Previous blogs have cautioned against crossing the line between science and advocacy. But what does that mean in practice, and why is it a problem? For one thing, it’s contrary […]
Years ago, I worked on the development of high-performance concrete for an offshore oil platform in Alaska. We needed to conduct abrasion testing at below-freezing temperatures, so we wanted to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
While looking for something else, I happened on the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Rules of Practice regarding engineering communications. Here’s what they say about the ethics of technical […]
Many professionals struggle to write engineering reports for clients. Most engineering schools provide some instruction in report writing, but students’ reports tend to be formulaic and stilted. However, once students […]