AENG 224 Technical Report Writing Final Year Project Proposals ...

• AIM:
School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences
AENG 224
Technical Report Writing
Lecture 12:
Final Year Project Report
Part I
Slide 1 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE WORK
SUBMITTED BY STUDENTS AND
SPECIFICALLY THE WORK CARRIED
OUT ON FINAL YEAR PROJECTS
• Final Year Project
• Reports and Presentations
Slide 2 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Final Year Project Proposals
• As of the academic year 2013, final year
project proposals will be submitted in
June/July after the exams prior to taking
subjects in September.
• Students will not be allowed to take
subjects in September unless they have
selected a final year project.
• Final year project proposals are available on
the CSED Project website.
Final Year Project Proposal
• PROJECT PROPOSAL:
• A one-page document describing:
– What is your project going to be about?
– What is its aim/purpose/goals?
– What are the key aspects/technologies that will be
used.
• Submitted through the CSED Project Portal
– Sign Project Proposal (2 copies)
– Note: you may change your project topic after
submitting a Project Proposal, but you complete a drop
project form and submit a new Project Proposal.)
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Slide 4 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Final Year Project Timeline
• First Semester – 4 ECTS:
– Project Proposal
– Initial Work
• SCHEDULE WEEKLY MEETINGS WITH SUPERVISOR
• Getting familiar with your topic
– Keeping in mind what is the aim of your project
– Understanding the aims of your project
• Literature review (library and online)
• READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– Information does not come from the sky
– Ask your supervisor to point you to the right direction
– Preliminary Report and Presentation
Preliminary Report and Presentation
• A brief report on the work carried out so far on your final year
project.
– Abstract
– Introduction
– Literature review or Research Outline
– Clear analysis and understanding of the goals of the project
– Technologies that will be used indicating why.
– Initial Work
– Organisation of your time (remember this is your final year!)
– Gantt chart (timeline of the work that will be carried out)
– Conclusions
• Presentation
– 7-minute presentation on your project
• Note: If a Preliminary Report is not submitted and no
presentation then you have to retake the first part of the
Final Project.
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Slide 6 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Final Year Project Timeline
• Second Semester – 5/6 ECTS:
– Continue work
• Backup plan and Fallback position!!
– Complete your project
– Write the report
– Presentation (15-20 minutes)
• Organise your time effectively
– Remember this is your final year
– Start early
– Project and subjects (assignments and exams)
• Students that do not complete their final year
project will not be allowed to graduate.
Purpose of the Report
• Describe your research
– Explain problem or issue studied
– Discuss research method
– Describe data collected
– Describe research findings
– Explain implications
• Inform readers of research results precisely,
concisely, and specifically
– They shouldn’t have to read whole report to
get essential points.
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Slide 8 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Report Planning
• Before writing, consider:
– Why you are writing
– What you hope to achieve
– Who you are writing for
These considerations will determine your
report’s content, organization, textual
and visual design
Essential Sections of a
Report or Paper
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Main body
– Analysis
– Design
– Implementation, Testing, Debugging
• Conclusion
• References
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Slide 10 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Report Format and Organization
• Reports generally include these sections in this
order:
– Abstract
– Introduction
– Literature Review
• Depending on supervisor and POS (CS or CoE)
– Methodology
• Depending on supervisor and POS (CS or CoE)
– Results
– Conclusions
• In some cases there is chapter on Discussion and another on
Conclusions.
Report Format and Organization
• For CS: Instead of Methodology
– Analysis
• Use Software Engineering Principles (theory and tools)
• Use System Analysis (theory and tools)
– Design
• Use Software Engineering Principles
• Use System Analysis (theory and tools)
– Implementation
• Implementation stage DOES NOT LIST CODE ONLY
ALGORITHMS!!!!
• Screenshots of the various screens and explaining the interfacing.
• Explain your interface
• Use Visual Programming and HCI (theory)
– Testing (and Debugging)
• Program Output
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Slide 12 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Report Format and Organization
• For CoE: Instead of Methodology
– Design
• Proposed circuit (advantages disadvantages)
• Design of platforms/controllers/PCB
• Wiring diagrams (gates, states, truth tables, K-maps)
• Components
– Implementation
• Implementation stage
• Breadboard design and fabrication
• Screenshots of the various screens and explaining the
fabrication stages.
• Explain your interface, connections, wiring and ICS
• Programming EEPROMS, SD Cards (i.e. Arduino)
– Testing (and Debugging)
• Program and circuit Output
Report Format and Organization
• Conclusions:
– Most students tend to give a one-page descriptive
overview of the work carried out in their project. (Not
Enough!)
– Major findings from your project or research.
– What are the implications of your results?
– Do they confirm or refute others’ observations?
– What are the innovations/contributions/novelties to
your field?
– New hypotheses?
– Proposed future research?
– Practical applications?
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Slide 14 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Help Material
• HELP/MATERIAL:
– http://staff.fit.ac.cy/CSE
• CSED Projects
– http://staff.fit.ac.cy/CSE/projects/
Abstract
• Academic reports and papers always require an
abstract.
• A short précis of your research aimed at enticing
a potential reader.
• The abstract should clearly state what was done,
how it was done, major results and their
significance.
• An abstract should not list the contents of the
report or paper.
• Although the abstract appears at the front of the
report or paper, by its very nature, it must be
written last.
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Slide 16 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Introduction
• This summarizes the background to, and outlines the
purpose of, the research described.
• It is an extended version of the abstract that clearly states:
– The background of the research including references,
– A clear identification of the problem,
– The proposed solution with a brief outline the methodology
proposed to solve the problem
– A short comment on the results obtained.
