technical problem-solving and communication skills · technical problem-solving and communication...

Technical Problem-Solvingand Communication Skills

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa YILMAZ

• Many times in a design process, engineers are asked to estimatequantities rather than finding an exact value.

• They must answer a number of questions often in the face ofuncertainty and incomplete information:

• About how strong?• Approximately how heavy?• Roughly how much power?• Around what temperature?

• Also, exact values for material properties are never known; sothere always will be some variation between samples of materials.

Professional Practice

• For these reasons, mechanical engineers need to be comfortablemaking approximations in order to assign numerical values toquantities that are otherwise unknown.

• They use their• common sense,• experience,• intuition, and• knowledge of physical lawsto find answers through a process called order-of-magnitudeapproximation.


• The ability to effectively communicate the results of a calculationto others is a critical skill mechanical engineers must possess.

• Obtaining the answer to a technical question is only half of anengineer’s task; the other half involves describing the result toothers in a• clear,• accurate, and• convincing manner.

• Other engineers must be able to understand your calculations andwhat you did.

• They must be able to respect your work and have confidence thatyou solved the problem correctly.


• The importance of communication and problem-solving skills for

an engineering professional cannot be underestimated.

• Effectively designed systems can be destroyed during operation

by the

• smallest error in analysis,

• units, or

• dimension.


• We can learn much from past

examples of these kinds of errors,

including the total loss of the Mars

Climate Orbiter spacecraft in 1999.

• This spacecraft weighed some 1387

pounds and was part of a $125-

million interplanetary exploration

program.

Engineering Faults

• The Mars Climate Orbiter Mishap Investigation Board found thatthe primary problem was a units error that occurred wheninformation was transferred between two teams collaborating onthe spacecraft’s operation and navigation.

• Although one team needed for the rocket engine’s thrust to steerthe spacecraft and make changes to its velocity in the units ofnewton-seconds, which are the standard units in the InternationalSystem of Units, another team reported numerical values withoutindicating the dimensions, and the data were mistakenlyinterpreted as being given in the units of pound-seconds, which arethe standard units in the United States Customary System.

• This error resulted in the main engine’s effect on the spacecraft’strajectory being underestimated by a factor of 4.45, which isprecisely the conversion factor between Newtons and pounds.

Engineering Faults

• In another example of the potentially disastrous consequences ofunit errors, in July of 1983 Air Canada Flight 143 was unroutedfrom Montreal to Edmonton.

• The Boeing 767 had three fuel tanks, one in each wing and one inthe fuselage, which supplied the plane’s two jet engines.

• After a thorough investigation, a review board determined thatone of the important factors behind the accident was a refuelingerror in which the quantity of fuel that should have been added tothe tanks was incorrectly calculated.

Engineering Faults

The flight crew was fortunately able to land the plane safely, narrowly missing race cars

and spectators on the runway who had gathered that day for amateur auto racing.

Engineering Faults

• Before takeoff, it was determined that 7682 liters (L) of fuel were

already in the plane’s tanks.

• However, fuel consumption of the new 767s was being calculated

in kilograms, and the airplane needed 22,300 kilograms (kg) of fuel

to fly from Montreal to Edmonton.

• In addition, the airline had been expressing the amount of fuel

needed for each flight in the units of pounds (lb).

• As a result, fuel was being measured by volume (L), weight (lb),

and mass (kg) in two different systems of units.

Engineering Faults

• In the refueling calculations, the conversion factor of 1.77 was used

to convert the volume of fuel (L) to mass (kg), but the units

associated with that number were not explicitly stated or checked.

• Therefore, 1.77 was assumed to mean 1.77 kg/L (the density of jet

fuel). But, the correct density of jet fuel is 1.77 lb/L, not 1.77 kg/L.

• As a result of the miscalculation, roughly 9,000 L instead of 16,000 L

of fuel were added to the plane. As Flight 143 took off for western

Canada, it was well short of the fuel required for the trip.

• The proper accounting of units does not have to be difficult, but it

is critical to professional engineering practice.

