Queen Carrasco

Writing For Engineering 

19 May 2023

Professor Bubrow

Course Reflection: Journeying Through The Land of Engineering Literature

Writing is a necessary skill for all, regardless of age, occupation, etc. Besides verbal and nonverbal communication, written communication is how one gets their point across, and details an activity. Writing For Engineering, taught by Adam Bubrow, provides a space for engineering students to develop their communication skills before entering the real world. The assignments pick and choose from different engineering disciplines, as students gain experience attempting different genres of work. 

 The first assignment was our introductory paragraph. Each student was instructed to upload a paragraph about themselves onto Blackboard and respond to paragraphs written by two of their fellow classmates. In our paragraphs, we were to have a creative title, fun facts about ourselves, and issues that we had with our writing. I wrote a little about my background, such as where I am from, my academic interests, my hobbies, and my problems with writing. I felt that I had problems making my writing interesting and digestible, especially if I was writing on a topic I was not interested in. This assignment helped me develop facts about myself, which aided in my resume and cover letter. While I had previously written a resume, I had never written a cover letter. Previously, whenever I was applying for jobs, if I saw a cover letter was needed I would skip past it. I felt intimidated, as I had no experience or reference on what was the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to write the letter. Now, I am ready and able to write a cover letter for a job and or internship application. Additionally, while this may be a stretch, I feel that I can apply these skills to graduate school applications. Many graduate schools require a resume submission. Overall, I have a better understanding of what employers look for and how they determine which candidates to bring into the company. The next assignment was the lab report. 

The lab report helped me to remember what I had been previously taught in regard to writing lab reports. Additionally, I learned what an appendix is. This assignment helped me sharpen my information literacy skills; I gained experience using the academic directories that the City College library provides. Ultimately, this showed me how to clearly introduce and explain my methods and thinking to others, regardless of whether or not they are in my academic and professional discipline. I was introduced to APA citation, something that I had little to no practice with beforehand. 

After the lab report, the class formed groups to work on the proposal request. My groupmates, Nida, Shameha, and Sithika, split the work separately. I worked on gathering results, creating the Gantt chart, as well as writing the introduction. Nida worked on creating the blueprint, Shameha on the action plan, and Sithika on the PowerPoint. I had previously created Gantt charts, but never on Excel, so taking the time to learn and experiment with the software was valuable.Additionally, I had never written a response to a proposal before this project. Collaboration played a big role in getting this project done, as we all had different schedules and responsibilities to adhere to. However, the presentation ended up being successful. The process of drafting and revising was something that I found (and continue to find) myself doing. That is always important when writing essential

The final presentation done in this class was the Technical Description project. I was excited to work on this, as the topic I chose was one that started my interest in research work. In Sept 2022, I read Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code by Ruha Benjamin. A sociologist and professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, Benjamin writes about the intersections between race, class, power, healthcare, etc. Through this assignment, I was able to show my interest in the overlapping issues within Computer Science and Sociology. I focused on the audience that I would be presenting to, as well as the purpose of the assignment. I wanted the presentation to be interesting, as well as understandable. 

Ultimately, over the course of the semester, Writing For Engineering aided me in tuning my writing and grammar skills. Reading the assigned textbook for the course gave me an idea of the documents that I might see within a professional setting. With these tweaks, I am able to continue to work and apply my skills in the real world.