Your audience in engineering

Engineers usually write for readers who have a definite interest in what they have to say. Research and design in engineering never take place in isolation; these activities occur in universities, private industry, and government.

Sometimes your readers will be other engineers and decision makers working in your team or in other groups in your organization; they will expect you to provide a high level of technical detail and to use specialized vocabulary. They need to be able to replicate your work and confirm the results. Sometimes your audience will be a corporate client outside your organization in industry or government. Or your audience might be public-policy decision makers or the general public.

Some of these audiences might not have your level of technical expertise, so your writing must be accessible and clear, with a minimum of technical language and jargon. For example, if you are writing a proposal to win a contract for your company or to receive funding for a project, your proposal will have to be written appropriately for an audience consisting of both specialists and nonspecialists.

When you write in engineering courses, keep in mind that you are learning to write for readers who probably have not done the study, research, or design work that you have done. When writing a report, for example, you will write for a reader who was not present in the laboratory or in the field. Even though your professor is in the laboratory with you, always describe your research and experimentation process carefully and thoroughly as if he or she is not familiar with your process. Add spreadsheets, drawings, plates, or illustrations to help your readers visualize your findings.

Checklist for assessing the writing situation

Approaching assignments in the disciplines