Mistakes Can Be Costly

In the aircraft industry, a number of factors have converged to highlight the importance of maintenance manuals.

Between the Lines (2007). Articles>Documentation>Engineering>Risk Communication

On Writing Engineering Cases

With wider acceptance and use of Engineering Cases in engineering education, there is a new form of engineering writing available. This paper presents some ideas based on our experience with cases over the last ten years, including writing over 25 cases (good or bad), assisting with several student-written cases, using cases extensively in our courses, and reviewing many cases, e.g., for Engineering Education. Use of Engineering Cases is still in its infancy; as use matures, things will change. We have adopted many ideas suggested by colleagues reviewing our cases. We have also drawn heavily on ideas from case writing for business schools. We do not view this as a definitive paper on case writing. We present these ideas as a compilation which may be useful to those who are considering writing cases and wonder what it is about. We also offer our compilation to seasoned case writers as a position with which to differ.

Kardos, Geza and C.O. Smith. Carleton University (1979). Articles>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing

Opportunities in Engineering Publications  

Doing technical writing from within an engineering department can offer some special opportunities for the more technically-inclined technical writer. Compared to customary technical publications departments, there may be a greater variety of projects. There may also be more chances for inexperienced writers, especially engineers and technicians who want to enter technical writing.

Harvey, Patrick. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing

Perceptions Of Memo Quality: A Case Study Of Engineering Practitioners, Professors, and Students    

One goal of college technical writing courses is to prepare students for real-world writing situations. Business writing textbooks function similarly, using guidelines, sample assignments, and model documents to help students develop rhetorical strategies to use in the workplace. Students attend class, or read and perform exercises in a textbook, with the faith that these skills will apply to workplace writing. In an attempt to better understand the similarities and differences between industry and academe's expectations of one genre of workplace writing, the memo, we compared the perceptions of memo quality by engineering faculty, students, and practitioners. All three groups responded to three sample memos taken from textbooks used by engineering professors in their undergraduate classrooms. The results indicate that students' and engineers' opinions of memo quality were more closely related to one another than to professors' comments, focusing on content, while professors were the most critical of style issues.

Amare, Nicole and Charlotte Brammer. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Writing>Assessment>Engineering

Proposal to Support ABET Accreditation for Technical Communication Programs

The Ad Hoc Committee on Accreditation recommends that the IEEE Professional Communication Society act as the sponsoring cognizant technical society to present technical communication program criteria to the Related Accreditation Commission (RAC) of Accreditation Body for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This report contains the background documentation for this recommendation.

Davis, Marjorie T., Leslie Olsen and Mark P. Haselkorn. Mercer University (1998). Academic>Education>Assessment>Engineering

Putting People Together to Create New Products

When companies plan out a new product (or service, or business process) they often think of the effort as the coordination of two teams solving different problems. Engineering addresses the question 'what can you make?' Marketing addresses the question 'what can you sell?'

Korman, Jonathan. Cooper Interaction Design (2001). Design>Collaboration>Engineering

Requirements Engineering: Closing the Gap Between Academic Supply and Industry Demand

In this economic situation, it is imperative that computer science students are well prepared before entering the work force; new graduates must understand what skills the IT industry is seeking.

Winbladh, Kristina. ACM Crossroads (2004). Careers>Workplace>Engineering>Professionalism

Responding to Technical Writing in an Introductory Engineering Class: The Role of Genre and Discipline      

A case study of an experienced professor's comments on a design report in a first-year engineering class was conducted over the period of an academic year. When compared with the commenting styles of technical writing teachers, the engineering professor's comments were found to be highly directive, and thus at odds with the preference for facilitative comments that prevails in composition studies. However, differences in genre conventions explain much of the discrepancy.

Miller, Paul, Jaye Bausser and Audeen Fentiman. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Education>Engineering>Technical Writing

Safety Risks in Mechanical Engineering

The cause for the careless handling of possible dangers is not so much unwillingness, but rather the lack of know-how. There are no standardised and well-documented processes that are simple to implement and use.

Walther, Andreas. TC-FORUM (2002). Articles>Risk Communication>Engineering

Sample IEEE Documentation Style for References

References to sources should be numbered sequentially by order of mention in the text, with the number placed in brackets and printed on line (not as a super- or subscript) like [1].

Carleton University. Resources>Style Guides>Engineering

Shuttle Columbia: The Perils of Powerpoint

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) that was empowered to investigate the causes of the loss of shuttle Columbia found that NASA often used viewgraph and PowerPoint slides to present complex information that was used to render important technical judgments. These technologies, however, had the effect of obscuring key information and hampering effective decision-making.

Dombrowski, Paul M. ATTW Bulletin (2005). Articles>Usability>Engineering>Microsoft PowerPoint

Special Topics of Argument in Engineering Reports  

As a discussion of writing-across-the-curriculum programs in universities, his essay focuses on disciplinary discourse within academic settings. Nonacademic discourse also occurs with particular conventions, purposes and institutions; such discourse can be subjected to similar study.

Miller, Carolyn R. and Jack Selzer. North Carolina State University (1985). Articles>Writing>Reports>Engineering

The Steel Bible: A Case Study of 20th Century Technical Communication    

The "steel bible" emerged in 1919 and went through 11 editions in 80 years. In its evolution we can see the shift from individual to group authorship, an increasing use of visual elements, and a physical change from a small, hand-held volume to a weighty desktop reference. In a textual analysis, we can see that it was essentially static, changing only by additions and deletions, as the industry evolved. The eventual closing of hundreds of plants and the migration of the industry to other countries can be seen in the change of publisher, the sudden absence of photography, and the international references. Originally, the steel bible came from the factory floor and the words of the plant managers, but by the 1990s, it was a highly-abstracted representation of knowledge. In the steel bible, we can see the history of the industry and the maturing of technical communication in the 20th century.

