Common mistakes III and exemplary work samples

Please don’t take offense if examples are taken from your

report.

Importance of a quality report

One of the main deliverables of an engineer is their report.

The report must be technically correct as others (engineers, technicians, managers, accountants, etc.) will rely on this information.

Schematics and bills of material must reflect the circuit that was built.

Equations, test results, test setups, etc. must be correct and complete.

Errors (technical and other) degrade the value of the report and its underlying work.

Common mistakes

Report should not document chronology of process (like a diary)

Instead the report should cover the various elements of the design, providing background detail where needed (e.g., when a new device or technology is introduced)

Do not describe design processCreate new project in Pspice

Place a Vsin voltage in Pspice

Connect voltage regulator …

Simulate under range of load resistors

Such instructions would go into a design guide but not a project report

Common mistakesMissing, incorrect, or incomplete schematics

Common mistakesMissing, incorrect, or incomplete schematics

Common mistakesMissing, incorrect, or incomplete schematics

Common mistakesErrors in plotting data

Common mistakesEquation errors

Use the equation editorUse the equation editorUse superscripts and subscriptsUse superscripts and subscripts

Should beShould be ( )

Commendable examples

Commendable examples

Quality photographs document the well-organized circuit assembly.

Commendable examples

Inclusion of a Bill of materials is a good practice

voltagevoltage

Commendable examples

But double check your work

Commendable examples

Diagram illustrating test setup instead of long wordy description.

Commendable examples

Clear and readable figureClear and readable figure

Commendable examples

Commendable examplesExample of very good abstracts

Provides concise project overview and states key performance features.