Technical report format – version 17 –January 2015 Page 1 of 4

I. TITLE

A. It is very important that the title be specific and descriptive of what the report is actually about.
B. Use Key descriptive words
C. Should be a title page with title, authors, authors' affiliation, date, and for whom report was written.

II. ABSTRACT

A. Abstract should be approximately half a typed page in length.

B. Should tell:
1. what was done and why, that is, objective
2. briefly, how experiment was conducted to satisfy objective.
3. what the major conclusions or representative results are.
C. Abstract should stand alone and there should be no references to items in the body of the report/paper

III. TABLE OF CONTENTS

IV. INTRODUCTION
The Introduction tells the reader where you're going, why you want to go there, and how you're going to get there.
Some of what is included in the introduction is reiteration of what was included in the abstract; however, at a more
detailed level.
There are four basic functions of the Introduction:
A. Establish general interest in the subject; that is, why is the general topic of interest to the reader(s)? This
section puts the subject in context for the reader.
1. It is here that you would discuss any company or institutional need for or interest in the
information.
2. Also you might discuss any shortcomings or omissions of what has been done in the past. For
example, “This topic has been investigated extensively; however, never with concern for how the
environmental conditions might affect the results or how the results may affect the environment.”
3. This section addresses the “where you are going” and in general “why,” and will provide a lead-in
to the specific interest, that is, a lead-in to specifically what the focus of the investigation/project
was and the report will be about.
B. Establish specific justification and specific interest for conducting this investigation/project leading to a
statement of the specific objective(s).
1. From the general interest you have established, narrow the focus to the particular aspect of the
topic you are interested in addressing.
a) Explain why this aspect of the topic is of interest
b) This explanation should lead into the specific objective of the investigation.
2. Be sure that you identify the actual objective and not merely a task or tasks necessary to satisfy the
actual objective.
a) Be sure you are not jumping into the middle of the problem. Test your proposed objective
by asking "is that what I really want to know or answer, or is there something more basic?"
Also ask yourself “if the objective, as stated, is satisfied will it be possible to reach
USEFUL conclusions?” Useful conclusions are those that could be used to make decisions.
b) For example, the objective might be stated as to determine the performance characteristics
of a particular engine; whereas, this might be merely a task necessary to satisfy the actual
objective, which might be to determine whether the engine is satisfactory for a particular
application.
3. In this section of the introduction the specific aspect of the subject or the specific problem is
identified so that the reader is informed of exactly what was intended to be accomplished, solved,
proved, answered, etc. This establishes the specific context for the reader - "tell them what you're
going to tell them."
C. Briefly describe the general concept of how the investigation was conducted to satisfy the objective, that
is, answer the question, or solve the problem.
D. Introduce the report itself. That is, tell the reader what is presented in the report, how the report is
organized and what to expect. -- "tell them how you're going to tell them".
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V. THEORY

A. Present and discuss the theoretical basis for the experiment or investigation. There may not be equations;
however, there will most likely still be a theoretical basis and/or explanation of some form.
1. Provide the reader the theoretical background necessary to understand the specific topic. This may
be a description of the underlying theory of how the subject under investigation works and/or
equations that model the behavior of the system.
2. Possibly provide theoretical predictions of what results were expected or explanations of why the
system behaved as it did. These will be the predictions or explanations that will guide the design
of the experimental, analytical or numerical procedure.
B. Present relevant equations used, with clear indication of which variables were measured and which
calculated.
1. If an equation is not a common one (common would be the ideal gas equation of state) and you do
not derive it, cite a reference from which it was obtained.
2. If equations are not “common” you should provide a physical explanation of the relationship(s)
that the equation(s) model and possibility their origin. For example, were they developed
empirically or from basic principles? An example might be: “equation (1) relates the force applied
to a body to its mass and acceleration indicating that they are directly proportional.” If the
equation is then rearranged to solve for the acceleration you might say that: “rearranging the
equation indicates that the acceleration of the body should be directly proportional to the force
applied and inversely proportional to its mass.”
C. Describe how the data will be reduced to results.
1. What data will be used, with which equations, to calculate values for the response (dependent)
variable(s) and values for the controlled (independent) variable(s)?
2. If statistics was used be sure to include the equations used for the analysis and explain what was
done and why. As with any equations that are not common knowledge you might have to explain
their physical significance.

VI. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS

A. Include a diagram or schematic, and possibly a photograph of the test set-up illustrating the general
relationships among the various components of the system and the locations at which the measurements
were taken. Including only a photograph is often not enough for the reader/audience to be able to
understand the test set-up. If only one or the other is to be used, provide a schematic, although both is
preferable. Instrumentation (measurement system) that was used should be stated and related to the
measurement locations on the diagram (with a statement of the uncertainty associated with each
measurement system).
B. Results of the uncertainty analysis stating what the uncertainty of the dependent variable is, for example,
(+/- 5% for power). Uncertainty analysis itself should be included in the Appendix.
C. Results of FMEA should be in the Appendix, including a description of any redesign of the apparatus or
procedure that was done to eliminate a potential failure mode or mitigate its effect. This should be in table
form.
D. A table with the results of the Safety or Hazard Analysis should be in the Appendix along with any
explanation of redesign or modification of the apparatus, instrumentation or procedure as a consequence
of the safety analysis. If none of the noted safety concerns was realized this should be noted.
E. Anything unusual that was noted about the instruments or set-up should be noted and described.
F. Any novel approaches or uses of the test apparatus should be noted and described.