Engineering Faults

• Over the years and across such industries as those described inCh1, engineers have developed a reputation for paying attentionto details and getting their answers right.

• The public gives its trust to the products that engineers designand build. That respect is based in part on confidence that theengineering has been done properly.

• Engineers expect one another to present technical work in amanner that is well documented and convincing.

General Technical Problem-Solving Approach

• Among other tasks, engineers perform calculations that are used tosupport decisions about a product’s design encompassing• forces,• pressures,• temperatures,• materials,• power requirements, and other factors.

• The results of those calculations are used to make decisions—sometimes having substantial financial implications for acompany—about what form a design should take or how a productwill be manufactured.


• Decisions of that nature can quite literally cost or save a companymillions of dollars, and so it is important that the decisions aremade for the right reason.

• When an engineer offers a recommendation, people depend on itbeing correct.


• With that perspective in mind, while your calculations must clearlymake sense to you, they must also make sense to others who want to• read,• understand, and• learn from your work—but not necessarily decipher it.

• If another engineer is unable to follow your work, it could be• ignored and viewed as being confusing,• incomplete, or• even wrong.

• Good problem-solving skills— writing clearly and documenting eachstep of a calculation—include not only getting the answer correct,but also communicating it to others convincingly.


• You should view your solutions as a type of technical report thatdocuments your approach and explains your results in a formatthat can be followed and understood by others.

• By developing and presenting a systematic solution, you willreduce the chance of having common—but preventable—mistakescreep into your work.

• Errors involving• algebra,• dimensions,• units,• conversion factors, and• misinterpretation of a problem statementcan be kept to a minimum by paying attention to the details.


• The intent of this step is to make sure that you have a plan ofattack in mind for solving the problem.

• This is an opportunity to think about the problem up front beforeyou start crunching numbers and putting pencil to paper.

• Write a short summary of the problem and explain the generalapproach that you plan to take, and list the• major concepts,• assumptions,• equations, and• conversion factors that you expect to use.

• Making the proper set of assumptions is critical to solving theproblem accurately.

General Technical Problem Solving - Approach

• For example, if gravity is assumed to be present, then the weight ofall the components in the problem may need to be accounted for.

• Similarly, if friction is assumed present, then the equations mustaccount for it.

• In most analysis problems, engineers have to make importantassumptions about many key parameters including gravity, friction,distribution of applied forces, stress concentrations, materialinconsistencies, and operating uncertainties.

• By stating these assumptions, identifying the given information,and summarizing the knowns and unknowns, the engineer fullydefines the scope of the problem.

• By being clear about the objective, you are able to disregardunnecessary information and focus on solving the problemefficiently.

General Technical Problem Solving - Approach

• Your solution to an engineering analysis problem will generallyinclude text and diagrams along with your calculations to explainthe major steps that you are taking.

• If appropriate, you should include a simplified drawing of thephysical system being analyzed, label the major components, andlist numerical values for relevant dimensions.

• In the course of your solution, and as you manipulate equationsand perform calculations, it is good practice to solve for theunknown variable symbolically before inserting numerical valuesand units.

• In that manner, you can verify the dimensional consistency of theequation.

General Technical Problem Solving - Solution

• When you substitute a numerical value into an equation, be sureto include the units as well.

• At each point in the calculation, you should explicitly show theunits associated with each numerical value, and the manner inwhich the dimensions are canceled or combined.

• A number without a unit is meaningless, just as a unit ismeaningless without a numerical value assigned to it.

• At the end of the calculation, present your answer using theappropriate number of significant digits, but keep more digits inthe intermediate calculations to prevent round-off errors fromaccumulating.

General Technical Problem Solving - Solution

• This final step must always be addressed because it demonstrates an

understanding of the assumptions, equations, and solutions.

• First, you must use your intuition to determine whether the answer’s order of

magnitude seems reasonable.

• Second, you must evaluate your assumptions to make sure they are reasonable.

• Third, identify the major conclusion that you are able to draw from the solution,

and explain what your answer means from a physical standpoint.

