Engineering Report Writing

10 IEEE POTENTIALS 0278-6648/09/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE

T

he purpose of a project report

is to convey adequate information to the reader about

how the tasks were implemented,

the results, and what knowledge was

gained by a student. It is an important aspect of the final year project

since it is the only official document

the student submits together with the

developed device; it could even be

the only document submitted to the

department if the student has carried

out an analysis work or study. It is

imperative that students attach due

importance to this aspect of the final year project, as a beautiful idea

poorly packaged and presented by a

student may not arouse the interest

of the reader/supervisor and could

lead to lower marks.

Experience has shown over the

years that a sizeable number of engineering students do not know how

to present their ideas when it comes to report writing. The

excuse usually given is that what engineering requires from

the students is beyond the art of writing, which consequently leads to less attention being given to this equally

important area. This perception is an erroneous one. Perhaps this attitude is responsible for why many engineers

cannot live up to expectations concerning

communication skills. It is important to

mention at this juncture that a site project

cannot be said to be completed without a

quality technical report of such project. In

view of this, engineering students need to

give due attention to writing superior project reports.

This article is for engineering undergraduate students and designed to ease

the task of writing and preparation of their

final year project reports. This will go a

long way in not only enabling students to

present high quality final year reports but

also assisting in writing good technical

reports in their places of work after graduation. Although the work is primarily targeted at undergraduate students, graduate

students...