Maximizing Professional Communication in Engineering

1. Communications in engineering Dr. Yan Liu Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering Wright State University

2. Factors in Professional Communications • Audience Analysis • Is the communication to an expert or a general audience • How formal should the communication be • What level of detail is expected • What is the importance of the communication to the recipient(s) • What is the time available for this communication • Selection of Format to Convey Message • Written • Email, memoranda, letters, engineering report • Oral • Telephone calls, informal talk, formal presentations • Graphics • Drawings, pictures, maps

3. Factors in Professional Communications • General Rules • The purpose of the communication should be clearly stated at beginning • The communication should be direct and to the point • Conciseness is necessity • Communications have been edited, refined, and practiced, as appropriate • Communication should be complete • Contains all the required information • Select an organizational format appropriate for the communication

4. Why Are Engineers Often Ineffective Communicators • Many engineering students have a natural inclination for math and science but little for writing or oral communications • Engineering students often have little understanding of grammar and basic sentence and paragraph structure

5. Writing Resources • WSU Writing Center • http://www.wright.edu/academics/writingctr/ • Helps people become more competent writers within a peer tutoring environment • WSU Writing Web • http://www.wright.edu/cola/Dept/ENG/wsuwweb/ • An online community for writers • Grammar and Language Information • The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation • http://www.grammarbook.com/ • An online reference guide and workbook • Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization • http://www.sti.nasa.gov/publish/sp7084.pdf (free to download) • A handbook for technical writers and editors from NASA • etc.

6. Presentation Resources • Presentation Skills • http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html (career training website) • http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/dept/Tips/present/present.htm • Organization • Toastmasters International • A nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking and leadership skills • http://www.toastmasters.org/ • Wright State Toastmasters meets at E103 Student Union at 12:00pm on Mondays (brookins.5@wright.edu)

7. Engineering Report • Purpose • Records how and why the work was accomplished and what the results, recommendations, and conclusions were • Often the only document related to work that is maintained on file for future reference • Typical Elements • Title • Authors • Abstract • Introduction • Technical approach • Results and discussion • Conclusions • Acknowledgement • References • Appendix

8. Engineering Report • Title • Brief and descriptive of your work • Clearly states what the work was about • Use adjectives that describe the distinctive features of the work (e.g. reliable, high-performance, robust, low-cost, etc.) • Avoid jargon or vernacular • Authors • Name • Affiliation • Contact information of the corresponding author • e.g. phone, email

9. Engineering Report • Abstract • A brief (~200 words or less) statement of the essential components of the report • Objective(s) • Methods(s) used • Significant results • Conclusions • Introduction • Provide the necessary background • Describe the objective(s) • Define the scope of the investigation • Identify any previous studies or efforts that are related to the work

10. Engineering Report • Technical Approach • Provides detailed information about how the work was accomplished • Theoretical/design principles involved • Equations used • Design sketches and diagrams • Experiment setup and design • etc. • Results and Discussion • If experiments were involved • Describe data analyses and their results • Describe any complications (e.g. missing data, outliers, etc.) and how they were handled • Statistical techniques • Understand the techniques applied and the statistics you are reporting • Try to use the simplest, appropriate technique that meets the underlying assumptions

11. Engineering Report • Results and Discussion (Cont.) • Each major conclusion should be clearly substantiated • Any contradictory theories or results must be explained • Use carefully planned tables and graphs • Recognize the limitations of the work • Suggest future work • Conclusions • Provide a quick reference about the main conclusions for the reader with limited time • Conclusions reached in the results and discussion section are restated in a more general manner

12. Engineering Report • References • There should be a one-to-one match between the references cited in the report and the list of references • Various styles of references • Chicago Manual of Style • http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org • IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Style (Use in your project reports) • http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/pubs/ref_guides/ieee.html • APA (American Psychological Association) Style • http://apastyle.apa.org/ • Appendix • Provide supporting information that is necessary yet not significant enough to be included in the body of the report • A complex mathematical proof • A questionnaire or survey instrument (unless it is the main contribution of the work)