• Of course, you should always double-check the calculations and make sure that

they are dimensionally consistent.

• Finally, underline, circle, or box your final result so that there is no uncertainty

about the answer that you are reporting.

• Putting this process into practice with repeated success requires an

understanding of dimensions, units, and the primary unit systems.

General Technical Problem Solving - Discussion

• Engineers specify physical quantities in different—butconventional— systems of units: the United States CustomarySystem (USCS) of weights and measures is derived from BritishImperial System and the International System of Units (SI).

• Practicing mechanical engineers must be conversant with bothsystems.

• They need to convert quantities from one system to the other, andthey must be able to perform calculations equally well in eithersystem.

Unit Systems and Conversions

• Given some perspective from the Mars Climate Orbiter’s loss andthe emergency landing of the Air Canada flight on the importanceof units and their accounting, we now turn to the specifics of theUSCS and SI.

• A unit is defined as an arbitrary division of a physical quantity,which has a magnitude that is agreed on by mutual consent. Boththe USCS and SI are made up of base units and derived units.

• A base unit is a fundamental quantity that cannot be brokendown further or expressed in terms of any simpler elements.

• Base units are independent of one another, and they form thecore building blocks of any unit system.

Base and Derived Units

• As an example, the base unit for length is the meter (m) in the SIand the foot (ft) in the USCS.

• Derived units, as their name implies, are combinations orgroupings of several base units.

• An example of a derived unit is velocity (length/time), which is acombination of the base units for length and time.

• The liter (which is equivalent to 0.001 m3) is a derived unit forvolume in the SI.

• Likewise, the mile (which is equivalent to 5280 ft) is a derived unitfor length in the USCS.

• Unit systems generally have relatively few base units and a muchlarger set of derived units.

Base and Derived Units

• In an attempt to standardize the different systems of measurementaround the world, in 1960 the International System of Units wasnamed as the measurement standard structured around the sevenbase units.

• In addition to the mechanical quantities of meters, kilograms, andseconds, the SI includes base units for measuring electric current,temperature, the amount of substance, and light intensity.

• The SI is colloquially referred to as the metric system, and itconveniently uses powers of ten for multiples and divisions of units.

International System of Units

• The base units in the SI are today defined by detailed internationalagreements.

• However, the units’ definitions have evolved and changed slightlyas measurement technologies have become more precise.

• The meter was originally intended to be equivalent to one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian passing from the northernpole, through Paris, and ending at the equator (namely, one-quarter of the Earth’s circumference).

• Later, the meter was defined as the length of a bar that was madefrom a platinum-iridium metal alloy.


• Copies of the bar, which are called prototype meters, weredistributed to governments and laboratories around the world,and the bar’s length was always measured at the temperature ofmelting water ice.

• The meter’s definition has been updated periodically to make theSI’s length standard more robust and repeatable, all the whilechanging the actual length by as little as possible.

• As of October 20, 1983, the meter is defined as the length of thepath traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of1/299,792,458 of a second, which in turn is measured to highaccuracy by an atomic clock.


• In a similar vein, at the end of the eighteenth century, the kilogramwas defined as the mass of 1000 cm3 of water.

• Today, the kilogram is determined by the mass of a physical samplethat is called the standard kilogram, and like the previously usedprototype meter, it is also made of platinum and iridium.

• Although the meter is today based on a reproducible measurementinvolving the speed of light and time, the kilogram is not.

• The Kelvin (abbreviated K without the degree (°) symbol) is basedon the triple point of pure water, which is a special combination ofpressure and temperature where water can exist as a solid, liquid,or gas.

• Similar fundamental definitions have been established for theampere, mole, and candela.


• The newton (N) is a derived unit for force, and it is named after the British physicist

Sir Isaac Newton.

• His second law of motion, F = ma, states that the force F acting on an object is

equivalent to the product of its mass m and acceleration a.

• The newton is therefore defined as the force that imparts an acceleration of one

meter per second per second to an object having a mass of one kilogram:

• The base unit kelvin (K), and the derived units joule (J), pascal (Pa), watt (W), and

other that are named after individuals are not capitalized, although their

abbreviations are.


