bme project notebook guidelines 2011

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Guidelines for Keeping a Project (or Lab) Notebook 2011

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GT Biomedical Engineering and DesignWhy?

As a biomedical engineer, researcher, or medical professional, you will need gooddocumentation skills the rest of your life.

In both industry and academia, keeping good notes is essential in research, medicine,and commercial product development activities.

Good notes, dates and witnessed entries become a permanent record of work. Intellectual Property -Patenting an idea requires accurate and detailed records of

conceiving an idea and its development. A well-documented notebook providesevidence of an inventors conception, date of an invention and subsequent steps takento reduce the invention to practice. Notebook documentation is frequently thefoundation for preparing patent applications. Your lab notebook may contain criticalinformation in a future patent dispute!

FDA regulations on design controls require documentation of design, testing anddevelopment activities. The FDA reviews this documentation during regulatory audits.

It is really easy to forget things! Your notebook should give detail about the work thatwas done, when you did it, why it was done, and what you learned from it. If you dontwrite it down, later you may not remember pertinent details later.

To replicate your work in the future. If good records are not available, you may haveto re-invent your process, experiment, design, etc.

Reporting on your work. Good timely, documentation provides detailed information forwriting reports and composing papers.

Notebook Essentials Notebook a permanently bound type (no ring binders or spiral bound notebooks) Sequentially numbered pages (either in version purchased or add your own numbers) Entries should be timely and up-to-date Each page must be signed by you, dated and witnessed by another Entries legible and indelible ink only Adhere to guidelines below for keeping notebooks

Quality and quantity of work documented is very important

How will notebooks be graded?There will be typically three (3) notebook reviews during the semester. Criteria include:

1) Legible writing 20%2) Ability to follow the guidelines 20%3) Quality and detail on activities 20%4) Consistent and up-to-date entries 20%5) Overall organization 20%

Notebook Format Purchase of a standard laboratory notebook is recommended. (Should not have

auto-duplicating pages.) A bound sketchbook or composition book is acceptable. On outside front cover, put your name, course number and semester

2300 include your lab section TAs name SrDesign - include your Team Number (ie:T100) and teams TAs name Write clearly and dark enough so this information can be easily read.

On first inside page, put your name, course number, semester, and team membernames and email addresses.

Leave next 2 pages available for a Table of Contents. Fill this in as you go and it willbe much easier to find your work when you need it.


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How do I keep a professional notebook?

Notebook Dos

Keep up with documentation, comments, and ideas in your notebook. I.E.: teammeetings, meetings with your sponsor, your individual research, etc.

Document work as you go. Dont wait to see if something works before you write itdown. You wouldnt want to make the same mistake twice, now would you?

Always make entries with a ballpoint or rolling ball pen (non-erasable ink). Leadpencil marks can easily be erased and fade over time, so dont use pencils.

Write clearly and legibly on all comments, sketches, drawings, schematics, etc. Writingillegibly will not help anyone; will just be a waste of time and affects your grade.

Write the date in military style (6 Oct 09) on every page. US and Europe write dates

differently i.e.: 10/6/09 (US) and 6/10/09 (Europe) are same date.

Record detailed notes on all your ideas, experiments, project discussions. Youcan never be too thorough. You may also want to paste project related emails from yourteammates into your lab notebook as well.

Include experimental protocols and data collected. Justify all evaluations andprocedures, describing why it was done in the first place.

Keep track of all calculation dont just write the final answer. This will help youanalyze mathematical problems if your design does not work properly.

Make drawings of design or system ideas. A picture is worth a thousand words! Thisincludes sketches made during brainstorming as well as the prototyping phase. Alsoadd notes (annotations) to your drawings on key points of the design and function.

Record failures, as well as successes.

Reference any document too large to include in notebook, e.g., engineeringdrawings. Include number, title, date, and short description of what it depicts.

Also include - sketches, drawings, charts, computer printouts, photographs, ideas, rawdata from recording instruments, etc.

If you make an entry mistake, draw ONE thin line through it (no white-out or ink blobs)and initial the strike-through. You may later find that your original entry was in factcorrect, so you want to be able to still read it. If a whole page needs to be revised, markthrough it with an X and start again on a new page.

If a whole page of notes needs to be revised, mark through it with an X and startagain on a new page. Be sure to date the new page.


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Document your own individual research or other work on the project.o As you are conducting your assigned tasks, investigation or research, make

notes in your notebook - include: date, what your objectives are, when youconduct it, and what you found.

o If you contact someone outside your team or sponsor about the project, note thedate, the contacts information (name, company, contact number), and comments

on your discussion/work.o If you found relevant references, equipment, materials, etc. list these in your

notebook.

To include notes or material develop outside your notebook, it can be included by

taping it on a page, then that it should be signed and dated across the edge, so that it

spans the insert and the page of the notebook itself.

Always keep up with your notebook! Its as important as your computer!

Maintain the grade sheet in your notebook throughout the semester.

Donts Never tear pages out of your notebook; this may raise speculation and suspension on

what is missing form your work.

Do not skip pages or leave empty spaces. If you want to leave empty space on apage and want to start a new page, mark an X through any empty space remainingon the current page.

Do not included notes that are unrelated to the project . This will just confuse youlater.

Do not paste team reports in your notebook! You can include a note that X Report

was submitted on date ________ to __________ by you or team.

General Comments

Record YOUR individual work. Be sure to record work you perform as an individualmember of the team. i.e.: include notes on your design research, user interviews, sketchyour ideas, patent research, web searches, competitive method/product research,experiment design and performance testing, etc.

Record TEAM activities. When team activities require notebook entries (such asbuilding prototypes, experimental data collection), it is sufficient for only one member ofthe team to make a record of this in their notebook, with copies (if desired) pasted in

other team members notebooks. If you do not included a copy in your notebook; write inyour notebook the name of the person in whose notebook the information is recorded.Note: This is only acceptable for TEAM ACTIVITIES during which not every member isfree to take notes.

If something relates to your project, put it in your notebook.o IE: 15 May 09 - Went out to lunch with Tim Watson and discussed new opening

mechanism. We made the following revisions to the design: 1) xxxxxx, 2)


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yyyyyyyy 3) nnnnnnn. Tim will modify test model and evaluate it by end of nextweek (May 30th).

o Putting time and place of discussion can help in recalling details later ifnecessary.

o You dont have to make notes during meals but make sure you document points

of discussions, agreements and disagreements when you return to work.

Meeting documentationo Bring your notebook to all project meetings with the sponsor and your team.o Begin with the date of meeting, time, maybe place, and list all attendees.o Establish an agenda/topics for your meeting/discussion and a meeting time

duration target.o If someone new becomes part of the process. i.e.: the sponsor brings an

associate to a meeting; include their name and position/responsibility in notes.o Make notes in your lab notebook during the discussions; include sketches,

drawings, photos in your notebook

o Document follow-up plans/action items, who has responsibility foraddressing them, and target completion dates.

o After a meeting, spend a few minutes reviewing your notes and completing anythat need additional comments and know what you are to do next and due date.

A witness should sign and date the entries as soon as possible, preferably the sameday, but they can be reviewed and acknowledged on a periodic basis.

Rubric for Design Notebook Grading

20-18 17-16 15 -14

13Rating Excellent Proficient Acceptable Poor Comments

Legible writing

Consistent withguidelines

Quality and detailon activities

Entries areconsistent &up-to-date

Overall

organization

Total __________

Examples of typical notebook page entries are attached.


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bme project notebook guidelines 2011

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