Writing for Engineers is a course that builds skill in technical writing and adds to my success academically and my future professional career. Throughout the course, we learned and analyzed many technological formats that are often seen by engineers in all fields. The work given created a rapid improvement in my analytical thinking and being able to communicate with members in my field of interest. It was well known throughout the class that all had some type of interest in engineering. With this common attribute we had, it made it really easy to connect and exchange thoughts. We as a class learned to spread our knowledge with an improvement in communication in a professional manner.
In the beginning of the course, we all introduced ourselves and our major. This really shined light how we are all going for a similar goal in the STEM field. The very first main assignment that was given to the class was the letter of introduction. This was a great opportunity for both the teacher and student. The teacher would have the chance to really dive deep into the students life and see where their mind is at. The students had the ability to show who they are and what their intentions are by joining a class like “writing for engineers”. The assignment was relatively simple, starting off with a brief description of my life. Discussing how I grew up and how I found myself finding interest in STEM. I talked about some of my major accomplishments and my passions. My goal for this assignment was to really express my life in the most condense way. This was a great way for me to see how I will change over the course. It allowed me to see how I progressed throughout the course. With this assignment it highered our level of awareness of our goals and what we are seeking out of this course.
As time passed, we all began to become more technically sound writers. Focusing on proper formality and understanding who and what we are writing for. There were several assignments where we learned how to write as a professional to either a large company or even writing a respectable email to others. Once we understand how to write as a professional, we transition to actual writings for engineers. The lab report assignment was designed for us to basically implement what we learned and find a topic of interest in the engineering field. The task was delightful because of the freedom of choice. I chose a topic related to biomechanical engineering. Finding research about the subject was confusing at first. The main problem was which database would have the most effective and relevant information. Google scholar was my choice of databases, with in depth search I found quality content that supported the lab report. Writing in an organized manner was always a major problem of mine. This course assignment cleared that situation partially by giving me a guideline on how it should be ordered. I dissected each section of the lab reports and created a structure for my lab report, breaking down my complete research about the biomechanical engineering topic.
We understood how to read and interpret a lab report. This knowledge allowed us to create our own report of sorts. The next major assignment was the technical description assignment where we had to find a tech product and create a description of the object, mechanisms, and processes that appear in virtually every kind of technical communication. Creating the table of content really helped me sectionalize my assignment. The research was difficult because the innovation barely had any content on the mechanics on the web. Eventually, I discovered the basic information about my innovation. I never looked at tech items like I did with this assignment, I had to break down every aspect of it. From understanding the exterior and interior functions, how is it manufactured, and the history of the product. I understood my audience is my teacher and was expecting a standard technical description, so I had to keep it professional and not add personal input to it. It was a completely informational based description.
The COVID-19 disrupted our school sessions and we had to transition our classes to online. We had our final task which was our engineering proposal. We were assigned a team to basically have a group/oral report of a proposal for a creative engineering innovation. In your group, identify a void or a need for a specific engineering innovation, the design and production for which you will conceive and propose. In the beginning our teacher created a document where we had the opportunity to contact our assigned teammates via email. We contacted each other and decided to take our project discussions to a communication platform called discord. Once we got each other into a group chat, we began brainstorming innovation ideas. We had a few great ideas but the one that we all agreed upon was an automated door opener. After figuring out the topic of our project, we had a phone call to completely breakdown how we will be presenting and gathering information for this topic. We sectionalized the project to specific parts. Once we completed our parts we evaluated what we had so far. Once we doubled check our content, we began creating the recorded video. Our communication skills were challenged in this case. While we were making our video we had few retakes because my team and I wanted to have a better video for presentation. We had to use a moderately high volume voice and confidence on our topic. The team effort really bonded us and we communicated about a common goal to accomplish.
As the course slowly comes to end, I can say my writing not only became more organized but professional as well. Communication is key to any lifestyle, now that i have the ability to communicate with individuals in my field with confidence.