A few of the derived units used in the SI

Derived Units

• Base and derived units in the SI are often combined with a prefix sothat a physical quantity’s numerical value does not have a power-of-ten exponent that is either too large or too small.

• Use a prefix to shorten the representation of a numerical value andto reduce an otherwise excessive number of trailing zero digits inyour calculations.

• For example, modern wind turbines are now producing over7,000,000 W of power. Because it is cumbersome to write so manytrailing zeroes, engineers prefer to condense the powers of ten byusing a prefix.

• In this case, we describe a turbine’s output as being over 7 MW(megawatt), where the prefix “mega” denotes a multiplicativefactor of 106.

• Good practice is not to use a prefix for any numerical value thatfalls between 0.1 and 1000.

Derived Units

The standard prefixes in the SI

Thus, the “deci,” “deca,” and “hecto” prefixes are rarely used in

mechanical engineering. Other conventions for manipulating

dimensions in the SI include the following:

1. If a physical quantity involves dimensions appearing in a fraction, a

prefix should be applied to the units appearing in the numerator

rather than the denominator. It is preferable to write kN/m in place of

N/mm. An exception to this convention is that the base unit kg can

appear in a dimension’s denominator.


2. Placing a dot or hyphen between units that are adjacent in anexpression is a good way to keep them visually separated. Forinstance, in expanding a newton into its base units, engineers write(kg . m)/s2 instead of kgm/s2. An even worse practice would be towrite mkg/s2, which is particularly confusing because the numeratorcould be misinterpreted as a milikilogram!3. Dimensions in plural form are not written with an “s” suffix.Engineers write 7 kg rather than 7 kgs because the trailing “s” couldbe misinterpreted to mean seconds.4. Except for abbreviations of derived units that are named afterindividuals and the abbreviation for liter, dimensions in the SI arewritten in lowercase.


• The use of the SI in the United States was legalized for commerceby the Congress in 1866. The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 lateroutlined voluntary conversion of the United States to the SI.

• The process of metrification in the United States has been a slowone, and, at least for the time being, the United States continuesto employ two systems of units: the SI and USCS.

• Most other industrialized countries have adopted the SI as theiruniform standard of measurement for business and commerce.

• Engineers practicing in the United States or in companies with U.S.affiliations need to be skillful with both the USCS and SI.

United States Customary System of Units

Why does the United States stand out in retaining the USCS?• The reasons are complex and involve economics, logistics, and culture.• The vast continent sized infrastructure already existing in the United States is

based on the USCS, and immediate conversion away from the current systemwould involve significant expense.

• Countless structures, factories, machines, and spare parts already have beenbuilt using USCS dimensions.

• That being noted, standardization to the SI in the United States is proceedingbecause of the need for companies to interact with, and compete against, theircounterparts in the international business community.

• Until such time as the United States has made a full transition to the SI (anddon’t hold your breath), it will be necessary—and indeed essential—for you tobe proficient in both unit systems.


seven base units in the USCS

• One of the major distinctions between the SI and USCS is thatmass is a base unit in the SI (kg), whereas force is a base unit in theUSCS (lb).

• It is also acceptable to refer to the pound as a pound-force withthe abbreviation lbf.

• Another distinction between the USCS and SI is that the USCSemploys two different dimensions for mass: the pound-mass andthe slug.

• The poundmass unit is abbreviated lbm. There is no abbreviationfor the slug, and so the full name is written out adjacent to anumerical value. It is also conventional to use the plural “slugs.”


• In mechanical engineering, the slug is the preferred unit forcalculations involving such quantities as gravitation, motion,momentum, kinetic energy, and acceleration.

• However, the poundmass is a more convenient dimension forengineering calculations involving the material, thermal, orcombustion properties of liquids, gases, and fuels.

• In the final analysis, however, the slug and pound-mass are simplytwo different derived units for mass.

• Because they are measures of the same physical quantity, they arealso closely related to one another.


