Writing for Engineering and Science Students

Writing for Engineering and Science Students is a clear and practical guide for anyone undertaking either academic or technical writing. Drawing on the author's extensive experience of teaching students from different fields and cultures, and designed to be accessible to both international students and native speakers of English, this book: - Employs analyses of hundreds of articles from engineering and science journals to explore all the distinctive characteristics of a research paper, including organization, length and naming of sections, and location and purpose of citations and graphics; - Guides the student through university-level writing and beyond, covering lab reports, research proposals, dissertations, poster presentations, industry reports, emails, and job applications; - Explains what to consider before and after undertaking academic or technical writing, including focusing on differences between genres in goal, audience, and criteria for acceptance and rewriting; - Features tasks, hints, and tips for teachers and students at the end of each chapter, as well as accompanying eResources offering additional exercises and answer keys. With metaphors and anecdotes from the author's personal experience, as well as quotes from famous writers to make the text engaging and accessible, this book is essential reading for all students of science and engineering who are taking a course in writing or seeking a resource to aid their writing assignments.

Gerald Rau is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan.

Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Preface To the student To the teacher Acknowledgements Part 1: Getting the big picture Chapter 1: General principles of writing Chapter 2: Overall format of research articles Chapter 3: Argument structure of research articles Part 2: Argument structure in exemplar articles Chapter 4: Establishing the importance of and need for the research Chapter 5: Demonstrating the continuity and novelty of your research Chapter 6: Verifying the contribution of your research Chapter 7: Evidence from past research Chapter 8: Evidence from current research Chapter 9: Clear reasoning Part 3: Exploring different genres Chapter 10: Argument structure in different types of writing Chapter 11: Undergraduate writing Chapter 12: Graduate writing Chapter 13: Academic writing Chapter 14: Technical writing Chapter 15: Writing about yourself and others Chapter 16: Academic and technical presentations Chapter 17: Principles for successful email Part 4: Creating your masterpiece Chapter 18: Writing in stages Chapter 19: Prewriting Chapter 20: Writing Chapter 21: Rewriting for organization Chapter 22: Rewriting for clarification Chapter 23: Revision and finalization Part 5: Adding the final touches Chapter 24: Illustrating your manuscript Chapter 25: References and citations Chapter 26: The first shall be last Chapter 27: Submission and Review Appendix 1: Generalized component list Appendix 2: Concordance, Academic Word List, and related tools Appendix 3: List of Supplemental Material (Online) Glossary Index