Laura Bosnak
Physics ‘63
Assistant Research Chemist
Bayer Corporation

Stilwell, KS

I work for the Research and Development Department of the agricultural division of a large international company.  We generate reports to be submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the regulatory agencies of other countries in support of the registration of our company’s products.  Many research studies are required for the preparation of these reports, and even more notebooks hold the raw data for the studies.  It is absolutely essential to our success that all of our writing, whether in the notebooks for internal  use, or the reports to the regulatory agencies, be accurate, complete, and unambiguous.  From the laboratory technician who records the data to the scientist who writes the report, everyone who works on the studies must pay careful attention to detail.  Good communication can mean the difference between success and failure in multimillion dollar projects, and most of that communication is in written form.  Every report, which may be hundreds of pages long, includes a summary, usually less than a page long.  This summary encapsulates the purpose, results, and conclusions of the entire report.  Anyone who aspires to work in a scientific field should be thoroughly schooled in technical writing.

Gail Hahn
Chemical Engineering '82
Senior Principal Technical Specialist Boeing Corporation,
St. Louis, MO.

Written communications in a technical career take the form of many daily email messages, minutes from meetings, trip reports, proposals, technical papers, reports, presentations, appraisals, essays, tables, graphs, sketches, captions, trade studies, marketing and competitive assessments, strategic plans, schedules, surveys, dispositions, drawing notes, specifications, statements of work, contracts, agendas, and yes, even exams.  Because these communications occur on a daily basis or at extremely pivotal moments such as decision making for funding, selection for a promotion or graduate/executive programs, and possibly employment itself, every technical professional should give communications a conscious effort and have a communications plan - both in term of contacts and in terms of content, with a goal of continuous improvement.

Oral communications are also very important, particularly with the use of telephone, voicemail, netmeetings, videoconferences, as well as with more traditional meetings and presentations.  I have also been involved in teaching assignments on several different levels - union personnel on a shop floor, military personnel who are field mechanics, college students in technical seminars, and with technical peers.

While each day of my career has required many forms of oral communications, one presentation to a vice president of engineering was especially pivotal to my career.

In time management studies in the past, I have found that I spend on average, 90 percent of my time at work in some form of communications.

Communications have been equally important in my personal life - church, school, and civic committees, for participation in sports, in dealing with accountants, attorneys, financial planners, automotive mechanics, service personnel, teaching Sunday school, working with young people in preschool, elementary and high school projects/tutoring sessions, etc.

Jim Clifford
Mechanical Engineering '77
Chief Engineer in Hydraulics
Case Corporation

The ability to write clearly and concisely has  been an important element in my ability to realize my career objectives.  My skills were improved early in my career by my mentor and my supervisor, as they edited my writing.  This was a slow process that decreased the productivity of the department.  My skills were greatly improved with practice, and the eventual requirement to refer to my own publications for information.

My occupation has required the use of writing, every day to communicate to associates or to record information that is the key to success and profitability of my employer.

I would strongly urge students in all fields of study to seek to improve their skills in written and oral communication.  Employers need personnel who can communicate needs, expectations, instructions, and results.  Those employees with very poor or very good writing skills will be noticed and rewarded accordingly.  It is much more desirable to be recognized for excellent communication skills.

John Bosnak
Physics '63
Manager of Electronics Engineering
AlliedSignal Federal
Manufacturing and Technologies

Good writing skills have been very important in my career and strongly contributed to my promotion to engineering management and continued advancement.  Formal education provided me a solid foundation in grammar, sentence structure, and composition.  In my early career in industry, the importance of documenting my technical work and including a summary directed to the decision makers of the enterprise was emphasized by my mentors.  As I advanced in project leadership and management, the ability to write clearly to diverse audiences through different media became more and more important.

Today's highly competitive industry requires engineers to lead a high level of cross-discipline interaction.  Effective written communications with production operators, planners, inspectors, accountants, and managers is essential for the engineer to succeed in bringing cross-discipline teams together and to influence others. This became so important in our company that we contracted with a local college to teach business writing courses for the engineering staff to improve their writing skills. Engineering students who take advantage of the opportunities to learn these writing skills during their academic education will prepare themselves for leadership positions in industry.

Dave Billingsley
Computer Science '86
Raytheon Systems Company

The foundation of communication is knowledge – ideas, solutions, discoveries, invention, technique, design – but its impact, or non-impact, is in its organization and language. Your engineering education may train you to be a wonderful problem solver, but unless you can communicate your ideas and solutions effectively, you might as well not bother. Writing Across the Curriculum will help you develop those essential communication skills you’ll use everyday. 

My communication skills, both verbal and written, have been the most important asset of my career. Communication boils down to effectively dealing with people. Whether you are the president of the company or deliver the mail, no one works in a vacuum; you need other people to get the job done. Once you record something on transferable media and deliver it, you never know where that communication will go. And to someone who has never met you, you are identified with that communication. Everyone will experience moments in their career when their written or spoken word will be remembered and act as an enabler or an obstruction. While a well-prepared presentation may lead to a promotion or new business, a poorly organized proposal or memo could result in a non-award or less responsibility. 

My writing training began in high school with several excellent English teachers and a mother who insisted on well thought out ideas and organization, proper use of words, and correct syntax. An hour or two of editing usually led to a polished product. I began to understand how to use language and construct sentences effectively. I’ve continued to work on these skills through the years. One exercise that has helped me to develop as a writer is to edit others’ work. A fresh perspective provides real freedom to suggest improvements, not to mention the learning that comes from experiencing a style different than your own. Take time now to develop strong writing skills; I think you’ll find, as I have, that these skills are essential in meeting the demands of any position. 

Verbal skills are just as important. Public speaking can be very intimidating; with practice and repetition, however, it can be very rewarding. While a student at UMR, I elected to take a speech course even though it terrified me. Upon entering the workforce, I often had to brief management and the customer. And now, as a program manager, I make presentations on a regular basis. Take advantage of the opportunity to work on your presentation skills now before you need them in your professional life. Put yourself in situations you are not totally comfortable with – take a speech class, participate in Toastmasters, volunteer to be the team spokesperson, or participate in a mock interview; the skills you develop now will last a lifetime. 

Become an effective communicator – take advantage of the WAC resources available to you now at UMR. It could be the start of something big!