• In terms of the USCS’s base units of pounds, seconds, and feet,the slug is defined as follows:1 slug = 1 lb.s2 / ft

• Referring to the second law of motion, one pound of force willaccelerate a one slug object at the rate of one foot per secondper second:1 lb = (1 slug) (1 ft/s2) = 1 slug.ft / s2 (3.3)

• On the other hand, the pound-mass is defined as the quantity ofmass that weighs one pound. One pound-mass will accelerate atthe rate of 32.174 ft/s2 when one pound of force acts on it:1 lbm = 1 lb / 32.174 ft/s2 = 3.1081 x 10-2 lb.s2/ft


• The numerical value of 32.174 ft/s2 is taken as the referenceacceleration because it is the Earth’s gravitational accelerationconstant. We see that the slug and pound-mass are related by1 slug=32.174 lbm 1 lbm=3.1081 x 10-2 slugs

• In short, the slug and pound-mass are both defined in terms of theaction of a one-pound force, but the reference acceleration for theslug is 1 ft/s2, and the reference acceleration is 32.174 ft/s2 for thepound-mass.

• By agreement among the measurement standards laboratories ofEnglish-speaking countries, 1 lbm is also equivalent to 0.45359237kg.


• Despite the fact that the pound-mass and pound denote differentphysical quantities (mass and force), they are often improperlyinterchanged.

• One reason for the confusion is the similarity of their names.• Another reason is related to the definition itself of the pound-mass:

a quantity of matter having a mass of 1 lbm also weighs 1 lb,assuming Earth’s gravity.

• By contrast, an object having a mass of 1 slug weighs 32.174 lb onEarth.

• Also note that the abbreviation for inch typically includes a periodto distinguish it from the word “in” within technical documents.


• A numerical value in one unit system can be transformed into anequivalent value in the other system by using unit conversionfactors.

• The conversion process requires changes made both to thenumerical value and to the dimensions associated with it.

• Regardless, the physical quantity remains unchanged, being madeneither larger nor smaller, since the numerical value and units aretransformed together.

Converting Between the SI and USCS

Conversion factors between some of the USCS and the SI quantities

Conversion Factors

In general terms, the procedure for converting between the twosystems is as follows:1. Write the given quantity as a number followed by its dimensions,which could involve a fractional expression such as kg/s or N/m.2. Identify the units desired in the final result.3. If derived units such as L, Pa, N, lbm, or mi are present in thequantity, you may find it necessary to expand them in terms of theirdefinitions and base units.

In the case of the pascal, for instance, we would writePa = N/m2= (1/m2) (kg.m/s2) = kg/m.s2

where we canceled the meter dimension algebraically.


4. Likewise, if the given quantity includes a prefix that is not

incorporated in the conversion factors, expand the quantity

according to the prefix definitions listed previously. The kiloNewton,

for instance, would be expanded as 1 kN = 1000 N.

5. Look up the appropriate conversion factor from previous Table,

and multiply or divide, as necessary, the given quantity by it.

6. Apply the rules of algebra to cancel dimensions in the calculation

and to reduce the units to the ones that you want in the final result.


• You cannot escape conversion between the USCS and SI, and youwill not find your way through the maze of mechanicalengineering without being proficient with both sets of units.

• The decision as to whether the USCS or SI should be used whensolving a problem will depend on how the information in thestatement is specified.

• If the information is given in the USCS, then you should solve theproblem and apply formulas using the USCS alone.

• Conversely, if the information is given in the SI, then formulasshould be applied using the SI alone.


• It is bad practice for you to take data given in the USCS, convert toSI, perform calculations in SI, and then convert back to USCS (orvice versa).

• The reason for this recommendation is twofold.• First, from the practical day-today matter of being a competent

engineer, you will need to be fluent in both the USCS and SI.• Furthermore, the additional steps involved when quantities

are converted from one system to another and back again arejust other opportunities for errors to creep into your solution.


• A significant digit is one that is known to be correct and reliable inthe light of inaccuracy that is present in the supplied information,any approximations that have been made along the way, and themechanics of the calculation itself.