– An outline of the content of the report or paper.
• For example:
... in addition to the essential sections of a report or paper,
section 5 emphasizes the need of a structured manuscript.
In section 6, ...
References
• Do not ordinarily copy out standard theory
or other people’s work.
• Refer to it either by number in the text or
author name and date of publication.
• Give the source in a section at the end of
the report or paper.
• Never give references to which you do not
refer in the main body of a report or paper.
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Slide 18 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Ideas to Write Reports
• Design Philosophy: How the job might be
done, with a critical discussion of the
various possibilities, leading up to the one
chosen.
• Results: Whatever they are.
• Discussion: What do the results mean? Are
they self-consistent, and consistent with
theory? Very often results and discussion
form one single section.
Slide 19 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Illustrations, Figures,
Tables and equations
• These can appear in the main body of a
technical report or paper.
• Clearly show what you intend them to
show.
• Should be numbered and titled.
• Sufficiently well labeled to be understood
without having to refer back to the text.
• Give all necessary units.
• Avoid pointless repetition.
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Equipment and Typing Style
• Laser or Ink Jet Printers, Desk-Top Publishing Equipment
• Font type is Times New Roman (otherwise Bookman or
New Century Schoolbook).
• Use Time New Roman as default type and keep italics
and/or bold for special text parts.
• The font size depends on the type of academic
manuscript.
• Matrix Printers
• The usage of matrix printers is permitted in Near Letter
Quality mode and with a fresh ribbon.
• Do not print in condensed mode.
Abstract
• The abstract should be around 250 words.
• It should be written in italics, using Times New
Roman, size10pt.
• Type the abstract at a maximum width of 140 mm.
• Centre the abstract (horizontally) on the page.
• The abstract is an essential part of the report and
should be type using 10pt font-size.
• Use short, direct, and complete sentences.
• It should be as brief as possible and concise.
• It should be complete, self-explanatory, and not
require reference to the report itself.
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Slide 22 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Typing Area
• Adjust your page to A4.
• Set the following margins:
– Top: 2.5 cm
– Bottom: 2.5 cm
– Left: 3 cm
– Right: 2.5 cm
• Print on one side of the sheet only.
Typographical Style and Layout
• Title:
– Type the title of your report approx. 2cm
below the first line of the page in Times New
Roman 18 or 20 points, boldface type.
– Centre on the page.
– Use the CSED template.
– Abstract
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Slide 24 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Headers and Footers
• The recommended font-size is 10 points.
• Top left corner: Title of the report in Times
New Roman, italics.
• Top right corner: Author(s) name(s), Times
New Roman, size 10 pt, italics.
• Bottom right corner: Type Page #, Times
New Roman, 10 pt.
Content List
• This must be provided to guide the reader
through a long technical report in a form
similar to that of the contents list at the
beginning of this document.
• Font size 12 pt, Times New Roman, 2 pt
spacing between lines (double spacing) or
1½ line spacing.
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Slide 26 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Headings and sub-headings
• Number section and subsection headings consecutively in
Arabic numbers
• Use Bold and Italics respectively using a 12-point font-size.
• Avoid using too many capital letters.
• Keep headings and subheadings aligned left.
• Do not include references to the literature, illustrations or
tables in headings and subheadings.
• Keep two blank lines above a section heading and one
above a subheading.
• Leave one blank line after headings and subheadings.
Main Text
• Type the main text on the full typing width of 160 mm, using the full
length of 247 mm as much as possible.
• The text must be fully justified.
• Type with 2 pts. extra line spacing, if possible. Otherwise, use single
spacing and 12pt-size font.
• Do not use bold in the main text.
• To emphasize specific text use italics, use Time New Roman.
• The first paragraph in each section should not be indented, but all the
following paragraphs within the section should be indented, as these
paragraphs demonstrate.
• Space between paragraphs should be six points.
• The last paragraph of a section does not require additional spacing,
just leave two blank lines before typing the next section heading (or
one blank line if subheading).
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Slide 28 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Illustrations
Freshman Computer Science - Grade Histogram
Illustrations
14
14
12
12
10
8
6
4
4
6
4 4 4
4
3
7
3
9
9
5
Test 1
Test 2
Exam
Final
Database
(a)
UML
(b)
2
1
1
2
0
0 0 0
A B C D F
Figure 1. Illustration of a figure than spans the page.
Slide 29 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Figure 2. Example of two small figures side by side; (a) Some figure on the left;
(b) some figure on the right
Slide 30 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015
Tables
Final Year Project Report
• Each Final Year Project is unique
• Work may differ quite significantly from that of another student.
• Supervisors will know what constitutes a good work and how to
write up the work.
• When writing Final Year Project Reports:
– The project is intended for the student to develop and demonstrate
– Organisation and extended study
– Demonstrate understanding of appropriate techniques
– Develop skills to produce academic report and communicate orally
(presentation)
– Demonstrate an ordered, critical and reasoned approach to the work the
have achieved.
• The length of the project report should not normally be greater than
5,000 words (from introduction to conclusion).
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Slide 32 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015

Final Year Project Report
• Style guide for technical reports and academic
papers:
– Title page,
– An abstract page,
– An acknowledgement page,
– A content list,
– List of figures and/or table as appropriate, and
– Should be divided in chapters.
• ‘Style Manual for Computer Science And
Engineering Project Reports’ using the
recommended typographic style and layout given
at the end of this handbook.
Slide 33 C.Markides AENG 224: Technical Report Writing 10/02/2015