A Guide to Writing in Engineering, part of the Writer’s Help Guidebook Series, offers writing and research support for students writing in the discipline. This compact yet comprehensive guidebook provides the value students want with the essential instruction they need to get their writing tasks completed successfully. Students will find advice on how to think, read, research, design and write papers, projects and presentations like an engineer.
Coverage includes the following topics, all focused on the specific needs of writers in engineering:
- Writing process
- Conventions in the discipline
- Integrating and evaluating sources
- Documentation style required in the discipline--with plenty of models
- Sample student writing
Table of Contents:
Introduction: A Guide to Writing in Engineering
Thinking like an engineer
The design process
Questions engineers ask
Kinds of evidence engineers use
Ethical conduct in engineering
Researching engineering
Using databases to find articles in research journals
Strategies for optimizing your online searches
Primary and secondary sources
Sources of engineering data and regulations
Evaluating online resources
Reading the engineering literature
Actively reading a textbook
Active reading
The structure of a research or experimental report
The structure of a design report
How to read an engineering report
The process of writing papers, projects, and presentations in engineering
Considering your purpose and your audience
Designing and writing effective documents
Organizing and drafting
Revising and editing
Writing conventions in engineering
Controlling sentence structure
Using effective vocabulary
Presenting data effectively
Presenting equations, calculations, and data
Presenting and documenting code
Integrating, citing, and documenting sources in engineering
Summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting
Avoiding plagiarism and recognizing intellectual property
Using IEEE style for citing sources in engineering
Genres of writing in engineering
Technical, lab, or test report
Lab notebook
Literature review
Problem analysis and evaluation
Project proposal
Design report
Research report
Case study
Memo or brief
Summary, abstract, and annotated bibliography
Poster or slide presentation
Oral presentation
Glossary of vocabulary in engineering
References
Additional resources for reading and writing in engineering
Practice activities
Practice activity: Determining goals, purposes, values, and evaluation criteria
Practice activity: Evaluating web resources
Practice activity: Recognizing high-quality, high-impact research journals
Practice activity: Finding the best sources on the web
Practice activity: Finding one good research article using a database
Practice activity: Identifying sources used in a technical report
Practice activity: Step-by-step procedures
Practice activity: Warnings
Practice activity: Functional table design 1
Practice activity: Functional table design 2
Answers to selected activities
Sample student writing: Engineering
Design report: Human-Harvesting Energy System
Lab report: Coliform Presence Determination from Cell Samples Isolated and Sequenced from Activated Sludge
Project proposal: Site Stabilization Plan for Erosion Control
Research proposal: Implementing Rain Gardens to Reduce Flooding in Newark, DE
More help with documentation: Engineering reference list (IEEE)
IEEE-style reference list: Additional examples
Editing strategies
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun agreement, reference, and case
Strong verbs
Sentence fragments
Run-on sentences
Distracting shifts
Parallel structure
Clear, uncluttered sentences
Sentence emphasis
Commas
Apostrophes
Quotation marks