• As a general rule, the last significant digit that you report in theanswer to a problem should have the same order of magnitude asthe last significant digit in the given data.

• It would be inappropriate to report more significant digits in theanswer than were given in the supplied information, since thatimplies that the output of a calculation is somehow more accuratethan the input to it.

Significant Digits

• The precision of a number is half as large as the place of the lastsignificant digit present in the number.

• The factor is one-half because the last digit of a number representsthe rounding off of the trailing digits, either higher or lower.

• For instance, suppose an engineer records in a design notebookthat the force acting on the bearing of a hard disk drive’s motorcaused by rotational imbalance is 43.01 mN.

• That statement means that the force is closer to 43.01 mN than itis to either 43.00 mN or 43.02 mN.

Precision

• The reported value of 43.01 mN and its number of significant digitsmean that the actual physical value of the force could lie anywherebetween 43.005 and 43.015 mN.

• The precision of the numerical value is ±0.005 mN, the variationthat could be present in the force reading and still result in arounded-off value of 43.01 mN.

• Even when we write 43.00 mN, a numerical value that has twotrailing zeros, four significant digits are present, and the impliedprecision remains ±0.005 mN.

Precision

Precision

• Likewise, you can see how some uncertainty arises when aquantity such as 200 lb is reported.

• On the one hand, the value could mean that the measurementwas made only within the nearest 100 pounds, meaning that theactual magnitude of the force is closer to 200 lb than to either 100lb or 300 lb.

• On the other hand, the value could mean that the force is indeed200 lb, and not 199 lb or 201 lb, and that the real value liessomewhere between 199.5 lb and 200.5 lb.

• Either way, it’s vague to write a quantity such as 200 lb withoutgiving some other indication as to the precision of the number.

Precision

• As a general rule, during the intermediate steps of a calculation,retain several more significant digits than you expect to report inthe final answer.

• In that manner, rounding errors will not creep into your solution,compound along the way, and distort the final answer.

• When the calculation is complete, you can always truncate thenumerical value to a reasonable number of significant digits.

• Recognizing engineering approximations and limits onmeasurements, though, report your answers to only foursignificant digits.

Precision

• You should be aware of the misleading sense of accuracy that is

offered by the use of calculators and computers.

• While a calculation certainly can be performed to eight or more

significant digits, nearly all dimensions, material properties, and

other physical parameters encountered in mechanical engineering

are known to far fewer digits.

• Although the computation itself might be very accurate, the input

data that is supplied to calculations will rarely have the same level

of accuracy.

Precision

• When you apply equations of mathematics, science, orengineering, the calculations must be dimensionally consistent.

• Dimensional consistency means that the units associated with thenumerical values on each side of an equality sign match.

• Likewise, if two terms are combined in an equation by summation,or if they are subtracted from one another, the two quantitiesmust have the same dimensions.

• This principle is a straightforward means to double-check youralgebraic and numerical work.

Dimensional Consistency

• In paper-and-pencil calculations, keep the units adjacent to eachnumerical quantity in an equation so that they can be combined orcanceled at each step in the solution.

• You can manipulate dimensions just as you would any otheralgebraic quantity.

• By using the principle of dimensional consistency, you can double-check your calculation and develop greater confidence in itsaccuracy.

• Of course, the result could be incorrect for a reason other thandimensions.


• Nevertheless, performing a double check on the units in anequation is always a good idea.

• The principle of dimensional consistency can be particularly usefulwhen you perform calculations involving mass and force in theUSCS.

• The principle of dimensional consistency will help you to make theproper choice of mass units in the USCS.

• Generally speaking, the slug is the preferred unit for calculationsinvolving Newton’s second law (F=ma), kinetic energy (½mv2),momentum (mv), gravitational potential energy (mgh), and othermechanical quantities.


• In the earlier stages of design, engineers nearly always make

approximations when they solve technical problems.

• In the later stages of a design process, engineers certainly make

precise calculations as they solve technical problems.

