, an ob[ecuves secuon, a
Lheory secuon , a daLa and resulLs secuon, an
apparaLus and procedure secuon, a dlscusslon
secuon, and a concluslon secuon.
?ou may also have an appendlx and references.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
1he uLle should clearly lndlcaLe Lhe course code,
Lhe lab number, your name, and hand ln daLes. A
Lable of conLenLs can also be provlded.
1he absLracL sLaLes Lhe preclse ob[ecuves,
emphaslzes slgnlcanL ndlngs, and presenLs
concluslons and/or recommendauons.
Many people read Lhe absLracL rsL and declde
wheLher or noL Lo read Lhe reporL.
1he ob[ecuves should ouLllne brley whaL you
alm Lo observe ln Lhe lab. A good ldea ls Lo form
an lLemlzed llsL.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
1he Lheory secuon should dlscuss all Lhe
perunenL Lheory of Lhe experlmenL, lncludlng Lhe
necessary equauons. uo noL forgeL Lo number
Lhe equauons.
1he Lheory secuon should also presenL analyucal
models LhaL wlll be used ln Lhe experlmenL.
Any unfamlllar Lerms and symbols should be
dened here.
lL ls also lmporLanL Lo llsL all assumpuons ln Lhe
Lheory.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
1he apparaLus and experlmenLal procedures
secuon should glve Lhe equlpmenL uullzed ln
Lhe experlmenL as a llsL. lL ls also a good ldea
Lo add Lhe llmlLauons and range of Lhe
equlpmenL Lo Lhls secuon lf posslble.
rocedures used ln Lhe experlmenL should be
ouLllned accuraLely.
All sclenuc experlmenLs should be
repeaLable.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
1he daLa and resulLs secuon ls one of Lhe mosL lmporLanL secuons.
lL should conLaln raw daLa of whaL ls measured. Powever, Lhls ls noL
enough.
1he sLudenL ls supposed Lo glve LhoughL Lo how Lhe resulLs should
be presenLed ln Lhe clearesL manner.
use charLs, graphs, and Lables. LlsL expecLed resulLs as predlcLed by
Lheory as well.
8e careful abouL unlLs and slgnlcanL dlglLs.
All graphs, gures, and Lables should be uLled and numbered.
1he uLles should be self-explanaLory.
All axes ln Lhe graphs should be labeled properly.
llgure and graph uLles should be aL Lhe bouom, whereas Lable uLles
should be aL Lhe Lop.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
1he dlscusslon secuon should conLaln a dlscusslon of
resulLs.
Accuracy and preclslon of Lhe resulLs should be
dlscussed here. (Accuracy and preclslon are noL Lhe
same Lhlng)
8andom errors and sysLemauc errors should be
polnLed ouL. Any posslble causes should be lsolaLed.
Suggesuons for lmprovlng Lhe seL-up should be glven.
1he concluslon secuon should explaln whaL you have
learned from Lhe lab.
?ou should dlscuss how much you have aualned your
goals ouLllned ln Lhe lnLroducuon secuon.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
1he appendlx serves several purposes:
1o provlde Lhe reader wlLh coples of all orlglnal
daLa sheeLs, dlagrams, and supplemenLary noLes.
1o dlsplay sample calculauons used ln processlng
Lhe daLa.
Any oLher bulky maLerlal LhaL lmpedes Lhe ow of
Lhe reporL.
1echnlcal 8eporLs
A llsL of references LhaL have been numbered
ln Lhe LexL musL be lncluded ln Lhe reporL. 1he
followlng formaLs may be used:
lor books: AuLhor, uLle, publlsher, place of
publlcauon, daLe (year), and page(s).
lor [ournal arucles: AuLhor, uLle of arucle
(enclosed ln quoLauon marks), name of [ournal,
volume number, lssue number, year, and page(s).
lor lnLerneL maLerlals: AuLhor, uLle, daLe, and u8L
address.
ro[ecL roposals
A proposal should concenLraLe on whaL ls
belng proposed.
?ou should sLress Lhe beneLs of Lhe pro[ecL
resulLs (lf Lhe pro[ecL ls successful).
?ou should sLress Lhe feaslblllLy" of Lhe
pro[ecL as well.
1he feaslblllLy can be demonsLraLed by a well-
LhoughL work-plan.
ro[ecL roposal
1he ulumaLe alm of Lhe proposal ls Lo procure
Lhe resources for a pro[ecL.
1hus, Lhe proposal should lnclude a well-
LhoughL budgeL.
8esldes Lhe nanclal lnformauon, Lhe budgeL
should lnclude lnformauon abouL Lhe reasons
for each lLem.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
We communlcaLe orally Lo each oLher all Lhe
ume.
Some people are beuer aL expresslng
Lhemselves Lhan oLhers.
When lL comes Lo formal presenLauons, Lhere
are cerLaln rules and sLraLegles Lo follow.
