All about writing a report for B.Tech project: Things to be remembered.

How to write the abstract?

When we write an abstract, we need to take into account the following few things one by one.

(1) At first, we should give a very brief introduction in one or two lines.

(2) State the research problem very briefly linking the first step.

(3) State what you are going to determine during the project or paper.

(4) State the salient results or findings.

If you integrate all these items you can definitely write abstract like professional. Now, what should be the keywords in the case of a paper? The main words of your project are your keywords. Suppose you are working in diesel engine modification, the keywords would be diesel, engine, CI engine, etc. 

How to write the introduction part of a report?

The introduction part generally contains the general introduction of the topic. You can write briefly its origin, development, advantages, and disadvantages briefly. Then you should define our research problem. After setting the research problem, we can write the objectives. The objectives should always start like this “To identify”, “To determine” etc.  Always keep the language simple. Don’t use complex sentences too much. The introduction should be planned in such a way that you are telling a story and you are steering the readers to your objectives of the project. The paragraphs should have continuity. Then, you can use various software packages.

(1) Grammarly to check punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

(2) Any paraphrasing software if certain sentences in paragraphs are redundant.

(3) Text compactor if you want to reduce the size of the paragraph without losing its meaning

(4) Hemingway editing software if you want to check whether your texts are easily intelligible or not.

I have shown how to format the introduction part. This should be the last phase. 

How to write a literature review?

The literature review of a report is very important. Generally, people make mistake thinking about their extension of the introduction of the report. It is not like that. It is a deep analysis of the previous related same type of topics to reach a logical decision avoiding redundant mistakes by thousands of new researchers. Let us consider a machine product you are trying to make by a method or trying to develop a method. In that case, you have to study the various methods which are in the use already. You have to study the various aspects of the methods and their advantages & disadvantages as well. Apart from that, you have to study recent development in a particular method so that you can find the gap for new research. Random acts of research neither good nor add anything. Moreover, while writing while addressing the works of others, you are to write like “Borah et. al. reported that the efficiency of the machine was found to be good compared to that system”. This should proceed like this. Also, you have to give reference to that statement as per requirement such as

“Borah et. al. reported that the efficiency of the machine was found to be good compared to that system [1].”

This reference should be arranged either in chronological order or alphabetical order as per the requirement of standards of a university. You need to make as many paragraphs as required by your topic. Do not try to compress the matter. The video below shows how to write a literature review. I am taking a Ph.D. thesis of PRABHAHAR M which available in Shodganga. 

How to write material and method?

 The material and method section of your report is very important. People generally make mistakes by putting general and vague things here. But it should be properly structured starting from materials used, the methodology of experiments to be done in the project with details plan of execution through flow diagrams. Moreover, you are to include instruments used during the experiments. There some examples

1. Suppose, you are fabricating a machine: First, you need to give, machine drawing with proper labeling. Then, you should go part by part of the materials to be used with proper dimensions. Also, you need to state the methodology of fabrication with flow diagrams. You can say that the plan of working. If you want to do experimentation, then according to parameters which you would like to change and instruments which will be required to measure the variations are to be included with the proper specification. You can show the procedure also.

2. Suppose, you are doing a research project with some material: In this scenario, please mention the material and method of synthesis of the material. After the synthesis, you will do some experimentation on the material. Then, with a flow diagram mention the methodology. State the experiment procedure one by one.

3. Suppose you are doing an analysis project: These projects are done with software. In that case, you describe your idea of the analysis and the parameters which you want to change. Then the software package which you have taken along with its specification. Then, you include the flow diagram of your project according to the aim. 

For, this section you should include good flow diagrams, schematic diagrams, configuration diagram or line diagrams whichever suits you. There are some software packages that can be used for drawing diagrams.

1. Autocad for machine drawing

2. Draw.io for line diagram, flow diagram or any kind of configuration diagram

3. Concept draw for schematic diagrams for elaborating chemical process, chemical engineering flow processes, various manufacturing process, flow diagrams etc

4. Microsoft Visio for flow diagrams

5. There are lots of software packages for analysis such as Ansys, Comsol, Pro E, Katia, Scilab, Wintherm, Lisa, etc.          

How to write results and discussions?

For B.Tech project, there could be various scenarios.

(1) Fabrication type of project. Here, you are fabricating some machine, and then you should show some simple experimentation by changing various parameters such as speed, loading rate, load on the machine, etc. You are required to show the effectiveness compared to the existing system both in terms of performance and cost consideration.

(2) Research type of project: Here, if you are synthesizing some material and doing some experimentation on the material under different conditions by varying various parameters, you need to link the effect of these parameters with the material with proper graphs for ease of understanding and proper explanation as well.  

(3) Analysis type of project: Here you consider something and then you analyze virtually by changing various boundary conditions. You need to establish a link with the parameters and resultant effects with proper software diagrams and proper explanation as well. 

How to write conclusions?

The conclusions are the last part of the report. Here one should include key findings. You can write in bullets or number them.

 How to write reference?

The references could be any form. There are specific styles. According to journals, the reference styles change. These are APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and IEEE. I am showing three predominant types.

1. APA:  Alibali, M. W. (1999). How children change their minds: Strategy change can be gradual or abrupt. Developmental Psychology, 35, 127-145.

2. Chicago: Gueorgi Kossinets and Duncan J. Watts, “Origins of Homophily in an Evolving Social Network,” American Journal of Sociology 115 (2009): 411, accessed February 28, 2010, doi:10.1086/599247.

3. IEEE: J. U. Duncombe, "Infrared navigation - Part I: An assessment of feasibility," IEEE Trans. Electron. Devices, vol. ED-11, pp. 34-39, Jan. 1959.