ENGLISH AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR THE GLOBAL ENGINEER

1. ENGLISH AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR THE GLOBAL ENGINEER

2. INTRODUCTION Communication skills are essential for an engineer who aspires to carry out his/her professional practice in the global arena. Engineering communication skills basically constitute several core elements such as the fluency in the English language and the fundamentals of visual communication.Evidence indicates that communication skills are what helped Homo sapiens evolve beyond our related ancestors, and that these skills have helped humankind develop into the advanced societies on Earth today [1]. However, these skills have become stifled in the very discipline that has brought so many advancements, and that is engineering.

19. Calculate your EQ (Engineering Quotient)! • 􀂉 I like to solve problems and be creative. • Engineering is all about using science and math to solve problems. Engineers work on pollution • control, communication systems, transportation issues, and safety designs, as a few examples. They • use their skills to make things work better, faster, and less expensively. • 􀂉 I want to make the world a better place to live. • In the year 1900, the average life expectancy was 46 years. In the year 2000, the average life • expectancy was 76 years, a 30 year improvement. Twenty of those thirty years have been attributed to • engineering developments in the areas of clean water and sanitary sewerage. Engineers design • wheelchairs, cell phones, infant monitors, artificial organs, computer software and all kinds of • innovations that improve our lives on a daily basis. • 􀂉 I do well in my math and science classes. • Engineering is the art of applying scientific and mathematical principles, experience, judgment and • common sense to make things that benefit people. If you enjoy science and math, you most likely have • an aptitude for engineering.

20. EQ AND COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS IN ENGINEERING

21. I want to combine my interest in science with my interests in music or history. • A 􀂉 strong background in science can be combined with interests in other fields, such as humanities and • the arts, to make you even more successful in the engineering world. Engineers need to have the • communication skills, good judgment and sense of perspective that comes from a broad educational • and personal background. • 􀂉 I want an education that will let me keep my options open. • With an engineering background, you can go into management, teaching, research, consulting, • business, industry, government or marketing. As an example, the medical school admission rate for • students with engineering degrees is in excess of 80%, compared with a national average of 48%. • 􀂉 I like to work as part of a team. • Engineers typically work with other engineers or with scientists and other experts to solve problems in a • group setting. Most projects are built around teams of people who work together to find the best • solution. • 􀂉 I want a job that will let me balance career and family. • A recent study showed that 16% of women scientists and engineers were employed part-time. Nearly • 42% cited family responsibilities as the reason. Because women have been under-represented in this • field, employers have developed programs such as mentoring, advanced studies and flexible work • schedules to help attract women to technological careers and to promote women’s professional grow

22. COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS • Improving Your Communications Skills • Develops oral, written, and graphical communication skills needed by scientists and engineers. Topics include giving oral presentations, working in small groups, and preparing and critiquing reports, proposals, instructions, and business correspondence. Workshop involves extensive oral presentations, communication in small groups, and written projects.

23.  some years ago, Sir James Barrie remarked that, the Man of Science appears to be the only man who has something to say just now—and the only man who does not know how to say it.”  While this lament is too broad a generalization to apply to every scientist or engineer (many of whom are renowned communicators), it is sufficiently incriminating that it should concern many of us.  Limited written and verbal communication skills can severely hinder professional growth in management or in engineering.  For example, a survey of California businesses indicated that effective communication skills were among the most significant factors in moving men to top management positions.  A recent study of over 2,000 executives concluded that communication was the most significant factor in influencing promotions.  Another study reported that 80% of American businessmen place writing ability above all others on a list of business skills.  Unaccustomed as you may be to the daily need for formal communication, there is no question that attention to improving those skills will be an important, in fact essential ingredient of your future professional advancement.

