Course Description

Writing for Engineers is a research-based, project-focused course designed to address the needs of School of Engineering students. The course covers many of the basic forms of professional communication that engineers will likely encounter in their careers, including resumes and cover letters, research reports, memos, letters, technical proposals, user documentation, and oral presentations. The main writing assignments for the course are focused around an individually designed project involving research in each student's area of specialty or interest.

The best engineers are managers capable of using information to make leadership decisions that are rationalized within accepted paradigms of the profession. To meet the standards of a good management document, the final project must use research to justify a plan of action, making a persuasive appeal for project funding with a strong research-based rationale. Engineers today are also increasingly asked to communicate with diverse audiences, ranging from their peers to management, clients and the public at large. Therefore, the course involves writing practice, collaborative exercises and class presentations to improve general workplace communication skills.

The Writing for Engineers classroom will often operate like a hypothetical engineering company. There will be scheduled and impromptu meetings for reporting on status of work, deadlines to follow, and ongoing self, peer, and supervisor evaluations. Opportunities for more experienced students to assist others will be encouraged, just as help for new engineers from experienced engineers occurs in the corporate setting.

While a one semester course cannot fully prepare an aspiring engineer for all of the writing demands of the profession, this course can establish a foundation of writing skills for students and an increased level of confidence in their ability to do the writing expected of them. Think of the course as a transition experience where you will take the theoretical understandings you have about engineering and put them into the practice of engineering.

Use the navigation bar on the left to learn more about this course as well as other courses in Business and Technical Writing at Rutgers.

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