Engineering Journal Guide

 A view of engineering- source is unknown

“In engineering the outcome or goal is known in advance. The challenge to the engineer is to develop a method or a device that can produce the desired outcome. There is never a question in the engineer’s mind whether or not the product is right-Either it does what it is supposed to do or it doesn’t. The question that continues to guide the engineer’s effort is whether there is a better, more efficient, more durable way to accomplish the same outcome.”

 Engineering Journal in General

Many tasks, interests, jobs, assignments and learning can be view as a project. An effective way of organizing, documenting, monitoring and triggering the creative process for a project is with the diligent use of an Engineering Journal (EJ). The main idea of the EJ is to record all ideas, work and meetings in a way that you can easily retrieve the information weeks, months and years later. The EJ is an effective tool for learning and documenting a broad range of technical material. While it may not seem important at first, it will develop good note taking skills, allow you to reflect on your thoughts, ideas and creative process. Good EJ skills will eventually become very important as you increase your technology knowledge, experience, and work projects. Many employers will require journals (or Lab notebooks) to document when and how you do your work and your job success might depend upon it. Learning how to keep an EJ will have an impact beyond this course and can be applied to all activities and subjects, technical and non-technical.

 Engineering Journal for learning

Students are required to keep a EJ, in which to record information relating to all aspects of their term project solution. Since the project involves a team, the EJ is where you will place your project ideas and revise your ideas before you meet with your team and sell your ideas. The EJ will also record telephone conversation note, ordering information, product comparisons, test results and many other topics and activities. Although the EJ will be only a small portion of your grade, a well kept journal will have an impact on the out come of your project and many other of aspects of  your grade and learning.

Your EJ will be reviewed and grade at midterm and final. It will be graded based on the quality and quantity of the EJ entries.

 How to set up the Engineering Journal

The journal can be either a paper-bound composition book, or a spiral-bound notebook. Once the journal is setup by page number, date and subject, no pages are added or removed. All entries are hand-written and all diagrams hand-drawn. All other entries, including computer generated information, will not be permitted as EJ entries.

 The entries would include such things as:

• Project requirements
• Project ideas and brainstorms
• Project team data; e-mail, phone
• Preparation for team meeting
• Project team meeting notes
• Project sketches
• Drive train ideas and sketches
• Motor selection and sources
• Electrical diagrams
• Level sensing switch design
• Motor test data
• Troubleshooting 
• .
• .
• All thoughts and actions related to the project

 Journal page numbering and entries

1.     Number all odd-number pages in the upper right hand corner (1, 3, 5, …,149 ; the back side of the page is the even-numbered page).

2.    Reserve the first six pages of the EJ as a table contents. (for a 150 page notebook; allow more table of content pages for larger notebooks)

3.    Draw vertical lines in the table of contents pages to form columns for page, date, and subject( see example below).

4.    Hint: use colored high-liters in the table contents for important entries.

 Table of contents example