Producing Technical Reports

©Feb 2003 Dr. Bradley C. Paul

General Writing Characteristics Reports are written in 3rd person

First person is “I did” Second person is “We, He, You” Third person says what was done without

personal identification Reports follow a hard topical outline Presentation Language is Technical –

few figurative or analogy embellishments like in a novel

No figures of speech or common “talking” structures

Over-All it is very boring and dry

Technical Writing has a Focused Objective and Audience

Often Executive Summary will be focused on a different type of individual Focused to a somewhat engineering void, big

picture or money planning busy CEO Technical Discussion focused more to

engineering reviewers Some sections may be to give community, safety

or environmental people ammo to work with in defending project

The Unspoken Truth Project Reports are Sales Brochures You are trying to sell an action, outcome or

conclusion Advertising people or political spin Dr’s make

wild claims or slant everything to advantage Engineers try to show that with their plan

concerns are met and a technically defensible result is reached It is not just a data dump If the project is a dog then you sell that you

have studied this every way within the scope of your study and it won’t work.

Focused and Objective Depth of Coverage

Technical writing attempts to provide enough information to reproduce or check the result Common Sr. Design Problem

Would have to redo the design to figure out how someone came up with such a thing

You must provide your design in enough detail for another engineer to review without redoing any work

Concise is a virtue Objective is to hit required depth in as few a

lines as possible One reasons language is not flowery

Flow vs. Detail Projects are often big and involve in depth

thought by teams of individuals Need to provide enough detail to check or

reproduce the work Need to bring reader up to speed so that details

make sense in a big picture Solutions

Outlines – Put big picture overview sections up front – detail sections follow

Use Appendices for support documents that interrupt the flow

Big Structure Outlines Most Over-all Outlines are Industry

Standard Outline for Corporate Studies/ Permits/

Government Reports Outline for Thesis/Dissertation in Academia Outline for Book Outline for Symposium Proceedings Outline for Journal Articles

Each type provides variations for those in charge of project

The Corporate Study Outline Executive Summary (at or near 1rst

position) Impress the CEO with a nice report that he will

never have time to read and usually couldn't understand if he did

Placed near the front or even at the front ? – So he/she will not get pissed-off trying to fish

through a big report trying to find the overview ? – Because big managers are too out of tune

and stupid to think through anything in depth ?- Out of respect for the time commitments of

your CEO and desire to provide a nice saleable project

More Corporate Outline Guide Tables

Almost Always a Table of Contents Often a List of Figures Sometimes a list of symbols and

meanings This might get put at the back of the report

along with a glossary, unit conversion, standard pressure or condition tables

Guide Tables may both precede or follow an Executive Summary

More Corporate Outline

Early Technical Sections Target is to bring technical reviewers up

to speed with what the document covers Exact early sections will vary with

corporate format, and depth and scope of project A document that reviews many alternatives

may have sections not needed for a report on a dike extension for a tailings pond

Common Early Sections Very Often First Section is a Statement of

Purpose or Background Section states why this study came to be done in

the first place Bring reader up to speed with the “why are we

doing this” question May have a Scope Section

Could be stand-alone or as part of background section

States what was reviewed or done in the study Some studies will list alternatives considered May define limits of project (where does the

tailings dam project begin and end)

More Early Sections

Results or Project Overview Sections Try to present over-all project and result May take on different forms if study

screened alternatives vs. presented a single design

May need to eliminate alternatives and narrow to one choice

Section will get to presenting the idea or project you ultimately wish to sell

Getting to the Idea You Will Sell The Section/Sections will try to Present a

big picture view of the project and either subtly or explicitly try to sell (or favorably bait the viewpoint) at the same time Project issues will normally tell you what it takes

to “sell” the project Environmental projects may sell on regs or

community interest, or environmental objective For profit projects may sell on investment

results and return

Overview and Sales Pitch Illustration of a Mine Project

May have a Project Overview Section Explains the mine plan, products produced Usually will not go into issues, but may set

them up for later technical discussions (and even contain references to later sections)

Objective is good flow and first impression Getting into issues raises doubts before people

fall in love with your project Sales pitch line here if Economic Analysis

Summary

Example of Early Sections Executive Summary Table of Contents + List of Drawings Project Motivation

Why project undertaken Project Scope

What alternatives were reviewed to what extent

Proposed Action Economics of Proposed Action

The Middle Sections Technical Details

Usually broken down according to project needs Sometimes these may be technical areas of

concern Example – Environmental Impact

Community effects Archeological Artifacts Wildlife Habitat Water Quality Air Quality

