Writing in Engineering : a Guide to Communicating /
Cecilia Mavrow.
- Toronto : McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1994.
- vii, 198 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Includes index.
Preface -- PART I GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF WRITING AND COMMUNICATING IN ENGINEERING -- Chapter 1 WRITING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING IN ENGINEERING -- An Overview of the Writing Process in Engineering -- Problem-Solving in Engineering -- What's Next -- Exercises -- Chapter 2 GENERAL WRITING SKILLS -- Words -- Sentences -- Exercises -- Chapter 3 SPECIAL WRITING SKILLS NEEDED IN ENGINEERING -- Description -- Explanation or Instruction -- Persuasion -- Summarization -- Exercises -- Chapter 4 THE WRITING PROCESS IN ENGINEERING -- Purpose and Objective -- Generating Content -- Organizing and Writing the First Draft -- Revision -- Documenting Your Sources -- Exercises -- Chapter 5 THE VISUAL ELEMENT -- Layout -- Graphics -- Exercises -- PART II SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION TASKS OF ENGINEERS -- Chapter 6 OPENING A FILE: PROFESSIONAL DOCUMENTATION -- Open a File -- Chapter 7 LETTERS AND MEMOS: STYLES AND ELEMENTS -- Letter Formats -- Memos -- Exercises -- Chapter 8 LETTERS: CONTENTS -- The Letter of Interest (Expression of Interest) -- The Letter of Transmittal -- The Letter of Inquiry or Request -- The Good News Letter -- The Bad News Letter: Complaint or Refusal -- The Sales Letter -- The Application Letter -- Exercises -- Chapter 9 CREDENTIAL PACKAGE; COMPANY PROFILE, RÉSUMÉ -- The Credential Package -- Exercises -- Chapter 10 PROPOSALS -- Solicited Proposals -- Unsolicited Proposals -- The Informal (Short) Proposal -- The Formal Proposal -- Types of Proposals According to Work Done -- Exercises -- Chapter 11 ORAL PRESENTATIONS -- Improving an Oral Presentation -- Physical Preparation Before Public Speaking -- Exercises -- Chapter 12 REPORTS -- Contents -- Heading Numerous Systems -- Specific Report Contents -- Exercises -- Chapter 13 SPECIFICATION DOCUMENTS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT REPORTS -- Specification Documents (Tender Documents) -- Project Management Reports -- Exercises -- Chapter 14 MANUALS -- Sections of a Manual -- Writing Guidelines for a Manual -- Examples of Manuals -- Chapter 15 THE JOURNAL ARTICLE OR CONFERENCE PAPER -- Subject -- Formats -- Contents -- Exercises -- Chapter 16 WRITING TASKS FOR MEETING -- Writing Agendas -- Notes in Meetings -- Minutes -- Specific Meetings -- Nonwriting Suggestions for Meetings -- Guidelines for Attending Meetings -- Exercises -- Appendix A: COMMON PUNCTUATION PROBLEMS -- Apostrophe -- Brackets and Parentheses -- Capitalization -- Colon -- Comma -- Dash -- Ellipsis -- Hyphen -- Numbers -- Quotation Marks -- Semicolon -- Appendix B: A SAMPLE RECOMMENDATION REPORT -- Index
"Writing is an increasingly large part of the engineering process, with many professional engineers spending over 60 percent of their time writing letters, memos, proposals, reports, and specification documents. The trend in many government and engineering firms now is to hire technicians for the technical work. Fifteen years ago, one city that had a population of 100,000 people employed eight engineers. It now employs three, and 20 certified technicians. Writing is a skill that, like any other, can be developed. When you are learning to ski, you can watch the Olympic slalom, you might take lessons and have the pros tell you to "plant your pole, unweight, and turn", the instructor might demonstrate on a mogul for you - and then you can put on the skis and fall flat on your strate on a mogul for you - and then you can put on the skis and fall flat on your face. Before you master skiing, you have to slide down the hill a few times, trying to plant the pole and bend the knees, learning to turn and stop. This is a good analogy for writing: you need to learn the basics, understand what is expected, and then write and rewrite until the words run effortlessly on the page. Some experts say that one can't write well - cannot write clean, coherent English - without reading well-written books, books that have been written with "force and freshness". Yes, good reading is important (and some good reports by experienced engineers are works of art), but most of us have read Shakespeare and we still do not write well. Attention, care, concentration, observation, effort, revision - and practice, practice, practice - will steadily improve your skill in technical writing. This book is based on the premise that with knowledge of some basic writing principles, and how they apply to the special writing tasks that engineers are called upon to perform, engineering students can prepare themselves for the responsibilities they will face in this field today." (Preface, p. vii)