A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, 4th Edition

CONTENTS

1. ENGINEERS AND WRITING

Engineers Write a Lot

Engineers Write Many Kinds of Documents

Successful Engineering Careers Require Strong Writing Skills

Engineers Can Learn to Write Well

Noise and the Communication Process

Controlling the Writing System

Exercises

Bibliography

2. ELIMINATING SPORADIC NOISE IN ENGINEERING WRITING

Spelling and Spell Checkers

Punctuation

Traditional Sentence Errors

Technical Usage

Edit, Edit, Edit

Exercises

Bibliography

3. GUIDELINES FOR WRITING NOISE-FREE ENGINEERING DOCUMENTS

Focus on Why You Are Writing

Focus on Your Readers

Satisfy Document Specifications

Get to the Point

Provide Accurate Information

Present Your Material Logically

Explain the Technical to Nonspecialists

Make Your Ideas Accessible

Use Efficient Wording

Format Your Pages Carefully

Express Yourself Clearly

Manage Your Time Efficiently

Edit at Different Levels

Share the Load: Write as a Team

Exercises

Bibliography

4. LETTERS, MEMORANDA, EMAIL, AND OTHER MEDIA FOR ENGINEERS

Which to Use?

Writing Style for Business Correspondence

Communication Strategies for Tricky Situations

Business Letters: Components and Format

Business Memoranda

Email: Functions, Style, Format

New Internet Media

Exercises

Bibliography

5. WRITING COMMON ENGINEERING DOCUMENTS

Some Preliminaries

Inspection and Trip Reports

Research, Laboratory, and Field Reports

Specifications

Proposals

Progress Reports

Instructions

Recommendation Reports

Exercises

Bibliography

6. WRITING RESEARCH AND DESIGN REPORTS

Engineering ...