This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

It seems almost unfair that those who do not have this book should have to compete with those who have it and use it. How to win government contracts gives its readers an advantage in the proposal writing arena.

In the Fall 1982 semester, engineering report writing was integrated into the structure of a junior-level electrical engineering course at Howard University. The required homework consisted of engineering reports instead of the traditional textbook problem sets. A follow-up analysis of grades on examinations, on reports, and in later courses showed that (1) student understanding of engineering subject matter was not compromised by the course structure; (2) writing skills improved over the course of the semester; and (3) the correlation of student writing skills to problem-solving skills was approximately 0.5.

The authors investigate the reasons for the existing university-industry written communication gap and suggest ways for bridging it. Most university programs do not adequately help students with technical communications. Consequently, the new engineer, when hired, will have the burden of overcoming the gap of technical writing apart from other important engineering tasks. Industry and university should cooperate in helping new engineers with this important facet of their careers. A first action could be to supplement the college-level curriculum with courses on technical writing, documentation, editing, and the use of new communication systems based on real industry requirements. These courses, which could be continued in industry in the form of seminars, help from senior peers, and the publication department, along with personal efforts, would enable young engineers to comprehend the basic principles that help in writing effective reports and proposals in the real engineering world.

WE are pleased to introduce a joint special issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION. The topic is Developing the Ability to Communicate, and the focus is on the engineering student.

A series of team reporting projects is used to teach concepts of audience and communication skills in technical and professional communication courses at the Univ. of Texas at Arlington. Supplemental to conventional reporting assignments, the projects range from short exercises done in a single class period to extended out-of-class projects involving both a literature review and primary research. In each, students work in small, interdisciplinary groups to solve a problem, prepare a team-written report, and deliver an oral presentation. Short exercises are graded by the instructor; the more extensive reporting projects are graded by peers and by the instructor using evaluation checklists.

THE ergonomics of word processings suggestions for teaching writing in the classroom and workplace, systems for improving technical reporting, and mathematics editing are discussed in this issue.

If you're in technical publishing or thinking about getting into it, you'll find much useful information in this book. The publisher bills it as “the first book about technical publishing that takes over where the ‘report writing guides’ end, taking you through the rest of the publication cycle to the printed page.” The author (president of a firm specializing in producing technical manuals for clients) presents a good overview of the entire publishing cycle.

At the University of Akron, mechanical engineering students learn technical communication skills in their senior laboratory course. Experiments are designed to allow role-playing by both student and instructor, so that work is conducted and findings are presented within hypothetical contexts of realistic interactions between industrial firms and their clients. Through role-playing, students learn to analyze an audience and to state objectives clearly. Role-playing reinforces the realistic training students receive in cooperative education programs by allowing them to experience the pressures of professional communication responsibilities. It also narrows the gap between classroom and industry by focusing students' attention on the results and organizational implications of their work as well as on theory and method.

Beginning writers must start somewhere, and Schmidt's text provides an excellent starting point. For the professional or the student recently assigned to write a report, Creating the technical report is clear, concise, easy to read, and extremely practical.

A good technical report can have an important effect on a wide range of people. Here are some techniques to help you prepare, choose a suitable structure, provide the right amount of information in the right places, and make your points with clarity. An informal style — using “I” and “we,” for example — is acceptable for technical reports and publications. To improve your writing, read good writing by others and invite criticism of your own; practice is important.

Hatch directs Business Writing to “business-communication instructors who wish to emphasize principles of writing as they apply to letters, memos, and reports” and Business communication: theory and practice to “business-communication instructors who wish to base their writing instruction on the psychological principles of communication.” The only difference in the content of the two texts is that Business Communication has an additional 46 page section on communication theory. These texts, identical in every other way except the binding, are strong texts that merit serious consideration for upper-division business writing courses, especially courses that emphasize correspondence rather than reports.

This collection is a project of the Committee on Technical and Scientific Communication of the National Council of Teachers of English and is designed for teachers of technical and business writing at two-year institutions. However, instructors at four-year institutions also will find much here that is informative and useful.

Writing skill is an important element in engineering success. To supplement engineering curricula that provide little help in developing writing ability, this article describes ten steps in report writing that apply to research reports, operation manuals, proposals, and feasibility studies. The steps are (1) analyze your audience; (2) classify the report; (3) design the report; (4) do the research; (5) write a rough draft of the body of the report; (6) write a conclusions section; (7) write an introduction; (8) write an executive summary or abstract; (9) revise the report; and (10) add missing elements.

In the foreword to this book, Francis Weeks, Executive Director of the American Business Communication Association, says, “This book has been needed for a long time — since 1935, at least, when ABCA was founded.” The publication of this volume does indeed fill a void and will be welcomed by ABCA members and by any professional communicator with an interest in consulting.

Subtle errors in the use of English are described in the context of business and professional communication. For example, words misused are “impact,” “appraise,” “advise,” and “only.” Overused are “very,” “highly,” and “would like.” Other examples are given of imprecise phrasing, redundancy, and misplaced commas.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3800 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3800 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

THE third-quarter 1984 issues of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION will have a jointly prepared set of papers on education for communication from both the academic and the industrial points of view.

For some of us, the chore of writing about our research activities is about as exciting as cleaning out the garage or attic; it is an anticlimactic journey into the past, filled with difficult decisions. Thus, any new tool that might make the job easier deserves careful attention. Herbert Michaelson's How to write and publish engineering papers and reports may not convince engineers that report writing should be their favorite sport, but it will help them produce and publish effective manuscripts. That's no small accomplishment.

