Instructions for Writing a Design Report

The following guidelines for design project reports are adapted from requirements for an
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) paper. Complete description of the
standards for this organization can be found at http://asme.org/pubs/writingpaper.html .

Description
The project report should be clear, concise, and complete, with assumptions plainly identified
and data presented including uncertainty. The actual accomplishments of the work should be
clearly stated and honestly appraised. The report should be technically sound, and free from
personalities and bias, especially of a commercial nature. It should include a complete
description of the product that has been designed will appropriate drawings and pictures to give
the reader a complete picture of how the product is made and how it operates. A list of materials
and costs should be included. The results of theoretical and/or design analysis should be
included. Lengthier developments should be included as appendices. If more than four or five
variable symbols are used in the report, all variables should be listed separately in a
nomenclature section. Even if a nomenclature is used, variables should generally be
introduced/described in the text. All tables of results should be well-documented and clear (no
large spreadsheets that include unlabeled numbers should be included). All figures and tables
should be referred to in the text and given captions (table captions above table, figure captions
below figure). Figures should be pasted into the document whenever possible as soon as
possible after its first mention in the text. Any figures in the appendix are considered non-
essential to the discussion. Lengthy data tables and items that are not essential to understanding
should be either included in an appendix or omitted.

Elements of the Report

The elements of the report are listed below in the order in which they should appear:
Title
Author names and affiliations
Abstract (250 words maximum giving general overview of project)
Nomenclature (alphabetical list including units)
Body of report
- Introduction
- Theoretical Background
- Solutions Considered
- Prototype Design
- Results and Discussion of Prototype Design
- Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
Appendices

Equations
Equations should be numbered consecutively beginning with (1) to the end of the report,
including any appendices. The number should be enclosed in parentheses (as shown above) and
set flush right in the column on the same line as the equation. It is this number that should be
used when referring to equations within the text. Equations should be referenced within the text
as "Eq. (x)." When the reference to an equation begins a sentence, it should be spelled out,
"Equation (x)." In all mathematical expressions and analyses, any symbols (and the units in
which they are measured) not previously defined in nomenclature should be explained. If the
report is highly mathematical in nature, it may be advisable to develop equations and formulas in
appendices rather than in the body of the report.

Figures
All figures (graphs, line drawings, photographs, etc.) should be numbered consecutively and
have a caption consisting of the figure number and a brief title or description of the figure below
the figure. This number should be used when referring to the figure in text. Figures should be
referenced within the text as "Fig. 1." When the reference to a figure begins a sentence, it should
be spelled out, "Figure 1." Figures may be inserted as part of the text, or included on a separate
page immediately following or as close as possible to its first reference — with the exception of
those figures included at the end of the report as an appendix.

Tables
All tables should be numbered consecutively and have a caption consisting of the table number
and a brief title. This number should be used when referring to the table in text. Tables may be
inserted as part of the text, or included on a separate page immediately following or as close as
possible to its first reference — with the exception of those tables included at the end of the
report as an appendix.

References
Text Citation: Within the text, references should be cited by giving the last name of the
author(s) and the year of publication of the reference. The year should always be enclosed in
parentheses; whether or not the name of the author(s) should be enclosed within the parentheses
depends on the context. The two possibilities are illustrated below.

It was shown by Prusa (1983) that the width of the plume decreases under these conditions.

or

It has been shown that the width of the plume decreases under these conditions (Prusa, 1983).

In the case of two authors, the last names of both authors should be included in the citation, as
shown in the above examples, with the word ``and'' separating the two authors. In the case of
three or more authors, only the last name of the first author of the reference should be included,
as shown in the above examples, with the other authors being denoted by “et al.” (in italics, as in
the case of all foreign expressions, i.e., e.g., etc.). In the case of two or more references with the
same author(s) and with the same year of publication, the references should be distinguished in
the text by appending a lowercase letter ``a'' to the year of publication of the first cited, a letter
``b'' to the second cited, etc. The references should follow the examples shown above.

List of References: References to original sources for cited material should be listed together at
the end of the report; footnotes should not be used for this purpose. References should be
arranged in alphabetical order according to the last name of the author, or the last name of the
first-named author for reports with more than one author. Each reference should include the last
name of each author followed by his initials.

(1) Reference to journal articles, papers in conference proceedings, or any other collection of
works by numerous authors should include:

year of publication
full title of the cited article
full name of the publication in which it appeared
volume number (if any)
inclusive page numbers of the cited article

(2) Reference to textbooks, monographs, theses, and technical reports should include:

year of publication
full title of the publication
publisher
city of publication
inclusive page numbers of the work being cited

In all cases, titles of books, periodicals, and conference proceedings should be underlined or in
italics. A sample list of references in which these forms are illustrated follows.

Sample References

Kwon, O. K., and Pletcher, R. H., 1981, "Prediction of the Incompressible Flow Over a
Rearward-Facing Step," Technical Report HTL-26, CFD-4, Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA.

Lee, Y., Korpela, S. A., and Horne, R. N., 1982, "Structure of Multi-Cellular Natural Convection
in a Tall Vertical Annulus,'' Proceedings, 7th International Heat Transfer Conference, U. Grigul
et al., ed., Hemisphere Publishing Corp., Washington, D.C., Vol. 2, pp. 221-226.

Sparrow, E. M., 1980a, "Fluid-to-Fluid Conjugate Heat Transfer for a Vertical Pipe — Internal
Forced Convection and External Natural Convection,'' ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol.
102, pp. 402–407.

Sparrow, E. M., 1980b, "Forced-Convection Heat Transfer in a Duct Having Spanwise-Periodic

Rectangular Protuberances,'' Numerical Heat Transfer, Vol. 3, pp. 149–167.

Tung, C. Y., 1982, " Evaporative Heat Transfer in the Contact Line of a Mixture,'' Ph.D. Thesis,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

Some additional guidelines for the report are as follows:

1) Use of the internet – You may use the internet, but do not copy material without permission
from the internet. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Internet references should be included if
appropriate.
2) Margins – Use 1” margin on top, bottom, left and right
3) Spacing – Double space throughout
4) Font size – Use Times New Roman size 12
5) The use of plastic covers is not desired. Simply place a staple in the upper left corner for
small reports. For larger reports use a three-ring binder. The report should lay flat and be
easy to write on.
6) List of figures and tables – If figures and tables are extensive, a list of figures and/or a list of
tables should be included. Figure and table numbers and captions must be exactly the same
on the figure (or table) as they are in the list of figures (or tables).
7) Glossary – Only if many terms that would be new to the reader are used.
8) Nomenclature – Include if more than 4 or 5 variables are in the text in equations. Otherwise,
spell out their meaning in the text. Refer to variables by their name in the text (i.e. use “then
density increases” rather than “then ρ increases”
9) Use of equation editor for equations is highly encouraged. They can be obtained by insert-
object-Equation Editor 3.0 object when using word.
10) Pictures may be included as figures. Clearly state in the text what the reader is to notice
about the picture. Use photo editor or PowerPoint to edit the pictures with arrows and text if
necessary. If sizes are important a scale should be included in the picture or added with
PowerPoint.
11) Page numbers – Use page numbers beginning with i on the first page of front matter. Start
with 1 in the text body. Appendix should be numbered with the appendix letter followed by
the number (A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, C-1, C-2, etc. Place page numbers in the center at the
bottom.
12) Header – Not desired.