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Format for Senior Design Final Report
The final report is the main report by
which Professors will judge your work on your project. It should be
complete without being verbose. The report should thoroughly explain what
was done and how the projected goals were accomplished.
Requirements:
The format for the report should generally
follow a formal technical report format. Include a title page with
the project title, project team members' names, Consulting
Advisor, and the date. The report's spacing will be one and a
half,
the text in the report must be 12-point font.
Number all pages in the bottom center of the page, excluding the
title page and table of contents. A table of contents at the beginning is
required and includes all sections of the report and the
appendices.
All figures should have descriptive captions below them and be
placed in appendices. Captions for tables are written above the table.
Below is a list of suggested sections
in the report. There are many ways to organize a report.
Reports may vary in design, but must contain the same content. Seeing that your technical advisor
is going to rate you largely on your report, it is suggested to
check to see if this format is agreeable to your advisor.
I. Abstract/Executive Summary
This part should encompass the whole project. It should summarize
the objectives of your project and how they were accomplished
in one or two paragraphs. Do not confuse this with an introduction
which sets the background for the project. The abstract is a very
important part of the report because often people will decide
on whether to read the rest of the report based on what they read
in this section. Although it comes first in the report it is often
written last so the author can be sure of what is written in the
report before summarizing it.
II. Introduction
This part should give the background for the proposed project.
It should describe the goal of your project. It should give information
on what similar designs are available and what you expect to do
that is different or better.
III. Design Methodology
This part should discuss your design method and how you
solved the problems encountered in your design. What was your
design procedure and what problems did you encounter?
IV. Analysis
An analysis of the design is often included here.
V. Results
This part should discuss how well the
design worked. It should give results of any simulations and laboratory
tests. Verification the overall system design and its major subcomponents
are meeting design goals should be done here.
VI. Conclusion
Summarize conclusions and results made
in the rest of the paper. No information not previously introduced
should be included in this section. Answer questions about how well
your design met its goals. Suggest possible design improvements
(this could be a separate section depending on how many improvements
you would like to suggest).
VII. Appendices
All figures, pictures, tables, plots, sample calculations,
previous presentation slides, etc. These should all go in
corresponding appendices at the end of the report.
Remember the above format is only a suggestion.
Headings of the various sections of the report do not have to match
those given above. Because of the wide variety of designs, the final
reports will also vary widely. |
