Technical Writing©2014 Joe TritschlerDepartment of Biomedical, Industrial & Human factors EngineeringWright State University • Dayton, OhioImportance• The importance of effective communication in engineering (and other technical disciplines) CANNOT be overemphasized!• You could be the most brilliant engineer that ever lived, but you won’t get far if you can’t correctly communicate your ideas or work.• ALL CECS majors must take a three-credit-hour course called “Technical Writing for Engineers and Computer Scientists” (EGR 3350) . • This lecture discusses a few key points about tech writing, as it applies to your undergraduate studies.Characteristics of Technical Writing• From Pocketbook of Technical Writing, 3rdEd. (Finkelstein, 2008) –– Precise– Objective– Direct– Clearly definedExample of Non-Technical Writing • (From Finkelstein, p.2):– “Time is a river flowing from nowhere through which everything and everyone move forward to meet their fate.” This is an abstract, metaphorical definition of time. While nice, it doesn’t communicate what time actually is to any technical degree.Example of Technical Writing• (Also from Finkelstein):– Time is a convention of measurement based on the microwave spectral line emitted by cesium atoms with an atomic weight of 133 and an integral frequency of 9.192.631770 GHz.Notice how this definition starts with the broadest classification of what time is – a convention of measurement, followed by the mechanism on which it’s based – microwave spectral emission, followed by the material causing this particular phenomenon –cesium atoms, followed by specific characteristics of the material. In other words, broadest to most specific. Your audience, among other factors, will determine how specific your definition must get.• Technical writing isn’t meant to be fun to read; it isn’t meant to convey emotional, subjective, aesthetic, or introspective ideas or feelings.• Very importantly, the enemy of technical writing is abstraction.• Abstraction is the antithesis of precision, objectivity, directness, and clarity of definition.• Nothing should be left open to interpretation in good technical writing.Examples of Technical Writing• Technical definitions– Require precise definition and classification of an object or process;• Mechanism descriptions– Require precise portrayal of multi-part objects or devices, their function and/or operation;• Process descriptions– Portray events that occur over time to a specified outcome.Examples of Technical Documents• Proposals• Progress Reports• Feasibility and Recommendation Reports• Laboratory and Project Reports• Instructions and Manuals• Research Reports• Abstracts and Summaries• Presentations and Briefings• Letters, Memos, E-mail• ResumesResearch Reports• Research reports are among the most common type of document required in engineering courses.• Research reports describe the discovery, analysis, and documentation of information gained through an investigation into some topic.• Good research reports follow a specific outline.Outline of Research ReportsThe following outline is described in Chapter 11 of Finkelstein, p.199: • Introduction– Purpose– Problem– Scope• Background– Theory– History• Discussion– Might include a variety of items, such as experiments, etc.• Conclusion– Summary– Recommendation• References– Sources Cited– Sources Not Cited• AppendixesProposals• Proposals, in general, are documents that offer solutions to problems – both solicited and unsolicited.• Proposals are often crucial to the long-term success of an organization or perhaps even your job!• Writing good, convincing proposals might be the key to winning the contract, job, or grant that keeps the company or your job alive.Proposal Outline Example• The following informal proposal outline was taken from…you guessed it…Finkelstein.• Formal proposals are a different animal; they are often very large, multi-volume documents requiring a major team effort. Therefore, you probably won’t have to worry about them as an undergraduate student.• Introduction– Purpose (reason for writing the report)– Background (problem that needs to be solved)– Scope (what is and isn’t covered in the report)• Discussion– Approach (proposed solution to the problem)– Result (how the solution will solve the problem)– Statement of Work (tasks to be performed to solve the problem)• Resources– Personnel (list of people doing the work and their qualifications)– Facilities/equipment (physical resources required to do the work)• Costs– Fiscal (financial costs of implementing solution)– Time (hours required to implement solution)• Conclusion– Summary (highlight benefits and risks of adopting the proposal)• ContactA few random tips…• At the heart of technical writing is removing ambiguity. If any part of a document leaves an “opening” for someone to challenge what you have written (for example, stating that you did something without explicitly stating every single condition under which you did it), then close it!• When in doubt, consult a technical writing resource such as – you guessed it – Finkelstein! Referring to outlines and checklists can be ENORMOUSLY helpful.• Also, ALWAYS make sure you’ve satisfied requirements set forth by your professor, instructor, or boss.• Remember…tech writing, just like anything else, takes practice to get “good at