Traci Nathans-Kelly

Understanding engineering work and identity: a cross-case analysis of engineers within six firms

To better equip engineers to enter a dynamic technological and economic environment, educators must improve their understanding of the wide-ranging work of engineers and the flexible skills it demands. To that end, we studied engineering practice in six firms of varying size and industry. We analyzed the similarities and differences of engineering practice across these sites, and gathered narrative examples of what it means to be an engineer at these locations. Our data indicates more similarities across sites than differences. Although workplace cultures differed, most engineers saw their work similarly. They saw their work as problem solving, almost always done in explicitly organized teams or in informal collaboration with others. Engineers cited clear communication as the most important skill, with budgets and time limitations generally noted as the most significant constraints. Engineers generally valued solving a problem, learning, and working in a team more than other aspects of their jobs. This understanding of engineering work can be used to better equip engineers for the workforce and improve organizational practices.

Power presenting for cognitive retention and organizational longevity

We discuss much-tested, stronger techniques for engineers, instructors, trainers, and technical experts who use presentation slides as part of their work output. We draw from 1) practicing engineers who participated in interviews for a three-year NSF sponsored study on how people learn engineering (n=56); 2) practicing engineers enrolled in two online, graduate, professional engineering programs (n=60+); and 3) the work of experts including cognitive psychologists and visual rhetoric experts that has focused on the slide format in professional settings. Based on research from several fields, these techniques have worked well on several fronts for our practicing engineers; techniques include malleable methods of deploying sentence headers, rhetorical visuals, information layers, and archival organizational notes, amongst others. When practiced in a workplace setting by our graduate engineers, these methods have impressed engineering management and technical colleagues alike as new standards of “best practice” to emulate within their organizations.

Understand Audience Needs

Knowing how to anticipate audience needs is an essential skill every technical presenter should have. Whether the audience needs to know more about technical details, production times, ROI, or client appeal, the savvy presenter must address those concerns. This chapter discusses the scope of content and how to connect to the audience. The chapter explains the use of elevator talks as a means of audience analysis and discusses the challenges of approaching complex technical topics for diverse audiences. Careful audience analysis should provide the basis for planning the scope of any presentation. Showing the audience that the presenter cares about what they want to gain from the presentation will let them see the presenter as a prepared and confident speaker before he has uttered a single word. Finally, the chapter addresses all of those pesky ?>getting ready ?> logistical questions that speakers need to resolve before giving a talk.

Temper the Templates

Templates can be powerful tools to have at hand. They can do some very heavy lifting, providing visual structure, suggestions on format, branding, and so forth. This chapter investigates templates and how they can work better for particular needs. Templates impart some stability and consistency to the visual message and tone of presentations created throughout the enterprise. The purpose of a branded template is to give presence, consistency, and distinction to an organization within a sea of competitors. The chapter presents an example of a typical company template that is often convenient for technical information. It also suggests several workarounds, when templates present challenges to content design, that allow to assert control over the header and the main acreage of the slide again regardless of the template. By using templates and adhering to some standardization of processes for communication pieces, one can convey order, continuity, and quality.