Lveryone can do a decenL [ob by pumng
enough eorL and followlng some rules.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
Make an ouLllne of whaL you plan Lo presenL
before preparlng Lhe presenLauon.
LsumaLe how much ume you wanL Lo spend
on each Loplc and prepare your presenLauon
accordlngly.
8ehearse your presenLauon beforehand.
resenL Lhe lnformauon ln a way LhaL ls easlly
undersLandable by Lhe audlence.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
lL ls beuer Lo overslmpllfy Lhlngs and convey a
few key ldeas raLher Lhan golng lnLo every deLall.
keep your Lalk Lo abouL 20-30 mlnuLes. Aer
LhaL, Lhe auenuon of Lhe audlence drops.
Leave aslde more Lhan one mlnuLe per sllde
excludlng dlscusslons (alLhough Lhls varles from
speaker Lo speaker and Loplc Lo Loplc).
lL ls a good ldea Lo show Lhe ouLllne once ln a
whlle Lo demonsLraLe where you are golng.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
lan your presenLauon
1he rsL quesuon Lo ask ls whaL ls your
presenLauon Loplc and uLle.
uo noL lose focus.
Always ask yourself lf you are ln Lhe correcL
framework whlle preparlng presenLauon maLerlal.
Avold o-Loplc lnfo because lL wlll dlsLracL Lhe
audlence.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
1he nexL quesuon ls why are you maklng Lhls
presenLauon.
lnform - Lo share.
ulscuss - Lo focus on a speclc lssue or problem.
ersuade - Lo help paruclpanLs see a dlerenL polnL of vlew
or Lo accepL change.
Solve problems - faclllLaLe bralnsLormlng and dlscusslon Lo
address a problem.
lnsplre - Lo exclLe or enLhuse Lhe audlence.
lnsLrucL or Lraln - Lo help paruclpanLs acqulre new
lnformauon or develop new skllls.
LnLerLaln - someumes your purpose ls Lo [usL amuse Lhe
paruclpanLs.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
Learn beforehand who Lhe audlence wlll be
1he slze of Lhe audlence ls qulLe lmporLanL.
1he background of Lhe audlence ls even more
lmporLanL.
1he audlence may have speclal needs.
?ou may wanL Lo avold some Loplcs ln some
audlences.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
When are you maklng your presenLauon?
lf posslble, avold Lhe rsL and lasL days of Lhe
week.
Avold early mornlng, laLe evenlng and rlghL aer
lunch lf posslble.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
Pow long should your presenLauon be?
LeL Lhe paruclpanLs know up fronL Lhe lengLh of
your presenLauon.
SLarL on ume!
Avold runnlng pasL Lhe ume provlded for your
presenLauon.
Always allow ume for quesuons, answers and brlef
dlscusslons.
Allow ume for a break and acuvlues for
presenLauons requlrlng an hour or more.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
Pow Lo klck-C ?our resenLauon
1he rsL few momenLs of your presenLauon are crlucal. WhaL you say and do esLabllshes Lhe
cllmaLe for Lhe presenLauon.
lf you know Lhe members of Lhe audlence, Lhen you can move dlrecLly Lo lnLroduclng your
presenLauon.
lf you are new Lo Lhe audlence, Lhen lL wlll be necessary Lo lnLroduce yourself.
When all of Lhe paruclpanLs do noL know each oLher, and Lhe slze of Lhe group ls manageable,
you can faclllLaLe paruclpanL lnLroducuons before lnLroduclng Lhe Loplc.
When lnLroduclng yourself, be brlef and focus on only Lhose aspecLs of your background LhaL
relaLe Lo your presenLauon.
lf someone ls golng Lo lnLroduce you, Lhen prepare a brlef blo skeLch for Lhelr use.
Cral Communlcauon and resenLauon
A good lnLroducuon wlll geL you and your presenLauon
o on Lhe rlghL fooL. Conslder Lhese quesuons as you
prepare your presenLauon lnLroducuon:
WhaL ls Lhe ob[ecuve or purpose of your presenLauon?
WhaL are your expecLauons?
WhaL are Lhe paruclpanLs' expecLauons? ?ou can ask for
lndlvldual responses or ask Lhe paruclpanLs Lo work ln
small groups Lo ldenufy expecLauons.
WhaL ls Lhe schedule? aruclpanLs wanL Lo know Lhe
sLarung and endlng umes.
Lnglneerlng Craphlcal Communlcauon
Always use gures Lo convey key ldeas.
verbal descrlpuons are amblguous and borlng.
Cne should be able Lo follow your reporL or
presenLauon [usL by looklng aL Lhe gures and
gure capuons.
lf you cannoL draw Lhe gure for a concepL or
an ldea, you have noL really undersLood lL.
lan beforehand wlLh pencll and paper all
gures you wlll draw ln your documenL.