Technical research

Technical research
See also
Media advisory Depth interview Creative process Qualifications of directors Types of knowledge Conditions of strategy implementation Model of creativity Risk management policy Levels of learning

Technical research is about gathering information in order to answer question and solve an engineering or technical problem. Usually it is made by engineers, technicians (called also technologists). Ludwig M. writes that the goal of technical research is to gain very specialised information, therefore it is not so spontaneous activity such as manufactuing or selling. The information should be taken from trusted sources such as:

• books,
• articles from refereed journals,
• articles from magazines from professional societies,
• articles from conferences.

Technical research paper

Fig.1. The research process

Technical research paper should include the following:

1. Title should clearly communicate the topic.
2. Abstract should contain the high-level messeage of the whole research, it is adviced to be done after completing the research - should contain maximum 300 words.
3. Introduction should explain the problem, firstly from the large or historical contex, then explaining motivations and its impotence.
4. Background and Motivation might be separated from introduction if there is a need to explain it widely.
5. Sections with names of your choice should divide the paper into logical parts of statements and evidences for example:
   1. what was done,
   2. what is the result,
   3. what are discussions around it.
6. Discussion and Future Work part should include further steps which can be done in the area, also some unsolved topics.
7. Conclusion should include summary of the findings.
8. References so all used literature in alphabetical order (by the last name of authors).

Examples of technical problem and research

Technical problem of Aligning Superintelligence with Human Interests was described as follows:What, formally, is the induction problem faced by an intelligent agent embedded within and computed by its environment? What is the set of environments which embed the agent? What constitutes a simplicity prior over that set? How is the agent scored?. The paper was described in below chapters:

1. Introduction
2. Highly Reliable Agent Designs
3. Error-Tolerant Agent Designs
4. The Value Learning Problem
5. Discussion

Another example might be technical research on Civil engineering. In the report there are covered topics such as:

• risk assessment of materials tested in laboratories,
• building assessment: sustainability, fire treatment, frost durability,
• analytical and numerical models of technological and construction solutions,
• materials and constructions,
• new materials solutions,
• modifications on material composition,
• technological research in cross-sectional perspective,
• test results,
• simulations.

References

• Czarnecki L., Gemert D. (2017), Civil Engineering – Ongoing Technical Research. Part 2 in "Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences", Technical Sciences, Vol. 65, No. 6
• Ludwig M., (1962), Technical progress and textile marketing: official report on the congress, International Federation of Cotton and Allied Textile Industries, France
• Shoop L. (access: 2019), A Guide for Writing a Technical Research Paper, Macalester College, Mathematics and Computer Science Department
• Soares N., Fallenstein B. (2017), Aligning Superintelligence with Human Interests: A Technical Research Agenda in "The Technological Singularity: Managing the Journey", The Frontiers Collection

Author: Bartłomiej Zegarliński