VII. TEST PROCEDURE

A. Display the need and the functions (tasks) that must be completed on a function structure and provide a
list of the functional and performance requirements that had to be satisfied.
B. Describe any alternatives that were considered for satisfying the various functions, such as alternatives for
measurements or experimental procedures.
C. Refer to the list of the functional and performance requirements and describe how the final procedure was
decided upon.
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D. Describe and discuss the general conceptual approach (general methodology) of the procedure in
paragraph form, not step by step process.
E. Might note any special precautions or novel approaches taken to avoid errors, lower uncertainty, obtain
better results, increase safety, expedite the work, etc.

VIII. RESULTS

A. Not data! Data belongs in the Appendix

B. Don't just include the plots, charts, etc. without any introduction. Introduce results; that is, state what is
presented. State how the results are presented and refer to the various plots, tables, etc. For example: "The
results are presented on Figure 1 as plots of the variation of power, torque and specific fuel consumption
with engine speed. Plots comparing these results with typical values for various engine types are given in
Figures 2-6." Review some reports and technical papers to get an idea of how to do this.
C. Figures and Tables should always be referred to in the text before they are presented.
D. Include the results in terms of plots, charts, and/or tables. Be sure to have a figure number or table
number for each plot or table presented.
E. All Figures, Tables, etc. should have a descriptive title stating what the figure actually shows or is about.
For example: "EPA Fuel Economy as a Function of Curb Weight for 2012 Automobiles in Various Price
Ranges" rather than "Fuel Economy vs. Weight." Look in books and reports to get an idea of how to title
figures. Figure number and title should be at the bottom of the figure. Table Numbers and titles at the
top.
F. Sample Calculations should be in the Appendix and should be referred to in the body of the report.

IX. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

A.
Interpret and explain results
1. Interpret the results for the reader; that is, tell the reader how to read or look at the results and
what they mean, especially what they mean relative to your objective.
2. Explain what the method of presentation you used to present the results illustrates or demonstrates,
and why the results were presented in this way. An example might be: “presenting the voltage
values normalized to the initial voltage shows the fractional decrease in the voltage for the various
batteries over time.”
3. Explain any discrepancies, scatter of data, outliers, anomalies, etc. Explain why the results turned
out as they did and if they were expected or unexpected and explain why. If you don’t know don’t
try to fake it, but offer possible plausible explanations, and possibly what might have to be done to
obtain a definitive result.
B. Point out most significant or “interesting” results.
1. Even if the results, as presented, seem obvious to you, you want to be sure your reader notices and
is aware of the significance of the most important features, trends, slopes, and other characteristics
you want to emphasize.
a) For example, point out maximums or minimums, changes in slope or curvature, inflection
points, gaps in the results, uncertainty or scatter of the results, leveling out of the results,
or different behavior in various regions of the results.
b) Point out how the results you obtained compare to theoretical predictions or the results
obtained by others.
2. State what you think the results show, prove, demonstrate or illustrate.
3. It is in this section that you are "setting up" your conclusions. In fact there may be conclusions
stated in the discussion that will be restated in itemized form in the Conclusions section.
X. SUMMARY

A. Summarize your findings. That is, itemize the most important things that you found out, measured, or
observed. Anything that could be preceded by "During this experiment it was found that" or "During this
experiment it was discovered that" is a finding NOT a conclusion.
B. This itemized list will give you a chance to think about the results specific to your experiment and aids
you in identifying what you wish to conclude from the results of the experiment. Remember conclusions
are generalizations inferred from the results of a specific investigation.
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XI. CONCLUSIONS

A. Conclusions Are Different From Findings.

1. Findings are what was measured or discovered from this particular investigation; whereas,
conclusions are generalizations inferred from the findings. You might think of it as the findings of
the experiment imply and you infer from the implications.
2. These conclusions (generalizations) are what make conducting the experiment worthwhile; makes
the result useful for predicting what will happen in similar situations or in explaining what
probably happened in similar situations.
3. Be sure that your conclusions are supported by the findings and possibly other information,
arguments or observations that have been specifically shown, stated or discussed in the Results
and/or Discussion sections.
4. Conclusions are drawn from the findings, and are used to make decisions regarding expected
behavior in the future!
B. Itemize the conclusions. Each Conclusion should be a separate "bullet." If you feel that you need to
include a great deal of explanation with each conclusion, then maybe not enough explanation and
interpretation has been provided in the Discussion section and more should be, with just the concise and
succinct conclusions stated in the conclusions section.
C. Relate your conclusions back to your objectives although you might also have conclusions that are not
specifically related to the objectives. For example, you may have made observations (findings) that were
not part of the objectives, but are nonetheless important and of interest, and even worthwhile for further
study.

XII. RECOMMENDATIONS

A. May want to make recommendation(s) for action(s) to take in light of the results and conclusions.
B. May want to make recommendations for further work and possible how to modify the objective, conduct or
model (conceptual, mathematical or physical) of the investigation.

XIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY

XIV. APPENDICES
A. Raw data
B. Numerical computations, programs, etc.
C. Calibrations of instruments
D. Details of uncertainty analysis
E. Table - Results of FMEA
F. Table - Results of safety/hazard analysis
G. Anything that you think is necessary for completeness.