Jan. 15 - March 21
March 21 - May 16
April 21 - May 14 (added April 28)
Devils Lake Project
Writing and Project Management Tips
Online Resources
- Website for textbook
- Communicating as a Mechanical Engineers
- JobStar
- Rhetoric for Engineers by Ron Graham
Engineering Jokes
Email me more sites!
Sample Technical Reports
- Water Quality Report (long and formal)
- Samples from the Online Technical Writing Textbook (shorter, more informal)
Writing Guidelines
Preparing
Reports, Instruction Manuals, and Brochures
This guide is really comprehensive, and might be useful for Unit 4 and
Unit 5 assignments as well. Be sure to check out the links to "style-o-rama"
and "design-o-rama" as well.
Online
Technical Writing Textbook
I have linked to the Recommendation Report section of this online textbook.
You can use the forms available, or simply read and use the information
in a way that makes sense to you. Be sure to read about the similarities
of feasibility reports, recommendation reports, and evaluation reports.
If your group finds itself making an "evaluation" of the State
Water Commission's plan, and a "recommendation" about the US
Army Corps of Engineer plans, that is fine and makes perfect sense. Lots
of examples provided here, many of which will be relevant for Unit 5 assignments.
Technical
Writing: A Short Course on Writing Technical Reports
This clear, concise, well-illustrated web site is a must read for the
Devils Lake project (great tips about writing and designing reports),
and a possible model for your "very short guide to technical communication,"
the last assignment of the course. Web site by Nancy Halligan.
Kenneth Verhulst, a teacher in Michigan, put this PowerPoint presenation online. His assignment is less ambitious than ours, and his outline is a little simplistic, but his advice is solid.
Project Management
The Treasury Board of Canada has an extensive Project Management Guide online. While providing more information than we need, it does contain a good visual guide to Project Management, and it breaks down a variety of roles that are typical in PM.
The Project Management Institute is a clearninghouse of information for Project Management professionals. Take a look around if PM interests you as a professional goal.
Cybergrrl's web designer provides some very straight-forward, easy to read tips for Project Management.
Michael Greer offers more of a corporate take on Project Management, but again, some great tips here. Lots of additional, relevant information.