24. Principles for Poor WritingIn a now-famous article for the January 1947 Scientific Monthly, Paul W. Merrill, former president of the American Astronomical Society, remarked “Poor writing is so common that every educated person ought to know something about it.  Many scientists actually do write poorly, but they probably perform by ear without perceiving clearly how their results are achieved.”  In this entertaining article, Merrill goes on to establish three essential principles of POOR writing.   These principles are worth repeating here: • Ignore the Reader.  It is desirable to write as if for a diary, thinking only of the subject.  (If you worry about the reader, he complicates the picture.)  The title should mean something to you; but if it baffles or misleads the reader, “you have won the first round.” One good way to keep your facts and ideas all on the same level of emphasis, without any tell-tale hints of relative importance or logical sequence, is to use long sentences containing many ideas loosely strung together.  For this purpose AND is a better connective than BECAUSE or the semicolon.  Disguise transitions in thought.  “Hidden antecedents” (pronouns that refer to nouns a long way back, or to nouns decidedly subordinate in thought or syntax, or to something not directly expressed) are wonderfully effective for confusing the sponsor.  Avoid parallel constructions that give the thought away too easily.  Omit a few items that most readers need to know.  “You had to discover these tings the hard way; why make it easy for the reader?”

25. Be Verbose, Vague, and Pompous.  Being specific ties you down.  Use plenty of deadwood, including superfluous words and phrases, flowery and inexact adjectives, and abstract nouns for razzle-dazzle.  Instead of saying “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” how much better to write:  “In the case of Caesar it might well be considered appropriate from a moral or ethical point view to render to that potentate all of those goods and materials of whatever character or quality which can be shown to have had their original source in any portion of the domain of the latter.”  And isn’t this rich, beautiful prose:  “Well for us that the pulsing energy of the great life-giving dynamo in the sky never ceases.  Well, too, that we are at a safe distance from the flame-licked whirlpools into which our earth might drop like a pellet of waste fluff shaken into the live coals of a grate fire.” • Do not revise.  Write hurriedly, “preferably when tired.”  If you have no plan and write down items as they occur to you, your report will be spontaneous.  If you hand in your manuscript the moment it is finished, you don’t have to re-read it a few days later.  “If you submit your manuscript to colleagues (a bad practice), pay no attention to their criticisms or comments.  Later, resist firmly any editorial suggestions.  Be strong and infallible; don’t let anyone break down your personality.  The critic may be trying to help you, or he may have an ulterior motive, but the chance of his causing improvement in your writing is so great that you must be on your guard.” • One of the most common abuses of language among engineers is Merrill’s second principle—the use of verbose, vague, and pompous language.  There is a tendency among engineers to overuse technical jargon.  Jargon is composed of three distinct language types:

26. Confused or unintelligible language (some forms of outrageous modern slang, for instance) • Technical terminology or idioms • Obscure-pretentious language and phraseology • Each type of jargon should be avoided in formal written communication, and carefully screened even in informal writing.  For example, if acronyms are used at all, they should be carefully defined the first time the reader sees them, and their subsequent use should be kept to a minimum.   Avoid creating new jargon by turning nouns into verbs, or by inadequately defining words with more than one correct use and form. • Jargon does not always involve the use of acronyms, obscure technical terms, or ill-constructed noun forms.  Jargon can also be associated with pretentious word selections; a preference for “utilize” instead of “use” for example, or “at the current time” instead of “now.”  There is no better way of saying something than to say it directly, and large or pompous words, while effective if used properly, frequently hinder the reader’s understanding of your message.

28. REFERENCES • REFERENCES • 1. Tattersall, I., Once we were not alone. Scientific • American, 282, 1, 38-44 (2000). • 2. Jensen, H.P., Strategic planning for the education • process in the next century. Global J. of Engng • Educ., 4, 1, 35-42 (2000). • 3. Grünwald, N., Quo vadis German engineering • education. Proc. 2nd Asia-Pacific Forum on • Engineering Technology Education, Sydney, • Australia, 371-374 (1999). • 4. Professional Writing Seminar for Engineers, • http://www.ecf.toronto.edu/%7Ewriting/ • prowriting.http • 5. Kitao, K., Why do we teach English? The • Internet TESL Journal, 2, 4, 1-3 (1996),

29. MADE BY FRIDOLIN MICHEL SAAMAGO