Articles and Reports

Articles

The technical expert is not expected to write with the flair style of a professional writer. Journal editors will polish arid rewrite the engineer's manuscript to make it more interesting and readable. But a well-organized, cleanly written first draft does increase your chances for publication; if your draft - is too poorly written or difficult to understand, the editor may reject it.

Many corporations, including Raytheon, Westinghouse, and International Paper, publish their own magazines for distribu, tion to customers and employees. The articles in these "house organs" are shorter, less technical, and newsier because many of the readers are nontechnical.

Types of articles published include case histories, industry roundups, and stories on market trends, controversial issues, new products, improved technologies, ongoing research and development, new materials, new manufacturing techniques, energy-saving ideas and systems, environmental compliance, service, engineering, quality management, and performance.

If you would like to see your name in print, contact the editor of the journal for which you want to write and ask about submitting an article. Although you won't gain the fame and fortune of a Stephen King or a Sidney Sheldon, technical publications have their own rewards.

Reports

Technical reports are the documents in which engineers, scientists, and managers, transmit the results of their research, field, work, and other activities to people in their organization. Here's what the University of Rochester's department of chemical engineering has to say about engineers and report writing:

The importance of being able to write a good report cannot be emphasized too strongly. The chemical engineer who carries out an investigation or study has not completed his job until he has submitted a report on the project. The true value of the project and the abilities of the investigator may be distorted or unrecognized unless the engineer is able to write a commendable report.

Often, a written report is the only tangible product of hundreds of hours of work. Rightly or wrongly, the quality and worth of that work are judged by the quality of the written report-its clarity, organization, and content. Therefore, it pays to take the time to write a good report.