NEWPROCESSINGMANUAL.docVIP

IME 241 Manufacturing Processes Laboratory Revised October, 2007LABORATORY REPORT WRITING Skill in effective report writing is important to the professional life of engineers. Reports should be clearly and concisely written to direct the readers attention to the major points in an experiment. Organization, good grammar, and overall neatness are the essential ingredients of an effective report. An engineering report is typically divided into the following sections: (a) TITLE including experiment name, name(s) of engineer(s), date experiment completed, and date reported. (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS - with page numbers (c) OBJECTIVE - the goal of the experiment with a brief explanation of any necessary background theory and a justification for the experiment if necessary. (d) PROCEDURE - including special equipment and instrument diagrams where necessary. (e) DATA, PRINT-OUTS, OBSERVATIONS GATHERED - Note: Tabulated data and observations, where appropriate, are easier to read than listed data. (f) ANALYSIS/MANIPULATION OF DATA - Equations, plots, etc. (g) GENERAL DISCUSSION OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS - Refer to the Raw Data, Analyzed Data, and any other qualitative results. Try not to draw conclusions in this section- save them for the OVERALL CONCLUSIONS section. Here, comment on the significance of the results and on the existing theory which supports the results. If existing theory does not support or address the results, comment on reasons why. For experimental work on the leading edge of technology, try to identify and develop, if possible, some of the theory necessary for proper discussion of the experimental results. (h) OVERALL CONCLUSIONS - Address the objective here - i.e., was the objective met? (i) APPENDIX - for large volumes of data, computer programs, and the like. (j) BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCE LIST - Number the list and use the numbers as references in the body of the report. The reference number follows the text and is enclosed in brackets -