PDR/CDR 101

Some tips on producing a good document and minimizing heartburn

PDR/CDR 101

• Follow the formatting guidelines• See the deliverables handout

PDR/CDR 101

• Cover Page…(see FR for details) (NP)• Abstract (NP)– One paragraph summary of what’s in the paper– Not a description of the project– A line about final results is good

• Tables of Contents/Figures/Tables (NP)– Three separate tables– Let Word do this for you

PDR/CDR 101

• Introduction…One paragraph answers three questions (NP)– Who are you?– What are you doing?– Why are you doing this?– Sets the scene for what follows

PDR/CDR 101

• Project Description/Specifications– Two paragraphs– Specifications in a bulleted list

PDR/CDR 101

• Design Criteria– Feasibility Criteria in a bulleted list (don’t forget

the lead-in sentence)– Discuss merit criteria, curves, weights, one at a

time– Each merit criterion must include a

rationale/explanation• Why is this important?• How will you measure it?

PDR/CDR 101

• Design Alternatives…sketch and explanation for each one

• Feasibility Analysis– Which of the design alternatives are feasible,

which aren’t– A table can be a good approach

PDR/CDR 101

• Merit Analysis…applying merit analysis to the feasible designs– Discuss each design in turn– A table can be good here, too

• Design Recommendation– Which design is the best– Brief discussion of why

PDR/CDR 101

• Test Plan and Results– What happened at the competition?– For K’nex project this will be more involved…stay

tuned• Conclusions/Recommendations– What happened? How did you do?– What did you learn?

PDR/CDR 101

• References/Appendices (NP)– Appendices are extra. Paper shouldn’t need them.

• What about figures?– Use template in Word– Figures have titles (Figure 13. descriptive words)– Place fig in doc after first mention in text. “The first

design we considered was the Howe truss (Fig. 7)”• Same for tables

PDR/CDR 101

• This is not a trivial undertaking– It will take time– Don’t start the night before it’s due, or the night

before that– Do not print it out an hour before class– Layout is important• widow/orphan• Where are the figs and tables?

PDR/CDR 101

• Proofread– Spellcheck is not proofreading!– Which of these words is misspelled?:• For• Four• Fore

PDR/CDR 101

• Be yourself…don’t try to sound “smart”

• Small words are best and small words when old are best of all…Winston Churchill

PDR/CDR 101

• Questions/Comments?