Factors, Report Writing, and IEEE Style in Engineering Communications, Slides of Process Engineering

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Communications in engineering

Factors in Professional

Communications

• Audience Analysis
  • Is the communication to an expert or a general audience
  • How formal should the communication be
  • What level of detail is expected
  • What is the importance of the communication to the recipient(s)
  • What is the time available for this communication
• Selection of Format to Convey Message
  • Written
    • Email, memoranda, letters, engineering report
  • Oral
    • Telephone calls, informal talk, formal presentations
  • Graphics
    • Drawings, pictures, maps

Why Are Engineers Often

Ineffective Communicators

• Many engineering students have a natural

inclination for math and science but little for writing or oral communications

• Engineering students often have little

understanding of grammar and basic sentence and paragraph structure

Engineering Report

• Purpose

• Records how and why the work was accomplished and what

the results, recommendations, and conclusions were

• Often the only document related to work that is maintained

on file for future reference

• Typical Elements

• Title
• Authors
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Technical approach
• Results and discussion
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgement
• References
• Appendix (^) Docsity.com^5

Engineering Report

• Abstract

• A brief (~200 words or less) statement of the essential

components of the report

• Objective(s)
• Methods(s) used
• Significant results
• Conclusions

• Introduction

• Provide the necessary background
• Describe the objective(s)
• Define the scope of the investigation
• Identify any previous studies or efforts that are related to the

work 7

Engineering Report

• Technical Approach
  • Provides detailed information about how the work was accomplished - Theoretical/design principles involved - Equations used - Design sketches and diagrams - Experiment setup and design - etc.
• Results and Discussion
  • If experiments were involved
    • Describe data analyses and their results
    • Describe any complications (e.g. missing data, outliers, etc.) and how they were handled
    • Statistical techniques
      • Understand the techniques applied and the statistics you are reporting
      • Try to use the simplest, appropriate technique that meets the underlying assumptions (^8)

Engineering Report

• References

• There should be a one-to-one match between the

references cited in the report and the list of references

• Appendix

• Provide supporting information that is necessary yet not

significant enough to be included in the body of the

report

• A complex mathematical proof
• A questionnaire or survey instrument (unless it is the main contribution of the work)

IEEE Reference Style

• References in the Text
  • References must be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text
  • Once you label the source, use the same number in all subsequent references
  • Each reference number should be enclosed by square brackets on the text line, with a space before the bracket and before the punctuation - e.g. “Visualization is crucial to data analysis; it provides a front line of attack, revealing intricate structure in data that cannot be absorbed in any other way [6].”
  • Do not include author(s) in the reference; if you want to stress the author(s), mention the author(s) in the sentence - e.g. “Cleveland argued that visualization is crucial to data analysis; it provides a front line of attack, revealing intricate structure in data that cannot be absorbed in any other way [6].”
  • It is not necessary to say "in reference [27]... ." "In [27].. ." is sufficient
  • To cite more than one source at a time
    • Vastly preferred: [1],[3],[5] or [1] – [5]
    • Acceptable: [1, 3, 5] or [1 – 5] (^) Docsity.com^11

IEEE Reference Style

• Reference List (Cont.)

• Author names
  • .
    • e.g. D. L. Tao
  • Two authors
    • and
    • e.g. D. L. Tao and L. A. Stevens
  • Three or more authors
    • , , , … and
    • e.g. D. L. Tao, S. Al Kuran, and L. A. Stevens

14

• Book S. M. Hemmingsen, Soft Science. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan Press, 1997.
• Book Chapter A. Rezi and M. Allam, "Techniques in array processing by means of transformations," in Control and Dynamic Systems, Vol. 69, Multidimensional Systems, C. T. Leondes, Ed. San Diego: Academic Press, 1995, pp. 133-
• Journal G. Liu, K. Y. Lee, and H. F. Jordan, "TDM and TWDM de Bruijn networks and shufflenets for optical communications," IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 46, pp. 695-701, June 1997.
• Conference proceeding S. Al Kuran, "The prospects for GaAs MESFET technology in dc-ac voltage conversion," in Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Portable Design Conference, 1997, pp. 137-142.
• Report (Technical report, Memoranda) K. E. Elliott and C. M. Greene, "A local adaptive protocol," Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, France, Tech. Rep. 916-1010-BB, July 1997. Docsity.com

Plagiarism

• You must cite all sources of information in

your work

• What is Plagiarism

• Presenting someone else’s ideas, work, or words

as if they were your own

• Copying from a source without citing it
• Using the same words without using quotation marks (even with a citation)

• More Information

Oral Presentation

• Means to Control Anxiety

• Well prepared and has a thorough understanding of the

material to be presented

• Become familiar with the size and layout of the room
  • Availability of audio system and podium, the location of light switches, position of projectors, etc.
• Wear the proper attire
• Break the “barrier” between the speaker and audience

by getting some sort of dialogue going

• Self introduction, talk about fun “hot topics”, etc.

Oral Presentation

• Use of Visual Aids

• Advantages
  • Catch the audiences’ attention
  • Facilitate understanding
• Disadvantages
  • Preparation time
  • Cost