Writing as a Materials Engineer

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Writing as a Materials Engineer

• How to get lab discoveries and results into a
  written document

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Dr. Hillary Harthttp//www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/har
t/

• Office Hours ECJ 8.214
• M W 1100-1200
• Th. 1000-1100
• 100-200
• 471-4635
• hart_at_mail.utexas.edu

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Writing Teaching Assistantshttp//www.ce.utexas.e
du/prof/hart/333t/people.cfm
ECJ 3.256 232-9215 Allison Osborne T.
200-315 W. 1100-1245 Jason
Fialkoff T. 200-330 Th. 1045-1215

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Read Requirements in Technical Writing Guide

• General Information applies to all writing
  assignments for 314K.
• Two types of assignments
• Writing Assignments
• Calculation Assignments
• Figures and Tables applies to all assignments.

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Three Layers of Information
Three tasks for you the writer

• Plot and present the data.
• Compare data to expected values.
• Interpret and explain the data, especially any
  differences.
• Even if no differences, interpret the
  significance of the data for both your audiences.

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Although the stress-strain curves plotted in Fig.
1 indicate that the rubber experienced a slight
amount of permanent elongation, the specimen
returned to its original length after
approximately 5 minutes. Therefore, the observed
response may be classified as being elastic.
These trends in the measured data were expected
based on published information (Young et al.,
1998).
Figure 1 Measured Stress-Strain Curves for
Rubber Specimen
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Use writing to solve problems for others.
Most important questions for you to ask
Who will be reading this? Who will be listening?
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Who is reading your reports?

• These assignments ask you to interpret the
  significance of your data for 2 different
  audiences.
• Letter or memo is for a busy managerial
  decision-making person.
• Characteristics?
• Report is for a technical advisor.
• Characteristics?

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Writing Assignments

• Every writing assignment includes
• two parts
• A scenario-based memo or letter
• A short lab report of results and conclusions
  attached to the letter or memo

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Memos and Letters

• Letters are for external audiences
• Contain salutations and sign-offs
• Include addresses of sender and receiver
• Memos are for internal audiences or for
  recipients who are working together on the same
  project.
• To
• From
• Date
• Subject

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Sample Lab Report Bungee Cord
Why add on a memo for the supervisor?

• Engineering supervisors usually have technical
  backgrounds, but they are VERY BUSY.
• Supervisors often have to pass along summary
  documents to the client. The memo is a summary.
• Clients want their concerns addressed quickly.

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For memos and letters Give critical information
up front.
I have conducted a series of materials tests on
our standard 0.5-in. diameter bungee cord
manufactured by Titan Rubber Supply and have
concluded that this material is suitable for the
proposed attraction at Six Flags in San Antonio,
TX. (sample memo) Using lumber with a
moisture content above the fiber saturation point
would be catastrophic for the structural
integrity of this building.
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More suggestions for memos and letters

• You may use personal pronouns (I and we) in
  memos and letters, but not in technical reports.
• Figure or table may be very helpful to reader!
• Never make the memo or letter more than 2 pp.
  (including figures and tables).
• This is not a suggestion!

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Sample Lab Report

• Audience is a technical person.
• No more than 5 pages in length
• Attach appendices with raw data.
• Both sets of TAs will evaluate the report.

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Organization of a Lab Report

• Introduction -- short
• Procedures -- short
• Results and Discussion
• Consider including sub-headings
• Conclusions -- short
• Appendices

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Introduction

• What was objective of experiment?
• Give brief statement of methodology
• How were data collected, measured, and analyzed?
• No longer than 150 words.

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Procedure

• Also brief (150 words), but includes more detail
  on how data were collected
• tests and equipment used.
• You may reference the lab manual.

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Results and Discussion

• Present results in figures and tables.
• Use titles and labels see later slides.
• Tell the story of what happened, weaving in
  figures and tables.

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Organize results to illustrate main findings.

• Consider using headings from lab assignment
• Modulus of Elasticity
• Poissons Ratio
• etc.

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Present results in both narrative and graphical
form. Highlight significance of data shown in
tables and figures.
The test results are tabulated below. In both
tests, the dry lumber sustained significantly
larger loads before failure.
Sample description Sample description Maximum load (lbs.) Displacement (in.) Strength ratio (dry/wet)
Test 1 Dry Wet 2557 1498 1.14 1.60 1.707
Test 2 Dry Wet 1905 991 1.08 1.50 1.922
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After presenting data, analyze and interpret the
results.

• Although the stress-strain curves plotted in
  Figure 1 indicate that the rubber experienced a
  slight amount of permanent elongation, the
  specimen returned to its original length after 5
  minutes. Therefore, the observed response may be
  classified as being elastic.
• Not just here are the numbers, but heres what
  the numbers mean.

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Conclusions

• Compare the results with theory did the expected
  happen?
• These trends in the measured data were expected
  based on published information (Young et al.,
  1998).
• The experiments were remarkably repeatable .
• Additional tests are required to determine
  whether these variations are representative of
  the rubber tested

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Suggested sequence of writing

• Do calculations, appendices and graphs.
• Write Results and Discussion section.
• Write rest of report.
• Write memo or letter

In this order, each part of the assignment
addresses a wider circle of readers.
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First writing assignment

• You will do a draft of the letter-plus-lab
  report.
• Draft will be graded. Youll get comments from
  TAs then you can rewrite the draft.
• Final grade is a combination of the drafts and
  the revised versions grades.

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Integrating Graphics with Text
Position each graphic as near as possible to the
words it supports. Comment on every graphic
at least once in the text. Discuss
significance!
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Guidelines for Labeling

• Label each graphic clearly with a figure or table
  number and a title.
• Place the figure number and title beneath a
  figure
• Place the table number and title above a table.
• Create a title (or a title and a caption) that
  draws attention to significant aspects of the
  graphic.

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Beware the default parameters in Excel!
                         
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Figure 2. Deflection of Concrete Beams at Various
Applied Loads
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Appendices

• Give each appendix a letter and a title
• Number pages separately from report
• e.g., A-1
• Include detailed information
• Data sheets, sample calculations, mathematical
  derivations . . . anything not essential for a
  readers understanding of the report.
• Cite each appendix in body of report

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Document sources of information in References and
avoid plagiarizing.

• CE 333T web site has information on how to avoid
  plagiarizing
• no more than 5 words in a row copied from another
  source without quotation marks
• Dont plagiarize unintentionally consider these
  writing strategies
• Quotation, paraphrase, summary
• If in doubt about whether to cite source, cite
  it!
• Improper citation is way better than no citation.