Design Report

This very important section sets the scene for your report and establishes a rapport with your readers. It can make them feel positive about you and your work, or it can have the opposite effect.

It is called the "Introduction" because that is what it must do. Imagine you are writing for a parent or uncle who is an engineer, or someone who is studying science or engineering. They have a technical background but no specific knowledge about what you do. Now introduce the topic to them. NB: you are NOT writing this introduction for your supervisor who already knows what you are doing. Your external examiner will also not know the details and it is up to you to skilfully and comfortably give him all the background needed to understand and appreciate the content of your report.

So, carefully and logically explain and describe the problem and the working principles involved. Use explanatory sketches. One drawing is worth a thousand words. A true engineer must be able to communicate with simple annotated drawings. This holds for the whole report, not just for the introduction. Unless you are VERY good with a drawing package, sketch by hand. There is nothing more annoying than having to interpret a poorly executed computer drawing which lacks sufficient technical skill, and proper annotations. If your reader can make better drawings by hand than you can with a computer, they will not be impressed. If you extract drawings from the internet, or from textbooks, make sure they are appropriate, in other words, will actually help with the explanation. (And remember to cite your sources.)

For example, imagine you are designing a "Deep Penetrating Plough Blade". Most engineers and scientists know what a plough is but may never have seen one and will certainly not be familiar with the science and technology involved. And neither will you until you become conversant with it. So you will gather enough knowledge to start your design, and later finish the whole project, by reading up on the subject and learning from your supervisor. But do not forget that your readers have not had the same experience. So introduce the important aspects of how a plough works and the basic principles and problems which govern ploughing. Be careful to use professional terminology. Do not demonstrate that you have not bothered to read anything except Wikipedia. Then go on to explain the particular problem you are dealing with.

Your first of a number of sketches, for instance, may look something like this:

Finally, give an outline of how the solution to the problem is to unfold together with a description, with reasons, for the way the work will be divided between the group members.

Note that each individual chapter must contain its own introduction, shorter than the general introduction, but following the guidelines above