Engineering in Extreme Environments

Assignment Prompt and Context 

Engineers constantly communicate technical information. Two kinds of technical information get frequent mention by practicing engineers: technical terminology and process/procedures.

At the same time, the technical expertise of readers varies, ranging broadly from: (1) non-expert clients to (2) peers who share similar training to (3) managers whose skill sets may or may not overlap with the engineers working on a project.

For this paper, you will choose a process in your field of engineering and write a short “white paper ” about it. White papers can be used within an organization for the purpose of informing peers as well as externally to educate clients or the public. Technical language is usually defined within the context of the paper, with key terms getting longer explanation.

Structure of the Technical Process Paper

The Technical Process Paper will have three sections, each designated by an appropriate subheading. You may use second-level subheadings as needed.

Section 1: History of the Process

In this section, the writer will explain why the process was developed -- what engineering problem or situation did the process solve? This section will succeed by being specific – claims such as “society needed” or “manufacturers wanted” are too general.

• • For example, what specific engineering situation drove the development of additive manufacturing?

Section 2: The Current State of the Process

In this section, the writer will explain how the process works as currently practiced. This is a general explanation of the process, emphasizing principles of operation.

• • For example, how does additive manufacturing work in general?

Section 3: Detailed Example of the Process

In this section, the writer will show how the process is applied by carefully explaining an example of the process in action.

• • For example, how does 3D printing exemplify additive manufacturing?

 Other Instructions

• The paper must have at least three sections designated above.
• Each section must have at least one figure/image created by the writer that is appropriate to that section.
  1. More figures may be used. These may be published images or ones created by the writer. Make sure to cite images correctly.
  2. See the “Smart Art” options in Word for lots of templates supporting this task.
• The paper must have at least 6 high-quality sources, with a minimum of 2 unique sources per section.
  1. “High quality” means sources from academic journals and highly rated trade publications (such as the magazines published by professional organizations). General-use, public sources are NOT allowed, except for images. Each instance of a low-quality source will result in a 5% reduction in grade.
  2. Include both in-text citations as needed and a References list in IEEE format.
• The paper must have a title, and include a Table of Contents (TOC) and Table of Figures (TOF).
  1. TOCs can be created automatically using the Table of Contents function in the References menu. To use this function, simply use the Word Style Menu to create subheadings. For TOFs, use the “Insert Caption” function (located in References menu) to add labels to images.
• Stylistically, the paper is written in the 3^rd person, for a mixed audience. Technical language is allowed, but important terms should be defined more extensively as this kind of paper is meant to inform and educate.
  1. Do not use the second person (you/your/you’re).
  2. Expand important terms using one or more of the extended definition strategies discussed inTechnical Communication:
     1. Parenthetical/Sentence
     2. Graphics
     3. Examples
     4. Partition
     5. Principle of Operation
     6. Comparison/Contrast
     7. Analogy
     8. Etymology