GENN001 HUMANITIES AND ENGINEERING

ENGINEERING COMMUNCATIONS1/2

Engineering Communications - Good communications within engineering

organizations is essential - Engineering is a group activity - Most engineering companies have 100 - 1’000 +

engineers - Technical Information is usually very large and complex - Information must be distributed to many engineers,

managers and vendors - Information must be very clear, precise and distributed

rapidly to avoid mistakes

COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES

- Successful engineers always have good communication skills

- Good communication skills require much effort and preparation

- Language skills are very important: Brief, Clear, Wording, Spelling, Style

- Graphics communications such as drawings: Primary importance

- Written communications: Very important, from short notes to long reports

- Oral / Graphic presentations: Very important, mostly for summary reports

- Oral presentations: Important, specially for managers and executives, …

- Dictionary, Thesaurus, Reading - Libraries - Courses and Books on writing style

- Technical dictionaries: Word and Subject - Technical encyclopedias: General information on

technology - Engineering Handbooks: Specialized in each field - Technology Indexes: Monthly reports on new

technology - Technical publications: Specialized Papers and

Abstracts for engineering knowledge

ENGINEER as a WRITER• Memos, Letters: Few lines to few pages to

colleagues, managers , vendors• Technical Reports: Summary or Detail, one to many

pages• Specifications: Few lines to several pages• Journal or Magazine Articles: One to several pages,

state of the art information

GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE WRITING

1 - Plan and organize your thoughts before writing

2 - Prepare an outline3 - Avoid boring structure4 - Be clear and as brief as possible5 - Adapt your style to your audience

6 - Avoid slang or fad words7 - Avoid redundancies8 - Avoid euphemisms9 - Avoid spelling errors and poor grammar

1 - Plan and organize your thoughts before writing

• Think about the content and style of your memo, article, report or book

• Think about and start gathering all the sources of information you think you may need

• Think about other good writings you or others may have written

• Think about other potential contributors to your writing

2 - Prepare an outline• List major topics• Think about and list sequence of topics• List sub-topics for each major topic• List ideas to help make the writing interesting• List other potential contributors in this

writing• List References for each major topic• Use different colors and fonts as needed for

clarity and attractive display

3 - Avoid boring structure• One paragraph for each theme or sub-topic• Paragraphs introduced by topic sentence.• Sections or sub-sections for related topics or

sub-topics• Chapters for major topics• Headings or titles for Chapters, Sections and

sub-Sections• Use Tables or Charts for clarity of complex

data or information

4 - Be Clear and as Brief as possible• Use short words instead of long words• “Near” instead of “in close proximity”• “Scarce” instead of “in short supply”• “Now” instead of “at this point in time” , …• Use short sentences instead of long

sentences

5 - Adapt your style to your audience• Consider the level of understanding /

knowledge of your audience / readers• Consider the level of interest of your

audience / readers• Consider the socio-economic level• Consider the age

6 - Avoid slang or fad words or expressions for technical writing

• Wards such as : “O.K.” , “terrific”, “tremendous” are not suitable for technical writing.

• Fad words like: “Finalize” , “the bottom line” , should be avoided.

7 - Avoid redundancies

• Use “components” or “parts”, not “component parts”

• Use “consensus”, not “consensus of opinion”• Use “Unique”, not “most unique”• Use “Surrounded” , not “surrounded on all

sides”

8 - Avoid euphemisms – wordy euphemisms

• “used car” instead of “previously owned vehicle”

• “library” instead of “book resource center”• “garbage collector ” instead of “sanitation

engineer

9 - Avoid spelling errors and poor grammar

• Spelling mistakes are signs of carelessness or inadequate education

• There is a statistical relation between successful professionals and good spelling

TYPES OF ENGINEERING WRITINGEngineers write a lot . They spend ~ 25% of

their time writing.1 - Logs and Notebooks2 - Memoranda (memos) and Business Letters3 - E-mail4 - Technical Reports5 - Journal Papers6 - Specifications

1 - Logs and Notebooks: Essential for most engineers• Informal notebook for recording information• Record daily work to do, work done, meeting

date and time, …• Meeting summery notes and records of

conversations with colleagues.• Test result summaries• Vendor or customer contact info• Vendor phone call info or discussion• Reminder messages

2 - Memorandum (memo) and Business Letters• Memo: Main inter-company communication• Short message, usually single subject• Usually sent to one or a few people• Now usually sent by internal email• May be asking a question, sending a reply,

confirming a meeting time, requesting information, …

• Usually includes: Date, From, To, cc, Subject

EXAMPLE MEMO• MEMORANDUM• Date: Jan 2, 2010• From: Muhamoud Ali, General Manager• To: Mohamad Hassan, Mahmoud Ibrahim• Cc: Actuator Design Team• Subject: Investigate the problems with production

Line #2• Please attend this meeting on 20/2/2010 at 11:00

am, or send a representative.• Meeting room: M112

Business Letters• Usually standard format for the company or

organization• Style and tone should be Clear, Concise,

Complete & Courteous

3 - E-mail• E-mails shall be concise , show a subject line• Shall be kept to one screen length• Lengthy subject matter should be attached to

the e-mail

4 - Technical Reports• Main components of technical reports:• Title Page: Title, Company, Client, Authors,

Report no., Date, ..• Abstract: Concise summary of content,

purpose & results• Introduction: Describe subject, purpose,

scope and plan of development• Methodology or Procedure: Detailed account

of steps to accomplish work performed

• Results: Describes outcome of the project or investigation work, normally including tables, charts, statistics, …

• Summary and Conclusions: The useful meanings derived from the report results, upon which future decisions can be made

• Recommendations: Recommended course of action based on the conclusions

• Acknowledgments: Recognize people & organizations who have contributed significantly to the report

• Bibliography/References: List of books and other sources of information used

• Appendixes: Detail technical information such as computer programs, tables, .

• Modes of Discourse• Narration: Series of related events reported

in ordered sequence• Description: Verbal representation of

something usually expressed in terms of size, shape, color, texture or position

• Exposition: Explaining or clarifying some matter or knowledge, such as in education

• Argumentation: For convincing the reader of the probability that some proposition is correct

5 - Journal Papers: • Articles on state-of-the art engineering work• Usually briefer than technical reports but

similar in content

6 - Specifications: Technical details to communicate to builders,

manufacturers and related organizations, to provide complete information for fabrication of the component or assembly. This includesmaterials, dimensions, workmanship and all other details defined with extreme care to ensure completeness and accuracy, for properfunctioning of the component in the assembly or product.