13. IEEE Reference Style • References in the Text • References must be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text • Once you label the source, use the same number in all subsequent references • Each reference number should be enclosed by square brackets on the text line, with a space before the bracket and before the punctuation • e.g. “Visualization is crucial to data analysis; it provides a front line of attack, revealing intricate structure in data that cannot be absorbed in any other way [6].” • Do not include author(s) in the reference; if you want to stress the author(s), mention the author(s) in the sentence • e.g. “Cleveland argued that visualization is crucial to data analysis; it provides a front line of attack, revealing intricate structure in data that cannot be absorbed in any other way [6].” • It is not necessary to say "in reference [27]. . . ." "In [27] . . ." is sufficient • To cite more than one source at a time • Vastly preferred: [1],[3],[5] or [1] – [5] • Acceptable: [1, 3, 5] or [1 – 5]

14. IEEE Reference Style • Reference List • References must be listed in the same order they were cited in text (numerical order) • List only one reference per bracketed number • Capitalization and italicization • Every important word in the title of a book must be capitalized and italicized • Prepositions and articles are not capitalized unless they are the first words in the title • Every important word in the title of a journal or conference must be capitalized and italicized • Capitalize only the first word of the title of an article, book chapter, thesis, or dissertation • Capitalize the "v" in volume for a book title but not for a journal • Abbreviations • You must either spell out the entire name of each journal or conference proceeding you reference or use accepted abbreviations; You must consistently do one or the other • To indicate a page range (e.g. pp. 111-222) • Reference one page only, use only one p (e.g. p. 111)

15. IEEE Reference Style • Reference List (Cont.) • Author names • <first initial>. <middle initial> <last name> • e.g. D. L. Tao • Two authors • <first author> and <second author> • e.g. D. L. Tao and L. A. Stevens • Three or more authors • <first author>, <second author>, <third author>, … and <last author> • e.g. D. L. Tao, S. Al Kuran, and L. A. Stevens

16. Book S. M. Hemmingsen, Soft Science. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan Press, 1997. • Book Chapter A. Rezi and M. Allam, "Techniques in array processing by means of transformations," in Control and Dynamic Systems, Vol. 69, Multidimensional Systems, C. T. Leondes, Ed. San Diego: Academic Press, 1995, pp. 133-180 • Journal G. Liu, K. Y. Lee, and H. F. Jordan, "TDM and TWDM de Bruijn networks and shufflenets for optical communications," IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 46, pp. 695-701, June 1997. • Conference proceeding S. Al Kuran, "The prospects for GaAs MESFET technology in dc-ac voltage conversion," in Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Portable Design Conference, 1997, pp. 137-142. • Report (Technical report, Memoranda) K. E. Elliott and C. M. Greene, "A local adaptive protocol," Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, France, Tech. Rep. 916-1010-BB, July 1997.

17. Thesis (M.S. Thesis) or Dissertation (Ph.D. Dissertation) H. Zhang, "Delay-insensitive networks," M.S. thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, 1997. • Manual Bell Telephone Laboratories Technical Staff, Transmission System for Communications, Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1995. • From the internet Computational, Optical, and Discharge Physics Group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "Hybrid plasma equipment model: Inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching reactors," December 1995, http://uigelz.ece.uiuc.edu/Projects/HPEM-ICP/index.html. • Patent K. Kimura and A. Lipeles, "Fuzzy Controller Component," U. S. Patent 14,860,040, December 14, 1996.

18. Plagiarism • You must cite all sources of information in your work • What is Plagiarism • Presenting someone else’s ideas, work, or words as if they were your own • Copying from a source without citing it • Using the same words without using quotation marks (even with a citation) • More Information • Wright State University Writing Center: http://www.wright.edu/academics/writingctr/resources/plagiarism.html

19. Oral Presentation • Means to Control Anxiety • Well prepared and has a thorough understanding of the material to be presented • Become familiar with the size and layout of the room • Availability of audio system and podium, the location of light switches, position of projectors, etc. • Wear the proper attire • Break the “barrier” between the speaker and audience by getting some sort of dialogue going • Self introduction, talk about fun “hot topics”, etc.

20. Oral Presentation • Title Slide • Title of the presentation • To which group, organization or meeting the presentation is being given • Presenter’s name, affiliation, contact information • Date of the presentation • Outline • Outline of the topics to be discussed • Body • Introduction • Technical approach • Results and discussion • Conclusions

21. Oral Presentation • Use of Visual Aids • Advantages • Catch the audiences’ attention • Facilitate understanding • Disadvantages • Preparation time • Cost