What is the number one killer of fantastic research and amazing projects? The answer is quite simple – poor communication skills. As an engineering student, I fully understand the daunting task of completing an engineering program. All of our classes are cognitively draining and require constant attention and retention. The perk of mental “cache emptying and defragging’ is not available to us. However, when I have spoken to working engineers, one thing they mention, time and again, is that they wish they had taken a technical writing class while they were in their undergrad programs.
So, why would I suggest adding ONE MORE CLASS to an already intense load? It doesn’t matter how talented engineers are or what amazing work they may do. If they cannot communicate effectively and clearly, their work or projects are then classified as “okay…not, great, mind you….but ok… MAYBE we will look at it.” However, if engineers are able to utilize strong technical writing and communication tools, their work will be understood, appreciated, and utilized (which is the whole purpose….right???)
The need for strong communication skills does not simply apply to the future. How many classes require technical writing skills students do not have? How many labs, reports, and projects would have seriously benefitted from an engineering technical writing course taken during the sophomore year? The fight to keep an engineering program within a four-year time frame and still meet ABET standards means that classes that would create EXCEPTIONAL engineers are overlooked and under-utilized. Engineers in the field often have a list of classes that they wish they had taken in school because their work NOW would seriously benefit from them. However, the rigid schedule did not allow for it – Technical Writing, Business, and Tensor Analysis (to name a few).
Engineering students need to understand that their beginning, mid, and end product communication must be understood on many different levels. Reports are not ONLY going to be read and analyzed by other engineers. In most cases, money and needed support is determined by a team within management that is made of “support career fields” that may have engineering training…but do not live within the engineering “life sphere.” “Lay people” are often put in a position of examining work created by engineers. If engineers are not able to thoroughly convey their work in a way that can be understood by non-engineers within their fields, mistakes and misunderstandings produce costly outcomes that could have been avoided.
Why not strive to create exceptional engineers who can communicate across the board of disciplines? Universities across the US are grappling with this very issue. As undergrads, there are classes that are required for creating “well rounded” students. Let’s have one of those classes be something we will ACTUALLY use in both our more advanced classes and our professional lives. What is the purpose of producing just engineers when we have the option of training engineers who can effectively communicate as well?
Inspired by Melissa Marshall’s so witty plea on a recent Ted Talk, please teach us to talk nerdy!
Technical Communication at UAHuntsville 