To: ENGR 100 Students

From: ENGR 100 Instruction Team

Date: Today's Date

Subject: Component Test Memo Assignment

Individual Assignment

The purpose of this memo is to organize and analyze the component test results and findings so that a bridge design team could use the information.  (Put yourself in the designers' shoes and ask yourself what kind of information they would want). The tone is formal and each idea should be explained clearly and concisely.   Longer is not necessarily better (2 to 2-1/2 pages w/ figures).

Deliverables

The layout of your memo should be similar to the format of this assignment with "To:", "From:", "Date:", and "Subject:" at the top and section headings throughout.  Each person on your team may use the same graph, table, or pictures but the text should be written individually.  The organization of the memo should include the following three sections:  Introduction, Results and Conclusions.  Please use headers to designate the different sections.  For more details on each section, see the Technical Discussion.

Technical Discussion

Introduction

The introduction should be a paragraph describing why you are writing this memo, what tests did you did and why, and what comes next in the memo.  For instance, you could state “Next in this memo, the results from our tests will be discussed before summarizing our recommendations.” 

It is okay to use “we” in this memo since this memo is specifically from the “research team” to the “design team.”

Note: In this memo, it is not necessary to describe the test set-up in detail.  Instead assume the design team is familiar with the tests in general.  You simply need to explain the nuances for each test when you are describing the results, for example, that some tests were done with joints constructed with rounded or square cut edges.

Results

Next, the results section should include a summary of the data collected (tables, graphs, pictures) and a discussion of what these results mean and how they are useful to the design team for all three tests.

Insert any tables and graphs directly in your memo using EXCEL (don’t forget titles and units!).   For the graph, be sure to use "x-y scatter" not a line graph. Be sure to center each column in a table and show no more than 2 decimal places.  Labels for data tables (e.g. Table 1. Tension Test Data) appear above the table and labels for figures (e.g. Figure 1. Force vs. Length) appear below the graph.   Number tables and figures labels separately starting with 1.  If you include a table or graph, you must refer to it in the text using words like "as shown in Figure 1" or "see Table 2."  A sample is shown below:

Figure 1.  Buckling Force vs. Length

Refer to the questions in the Component Tests Handout as a guide for what types of information you should include in the analysis of results.  One possible approach to writing this section would be to explain what trends appear in the tables or graphs and then draw conclusions about how the bridge should be constructed based on these findings.  For example, you could say, “Since the force required to break tongue depressors decreases as the overlap distance decreases, we recommend avoiding small overlap distances when possible in the design or strengthening any weak joints with secondary reinforcement.”

Conclusion

The conclusion should refer back to and answer the introduction.  No new information should be stated in the conclusion, only a summary of the main points from the results section. For this memo, you need to explicitly state the recommended overlap length for tension members, maximum compression member length, most effective bracing methods, and any additional material characteristics that will be useful to the bridge design team.

Grading

The memos will be graded using the criteria listed in Table 1 below:

Table 1.  Evaluation Table

*Content should be:   COMPLETE     (Is any information missing - see assignment sheet for section guidelines?) 

      CORRECT      (Are the findings and statements

     CLEAR                (Are the ideas fully developed? Are pictures placed effectively to explain text?)