Print12.5 Preparing the Technical Review
Milestone 4 of the project preparation process is the technical review. This task involves first of all the evaluation of the technology status – where it is with respect to technical performance, how far it is from meeting market and society requirements. This stage of your project will probably involve the reading of some research papers and other documents explaining the technical background and performance criteria. At this stage, you should present your findings about the technology readiness level (TRL – see methodology in Lesson 2). Learning details about the technological process, materials used, efficiency will also become useful in subsequent environmental and economic assessment.
This review can be as deep and as broad as you deem appropriate for your case study. But you can omit the information that is too specialized for being used in project justification.
Things to include in the Technical Review
- Technical principles (how this approach or technology works)
- Schematics and images as appropriate
- Any relevant scientific information
- Technology readiness (TRL) and cases of success or failure trials
- History of development and prospects for the future
- References
While you are welcome to use any literature and online sources to collect information, the review should be your original writing. And do not forget to cite your sources. The prepared review will further serve as your resource to pull information from for your final technology implementation proposal.
Check this out: CSE Citation Style
This PSU library resource provides guidance and examples on how to cite your sources in technical papers.
CSE Quick Citation Guide
Please pay special attention to citing Web sources, and what information to include, since, understandably, you will do most of your research online!