engineering communication in the Challenger accident

ENGRC 3350 (Communications for Engineering Managers) focuses on case studies of communication in engineering organizations, which often explore the interplay between good communication practices, differing perspectives, and technical understanding (e.g., understanding what Diane Vaughan calls "risky technologies"). A particularly insightful and well constructed exploration is offered by Karan Bhatia, Jeremy Cohen, Ian Delwiche, Jessica Wu, and Jack Zhou in their fall 2012 progress report and talk slides.

about EW

This site for student engineering writing, sponsored by the Engineering Communications Program, examines how writing, talking, and visual design relate to engineering work. Whether producing specifications, blueprints, code, reports, or slide decks, engineering students give shape to what they know and communicate that knowledge to others. Engineering Words celebrates the diverse ways in which engineers use language, and the diverse languages (words, images, and mathematics) they use.

submitting work

We seek a wide range of technical communications, including reports, articles, manuals, specifications, memoranda, presentation slides, conference posters, websites, and so forth, from students in all engineering fields. Typically, the work is done for an ECP course or for a writing-intensive course in which students worked with ECP instructors.

The work must identify the author(s), the purpose of the work (e.g., course for which produced), and the date on which the work was produced.

Work can be nominated by an instructor in the Engineering Communications Program or be submitted by the student or students who did the work. All nominations and submissions are subject to the approval of Engineering Words' editor, who may edit the work for publication. Work must be submitted electronically to EngrWords@cornell.edu or to sa258@cornell.edu.

Students who submit work directly must include a release form. If the work is a group effort, all students who did the work must sign the release form. Instructors who nominate students collect release forms from the students.