Writing in Engineering A Brief Guide

At once sophisticated and practical, Writing in Engineering: A Brief Guide leads students through how to compose design reports, lab reports, and other key engineering genres while attending to the principles of argument, style, and visual design. It is a part of a series of brief, discipline-specific writing guides from Oxford University Press designed for today's writing-intensive college courses. The series is edited by Thomas Deans (University of Connecticut) and Mya Poe (Northeastern University).

Robert Irish is a senior lecturer in the Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto.

Preface
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Engineers Write: Purpose and Audience
Why Do Engineers Write?
What Does Engineering Writing Do?
How Audience Influences Purpose
Bringing Together Our Audience and Purpose

Chapter 2: Constructing Engineering Argument
The Five Axioms of Engineering Argument
1. A Claim does not stand alone
2. Putting the Claim first is strongest
3. Interpretation is more valuable than analysis
4. Logic is best, but rarely works alone
5. Arguments follow recognized patterns
Analyzing an Engineer's Argument
Putting the Five Axioms to Work in Your Writing

Chapter 3: Strategies for Reporting with Visuals
Connecting the Visual to the Text of the Document
The Functional Basis of Engineering Visuals
Capitalizing on Human Visual Perception for Visual Design
Deciding between Tables, Graphs, and Diagrams
Tables: Making Data Visual and Meaningful
Graphs and Charts: Visualizing Patterns and Trends
Diagrams: Showing Specifics
Heuristics for Making Visuals

Chapter 4: Strategies for Design Reports
The Logical Structure of the Design Report
Developing a Design Report by Stages
Final advice on developing a Design Report

Chapter 5: Strategies for Lab Reports, Literature Reviews, and Posters
Writing Lab Reports
Comparing Lab Reports and Design Reports
Literature Reviews
Posters for Presentations
Final Thoughts about Using these Genres

Chapter 6: Strategies for Patent Searches, Use Case Scenarios, Code Comments, and Instructions
Patent Searches and Patent Applications
Understanding the Patent
Use Case Scenarios
Code Comments
Technical Instructions
Using the Supporting Genres

Chapter 7: Style
Developing Strong Paragraphs
How Paragraphs Work
Improving Flow in Writing
Building Transitions
Moving from Known to New Information
Strengthening the Sentence
Developing your Style

Chapter 8: Sources
How Engineers Make Citations
Compressing and Focusing Sources for Writing like an Engineer
Creating a Citation and Reference
IEEE, a Numerical Reference System
APA, an Author-Date System
Ensuring Traceability of Information

Conclusion
References