Writing short reports for clients
You’ve just completed the project, and now you need to sit down and write the report. Staring at the blank computer screen, you wonder why it’s so hard to write […]
Engineering education
Accessory dwelling units combat homelessness
Accessory dwelling units provide an independent living space outside the primary residence on a property. It might be a smaller house in your back yard that you rent to short- […]
Why do scientists keep changing their minds?
One reason vaccine holdouts give for not trusting authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control is that these scientists are constantly changing their minds. At first they recommended that […]
Objectivity in technical writing
Part of professional engineering practice is objective communication. In fact, it’s so important that the Engineers’ Code of Ethics calls it out specifically. How do we achieve objectivity in technical […]
The Responsible Minerals Initiative promotes ethical sourcing
For their senior design projects, engineering students at the University of St. Thomas analyze the ethical factors in accordance with the ABET criteria for student outcomes. These include “an ability to […]
70th Annual University of Minnesota Concrete Conference
The University of Minnesota is hosting the 70th annual concrete conference on December 3, 2020. This year it’s fully virtual, so even if you don’t live anywhere near Minnesota, you […]
Lies, damned lies and statistics
Statistics were part of our everyday lives long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. Pick up a newspaper any day of the week and see how many stories you find […]
Who is an author?
In technical writing the question of who is an author is more important than you might realize. Although the obvious answer is that it’s the person who wrote the report, […]
What is a pooled sample?
The engineers’ code of ethics requires us to “hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public“. Here’s one way public health officials use statistics to do just that. […]
Death by PowerPoint
One of the most memorable presentations I ever attended was at once both a highly engaging talk about archeometry and a parody of bad presentations. (In case you didn’t know, […]