• Engineers are comfortable making reasonable approximations so

that their mathematical models are as simple as possible, while

leading to a result that is accurate enough for the task at hand.

• Approximations are also made to remove extraneous factors that

complicate the problem but that otherwise have little influence on

a final result.

Estimation in Engineering

• Given that some imperfections and uncertainty are alwayspresent in real hardware, engineers often make order-of-magnitude estimates.

• Early in the design process, for instance, order-of-magnitudeapproximations are used to evaluate potential design options fortheir feasibility.

• Some examples are estimating the weight of a structure or theamount of power that a machine produces or consumes.

• Those estimates, made quickly, are helpful to focus ideas andnarrow down the options available for a design before significanteffort has been put into figuring out details.


• Engineers make order-of-magnitude estimates while fully aware

of the approximations involved and recognizing that reasonable

approximations are going to be necessary to reach an answer.

• In fact, the term “order of magnitude” implies that the quantities

considered in the calculation (and the ultimate answer) are

accurate to perhaps a factor of 10.

• The estimate also provides a starting point for any subsequent,

and presumably more detailed, calculations that a mechanical

engineer would need to make.


• Calculations of this type are educated estimates, admittedly

imperfect and imprecise, but better than nothing.

• Order-of-magnitude estimates are made when engineers in a

design process begin assigning numerical values to dimensions,

weights, material properties, temperatures, pressures, and other

parameters.


• We began this chapter with a case study involving NASA’s loss of an

interplanetary weather satellite.

• While the Mars Climate Orbiter Mishap Investigation Board found

that the main cause of the spacecraft’s loss was the improper

conversion of the engine’s impulse between the USCS and SI,

• Another contributing factor was inadequate communication

between the individuals and teams who were cooperating on the

spacecraft’s mission.

Communication Skills in Engineering

• Stereotypes notwithstanding, engineering is a social endeavor.• It is not carried out by people working alone in offices and

laboratories.• By the nature of their work, engineers interact daily with other

engineers, customers, business managers, marketing staff, andmembers of the public.

• However, the abilities to work with others, collaborate on a team,and convey technical information in written and verbal formatscan distinguish one employee from another.

• For instance, a survey of over 1000 chief financial officers fromUnited States companies found that interpersonal skills,communication, and listening are critical measures of anemployee’s ultimate professional success.

Communication Skills in Engineering

• While marketing professionals communicate product informationto their customers through• advertisements,• Facebook, and Twitter,engineers do much of their daily communication of productinformation through a variety of written documents, including• notebooks,• reports,• letters,• memoranda,• user’s manuals,• installation instructions,• trade publications, and• e-mails.

Written Communication

• In some large projects, engineers who are physically located in

different time zones— and even in different countries—will

routinely collaborate on a design.

• Written documentation is therefore a key and practical means for

accurately conveying complex technical information.

• Engineering reports are used to explain technical information to

others and also to archive it for future use.

• Engineering reports generally include text, drawings,

photographs, calculations, and graphs or tables of data.

Written Communication

• Essential elements of any technical report are graphicalcommunication pieces such as drawings, graphs, charts, andtables.

• Modes of graphical communication include• hand sketches,• dimensioned drawings,• three-dimensional computer-generated renderings,• graphs, and• tables.

• Graphs or charts should have descriptive axis labels includingappropriate units.

Graphical Communication

• Engineers also deliver technical presentations at professionalconferences, such as the ones organized by the American Societyof Mechanical Engineers.

• Learning about engineering and technology is a lifelong endeavor,and engineers attend conferences and other business meetings tostay up-to-date on new techniques and advances in their fields.

• At such conferences, engineers present their technical work to anaudience of other engineers from around the world, and thosepresentations are intended to be concise, interesting, andaccurate, so that the audience can learn from the experiences oftheir colleagues.

Technical Presentations

• Engineers need to be able to present information not onlyeffectively, but also efficiently.

• Many times when presenting to management or potentialcustomers, engineers have only a few minutes to communicatetheir significant findings and insights to support a key decision orrecommendation.

Technical Presentations

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