The technical report and proposal are strategic documents that must cogently define, rationalize, and sell their high-technology products in the world of competitive procurement. Because these documents are created by group authorship, there is a need to coordinate the multiple engineer-authors, provide them with strategy information, and help them develop arguments that justify their design approaches. Conventional methods of subject outlining, trial-and-error writing, and post-manuscript reviewing do not cope with these needs. The Stop (Sequential Thematic Organization of Proposals) technique applies five principles to solve this problem: It (1) recognizes the passage unit of discourse to gain expository-descriptive coherence; (2) uses the essay (with thesis sentence) to enhance strategic discussion; (3) restricts outlining to establishing topical architecture and introduces prewriting (via storyboards) to discover and exercise argument, explanation, and visualization; (4) uses pre-reviewing (via real-time, walk-through group dynamics) to permit team/corporate review of the story plan prior to manuscript drafting; and (5) stresses group writing to infuse both the marketing and the technical strategy and design approach into the document. Twenty years of applying STOP has shown it to be a thoroughly practical system, even though intellectually demanding and unforgiving of lazy writing. This paper reviews the principles, practices (including misconceptions), and lessons of STOP as developed, refined, and learned during those years.

Since World War II, proposal writing, especially that which involves government funding, has become one of the most important communicative functions of the industries that employ engineers and technical writers. An immense literature on the subject of how to prepare, write, and submit proposals has grown up in the last 25 years. The 80-item bibliography provided here is designed to help the engineer, the technical writer, and the engineering manager find and use the literature most appropriate and helpful in the overlapping realms of industry and government. The bibliography lists sources of information under the topics of education, evaluation, format and preparation, general, grantsmanship, management, and style and rhetoric. The precis provide a general guide to each of these topics; occasional annotations supplement this information.

When the first editions of these two books appeared, I thought they were significant because of their unique format and content. As the authors suggest in the preface, the books can serve both students and practicing professionals equally well. I have used them in the college classroom; in short courses presented to scientists, engineers, and business people; and in the corporate writing-editing environment where I now work. These books are, as they promise, useful to every reader concerned with clear and effective communication.

Roy Poe redefines the “business report” not only to focus on those research reports of traditional business-report writing texts but also to concentrate on “shorter, day-to-day communications.” As Poe explains, most business writers misunderstand their own writing. “Just about every written communication is a report. It might be as simple as a while-you-were-out telephone message or as complex as a 200-page analysis of marketing strategy,” he begins. As he continues to investigate the problems business writers face, he dismisses the discrete categories so popular with most texts: progress reports, information reports, analytical reports, investigative reports, research reports. These, he claims, may all be parts of the same report. As Poe summarizes, “Any time you transmit facts, opinions, proposals, or recommendations, you are reporting.” Beginning with this concept of all written work as “reporting,” Poe tackles the questions any writer must answer before writing successfully.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3800 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

THE third-quarter 1984 issues of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION will have a jointly prepared set of papers on education for communication from both the academic and the industrial points of view.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3800 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

WHEN I wrote the call for papers for this issue, I had in mind papers from the in-house publishing operations that produce technical reports and other documents for industrial organizations. What I received was a surprising assortment of ideas for getting the job done, primarily getting engineers to write.

To increase general readers' understanding and sympathy for scientific and technical subject matter, authors need a literary form that allows the material to be effectively related to common human experience. The imposing formality of scientific papers and technical reports must yield to the organic form and rhetorical richness of the personal essay. Stephen Jay Gould's essay “Of Bamboos, Cicadas, and the Economy of Adam Smith” demonstrates how the use of organic form and rhetorical techniques like examples, analogies, metaphors, historical background, and general personalism can enhance communication with nonspecialists. Excellence in essay writing is achieved only through careful planning, writing, and rewriting, but effective interpretation of science and technology for the intelligent general reader is worth the effort.

Four keys to good writing are (1) plan and outline (2) consider the reader, (3) use short sentences and simple words, and (4) be critical of your writing. In the planning stage you should not hurry, Once an outline is written, you should put it aside for at least a few hours — after which the writing will be easier than anticipated. In considering the reader you must remember that readers are interested in information that is brief and interestingly told. Long sentences (over 25 words) are difficult to grasp; short sentences (10 to 15 words) are easier to understand. Finally, when composing a letter, critically evaluate it to ensure that it is courteous, brief, helpful, and friendly.

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

THERE are four forms of writing: exposition, which informs the reader by presenting facts and figures; description, which helps the reader visualize an idea or situation; narration, which tells a chronological story; and persuasion, which tries to convince the reader to accept the writer's perspective. Most writing is predominantly one of these forms. Proposal writing may require all four forms. Perhaps this explains why many proposals are not effective.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

Chart your course for Boston on October 13–15th and you'll be navigating toward career improvement. You can get your competitive edge ship shape in both written and oral communication by signing aboard the good ship 1982 Conference, operated by PCS under the IEEE flag.

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

Verbosity matters. Baffled readers may interpret verbosity as an attempt to impress, or to mask ignorance. Clear, effective language is essential to technical work. If technical language doesn't provide understandability, explain a concept less precisely in plain English. Spoken language is generally simpler than written language; use it as a guide. Make each word justify its existence. Ask yourself whether you'd read your own writing if it showed up on your desk.

This Transactions is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

Writing effective business letters and memos is a learnable skill and requires a simple, direct approach. Included are 20 tips for making your writing easier to read and understand.

Students in engineering courses can learn technical writing skills without having to spend large amounts of valuable class time. Given design-project handouts that contain a problem statement and a list of design specifications, students are asked to solve the problem and they are expected to write a report that includes a title page, abstract, table of contents, introduction, body, conclusion, and reference list. Handouts, which are provided at the beginning of the project, are models of the technical reports the students are expected to prepare.