Johnson, Carol Siri. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2007). Articles>Documentation>History>Engineering

Strategies for Integrating Usability Engineering and the Product Development Process  

Usability engineers receive training in principles and techniques of usability engineering, but are often not prepared for the realities of the workplace. This paper presents strategies for integrating usability engineering and the product development process that have been gleaned from personal experience as well as advice. The strategies are organized into six categories: (1) educating yourself about the organization, (2) educating the organization about usability, (3) making yourself known to the “right” people and groups, (4) building an infrastructure for usability engineering, (5) taking a serviceoriented approach, and (6) demonstrating valueadded aspects of usability.

Muehleisen, John R. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Usability>Engineering

Technical Articles and Reports

In the U.S. and Canada, there are more than 6,000 business, technical, academic, scientific and trade publications, which among them publish several hundred technical articles a year. Technical publications are the vehicles through which engineers and scientists communicate with their peers in other fields. Academic journals are the vehicles they use to communicate within their own field.

Smith, Michael. York University. Articles>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing

Technical Communication and the “New” Engineer  

To achieve collaboration between different actors in the workplace requires a holistic view and knowledge (and experience) in multiple areas: domain knowledge, general and specialised communication, IT. To cater for these needs, six disciplines at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have co-operated to design and teach a unique interdisciplinary and bilingual technical communication programme for engineers. The questions What aspects of technical documentation are particularly relevant to engineers? How can we encourage co-operation between engineers and technical writers throughout the design process? What can engineers learn from technical writers, and vice-versa? This idea market discussion will not only serve as valuable on-site practice for the student, but will also give the audience the possibility of evaluating the programme on the basis of both teacher and learner experiences.

Raisanen, Christine, Emmeli Olen and Martin Sahlin. Chalmers Tekniska Hogskola (2000). Articles>TC>Engineering

Technical Communication in Power Systems

A technical writer in power systems must be a perfect jack-of -all trades, with flair to glean information on materials, equipments, systems, applications – and the related skills! A keen eye for detail is critical. The smallest slip can cause a serious mishap. But curiosity never killed a good technical writer! Being a good electrical engineer inherently takes care of most of these requirements - certainly not all. The scope is limitless to the self-motivated communicator.

Chaudhuri, Udit. Indus (2003). Careers>TC>Engineering

Technical Communication Instruction in Engineering Schools: A Survey of Top-Ranked U.S. and Canadian Programs    

This survey of 73 top-ranked U.S. and Canadian engineering schools examines initiatives that engineering schools are taking to improve communication instruction for their students. The survey reveals that 50% of the U.S. schools and 80% of the Canadian schools require a course in technical communication. About 33% of the schools utilize some form of integrated communication instruction, and another 33% offer elective courses in communication. Just 10 schools have created engineering communication centers to provide additional individualized coaching and feedback for their students. The most comprehensive preparation that engineering schools provide is a communication-across-the-curriculum approach that combines these instructional methods to offer concentrated instruction, continual practice, situated learning, and individualized feedback.

Reave, Laura. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2004). Articles>Education>TC>Engineering

Technical Communication, Engineering, and ABET's Engineering Criteria 2000: What Lies Ahead?    

The tools engineers use have changed so dramatically over the past 30 years, universities and colleges have adapted by offering their engineering students classes in the latest technologies so they are better prepared to enter the engineering workplace. Engineers often feel less prepared, however, for the nontechnical demands of their jobs. They may possess the technical skills necessary to solve a machine problem in a manufacturing line but feel less prepared to tell the owners of the line what needs to be changed and why. As a result, industry and business have complained to universities and colleges (and particularly to engineering programs) that engineering students are not ready to take on the nontechnical challenges of modern engineering work. And because engineering programs rely on industry and businesses to hire their students, they have taken these demands seriously.

Williams, Julia M. Technical Communication Online (2002). Academic>Education>Engineering>Assessment

Technical Communications for Scientists and Engineers

Communications basics for scientists and engineers.

Elliott, Celia M. University of Illinois. Presentations>Slideshows>Engineering

Technical Communications In Engineering

Technical and professional communication combines writing, organizing and communicating skills. The sites below deal with specific topics such as: interviewing; writing proposals, reports and resumes; and analyzing, organizing and presenting technical information.

University of Manitoba. Resources>Directories>TC>Engineering

Technical Writing for Fun and Profit

The average engineering student would rather go to the dentist and have root canal than write a technical report or a memo. This is unfortunate, as a large part of a working engineer’s professional life is spent in writing technical communiqués of one sort or another. Although, the widespread aversion to writing has a variety of causes, I suspect that a large part of the problem is simply not understanding the process and elements of good technical writing. And this comes as no surprise, because many students’ exposure to writing comes in college freshman English, and these courses train the student to write a certain kind of critical essay that is largely useful in passing college freshman English. Remarkably few such courses expose the student to the kinds of business writing they will use for the rest of their lives.

Goldberg, David E. University of Illinois (1999). Careers>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing

Technical Writing for Microwave Engineers

A complete resource to put all microwave geeks on the same page when it comes to tech writing.

Microwaves 101 (2003). Articles>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing

Technical Writing Library

Technical communication resources of interest to the oil and gas industry.

Oil Survey (2002). Resources>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing