Chapter 4:

ENGINEERING
COMMUNICATION

REPORTERS:
ARJAY IMPORTA
CAMILA ARAQUE
MA. LELETTE DACUMOS
ENGINEERS are problem solvers. Once they obtained a solution to a
problem, they need to communicate effectively their solution to various
people inside and outside their organization.

ENGINEERING STUDENT CIVIL ENGINEER

Present Solutions Technical Presentation

Oral Presentation Graphs

Charts
Write Technical Report
Drawings
 4.1 Communication Skills and Presentation of Engineering
Work

ENGINEERS 4-5 years learn how to express thoughts, present concepts,

engineering analysis, solutions and findings from
experimental work.

Need to by means of engineering drawings communicate

design ideas and computer-aided modeling technique.

Need to develop good written and oral communication skills.

If cannot effectively communicate, the result of all your efforts

may not be understood and appreciated
4.2 Basics Steps Involved in the Solution of Engineering
Problem
TO ANALYZE ENGINEERING
PROBLEM:

STEP 1 Define the Problem

STEP 2 Simplify the Problem

STEP 3 Perform the Analysis

STEP 4 Verify the Results

STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM
a. Understand the Problem Itself/ Analyze.
b. What is known.
c. What is to be found.

STEP 2: SIMPLIFY THE PROBLEM

a. Assumptions and Estimations
making some reasonable and logical assumptions and yet obtain
appropriate solution

b. Understanding the physical laws and the fundamental

concepts, as well as where and when to apply them and their
limitations
STEP 3: PERFORM THE ANALYSIS

 Study the problem carefully then proceed with an

appropriate solution.
 Apply physical laws and fundamental concepts that
engineering system to solve to the problem

STEP 4: VERIFY THE RESULTS

 The Final Step of any engineering analysis.
 Various sources of error can contribute to wrong results.
 Misunderstanding a given problem, making incorrect
assumptions to simplify the problem
 Study or Double check your solution and answer before you
present your presentation
 Always ask yourself to make result has sense
HOMEWORK PRESENTATION
-Engineering paper is specially formatted for use by engineers and engineering
students.

Paper Three Cells on the Top

*Course Number
*Assignment Due date
* Name

Given Section
-Find Section
-Solution Section
- Do not write anything on the back of the paper.
- The grid lines on the back provide scale and an outline for freehand sketches,
tables, or plotting data by hand
- Your engineering assignments will usually consist of many problems, thus you
will present your work on many sheets
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4.3 Written Communication

PROGRESS REPORT

 communicating on how much progress has been made and which of the
main objectives of the project has been achieved to date.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 must be brief and concise.

 means of communicating to people in top management positions (e.g. vice
president of the company) the finding of a detailed study or proposal.
 reference may be made to more comprehensive reports to obtain
additional information
SHORT MEMOS
 way of conveying information in a brief way to interested
individuals
GENERAL FORMAT:
 DETAILED TECHNICAL REPORT
Contains the following items:
Title The title of a report should be a brief informative description of the report contents.
Abstract This is a very important part of a report because readers often read this part first to
decide if they should read the report in detail state the precise objective, emphasize significant
findings, and present conclusions and/or recommendations.

Objectives to state what is to be investigated through the performance of the experiment.

Theory and Analysis
There are several purposes of the theory and analysis section:

• To state pertinent principles, laws, and equations (equations should be numbered)

• To present analytical models that will be used in the experiment;
• To define any unfamiliar terms or symbols
• To list important assumptions associated with the experimental design.
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Apparatus and Experimental Procedures
1. To present a list of apparatus and instrumentation to be used, including the instrument
ranges, least count, and identification numbers.
2. To describe how you performed the experiment. The procedure should be itemized (step 1.,
3., etc.) and a schematic or diagram of the instrument setup should be included.
Data and Results
The purpose of this section is to present the results of the experiment, as described in the stated
objective, in a tabular and/or graphical form.

Discussion of the Results

The purpose of the results section is to emphasize and explain to the reader the important results
of the experiment and point out their significance.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusions and recommendations section compares
your objectives with your experimental results. Support your conclusions with appropriate
reference materials. Be sure to state recommendations based on the conclusions.
15
Appendix
The appendix serves several purposes:
• To provide the reader with copies of all original data sheets, diagrams, and
supplementary notes.
• To display sample calculations used in processing the data. The sample
calculations should contain the following parts:
*A title of the calculation
*A statement of mathematical equation
*Calculation using one sample of data

References
A list of references that have been numbered in the text must be included in the
report. Use the following format examples:
For Books: Author, title, publisher, place of publication, date (year), and page(s).
For Journal Articles: Author, title of article (enclosed in quotation marks), name of journal,
volume number, issue number, year, and page(s).
For Internet Materials: Author, title, date, and URL address

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4.4 Oral Communication
Oral Presentation -may show the results of all your efforts regarding a project. It is
very important that all information be conveyed in a manner easily understood by the
listener.

Oral technical presentation -is similar to a written one.

Needed to your Presentation:

 Present the information in a way that is easily understood by your audience.
 Avoid using terminology or phrases that may be unfamiliar to listeners.
 You should plan so that you won’t over explain key concepts and ideas
 Try to keep your talk to about half an hour
 Maintain eye contact with all of your audience, not just one or two people
 Use good visual aid
 You may also want to have copies of the outline, along with notes on the
important concepts and findings, ready to hand out to interested audience
members.
BE PREPARED and DIRECT TO THE POINT.
4.5 Graphical Communication

Engineering Drawings- to convey idea

their ideas and design information about
products.

 Portray vital information

(Shape, Size, material used and Steps)

 Machinists use the information provided by

engineers or drafts personon the engineering
drawings, to make the parts.

 For complicated systems made of various

parts, the drawings also serve as a how-to-
assemble guide, showing how the various
parts fit together.
THANK
YOU!
1. What do you understand about Engineering communication? Does
learning about Engineering Communication helps you as a student?

2. What are the four steps to analyze engineering problems?

3. What are the following items that detailed technical report should
have? (8 items)

4. What are the things needed for your oral presentation?(give at least
three)

5. Is it true that if Engineers fail to effectively communicate with other

people your work will not be appreciated? (briefly state your reason/
20
opinon why)