More Technical Details May Breakdown Sections by Operations (or cost centers) May Breakdown by Sequence in Which Things are Done May Breakdown by Team or Specialty Divisions May have combination

Example On Site Loading Operations Transportation and Transloading Community Exposure and Risk Mine Site Space Volumes Available Mine Site Offloading In Mine Materials Handling In Mine Placement Sequences Mine Ventilation Plans Mine Worker Exposure Issues

Thought on Technical Details Technical Details Sections should be carefully thought

Section break-downs need to address areas of reader concern Production Engineers may want to see operations or

cost center break-downs Sales people may want to see that operation has good

infrastructure and market outlets and produces sensible products

Accountants/CEO’s Personnel managers may want to see that the area has the resources to support the operation

Environmental People may want to see that environmental impacts are reasonable and contained

Technical Details Meet Needs Sections need to address

Availability of Resources to Execute Plan Ability to Safely and Environmentally Execute

the Plan Ability of the Plan to Meet a Market or Other

Need What the Heck is the Plan

What goes first can very May need to allay fears or define resources

before you can layout the plan May need to layout the plan in order to show

that environmental or safety needs are met without having to repeat

Flow of Logic Considerations Technical Writing is Concise

Want to avoid repeating Careful thought will suggest what things people

already need to understand Example – Mining Plan may be hard to

understand without knowing what resources are available Probably have a section on minable resources before

the mine sequence section Many Technical Sections are led out with

discussions of natural and community and market outlet resources available so people will understand what technical mine plan has to work with

Ending Sections May or May not have a Summary at End of

Technical Middle Part May or May not have Glossary, Standard

Technical Parameters Tables (ie air pressure tables or materials density tables) Bibliography, List of Symbols (could also have gone at front) Bibliography Debate

Sources used should be faithfully cited Do you put them in each section or at the end

of the total report (can be done either way)

More Ending Sections Appendices

Main report was charged to flow well and yet provide enough detail for work to be checked or reproduced (in project proposal usually to check work – science articles normally ones want to allow reproduction of result)

Dilemma If stop in the middle of a discussion of

ventilation to show headloss and splitting calculations you will loose your reader in math details before he knows why he cares

Appendix is a solution to the checkable detail vs. workable flow problem

The Wrong Way to Do an Appendix

Write a general description of ventilations system and important results Refer reader to appendix for details

Put a map, an io file for a computer program and a program output as a bunch of loose pages in the appendix Very common to see in Sr. Design projects

What is all this crap in the appendix and how does it tell me anything about the text? What did the guy even do?

The Right Way to Do an Appendix

In the Main Text Explain your ventilation system. Tell people how you worked to get the

result. Refer them to the appendix for details. Tell them what the result is. Explain how this result relates to the

over-all mine design, needs, or problems.

More Right Way to Do an Appendix In the Appendix

Appendix becomes a mini-report Explain what the appendix will show and identify the text

section supported Explain how each calculation was set up in terms of the

project Explain what it will do Show the actual calculation or a specimen of typical calculation done

multiple times Show input Show output

Summarize the results of the work May end up doing this for more than one program or

method Note that an Appendix may have divisions in it just like a

the report

Appendices

Usually many technical sections Often a good idea to match

appendices to specific technical sections Usually will result in multiple appendices

as opposed to one appendix with subdivisions

Drawings Sr. Design Projects Often have large drawings

Usually a good idea to put large drawings in plastic sleeves Can be in a section after or before the appendices Can be called an appendix Can put different drawings in individual appendices Can put drawing folders at the end of technical sections in the main

report Can put a mini-drawing in report text and big one with details in one of other places

Placement of Drawings is often dictated by Whether they are referenced by more than one technical

discussion Whether they support an appendix detail or a main text

thought Whether there are so many main text support drawings

that they would make the main text awkward to physically handle and need to be put in a collection at the end

What your boss says to do

Overview Early Sections

Executive Summary Guide Tables Why project undertaken Project Scope Proposed Action Economics of Proposed Action

Middle Technical Sections Usually some resource and/or market definition sections Cost Centers or Sequences Addressing of concerns

Ending Sections Summaries Bibliographies Technical Tables/ symbols lists ect Appendices Drawings

Assignment

Create an Outline for Your Sr. Design Project Presentation

You may submit your own work or meet together as a single or subgroup to do the work Group work must identify all participants

to be given credit for the work