As an engineer, I think one of the most important skills I will need in industry is the ability to communicate effectively. Thus, I took ENGL 149 (Technical Writing for Engineers). This class dove deep into writing conventions and methods to make ideas as clear and precise as possible. The biggest lesson I took away from this class is that the little details count. When I communicate through email or report to a supervisor, peer, or customer, I need to pay attention to formatting so that the important information is clearly shown and the report is easy to read. This makes processing easier and leads to less mistakes, which can be the difference of life and death in engineering. 

Two notable projects I had was the iFixit replacement guide project and my own personal technical report.
 
For the iFixit replacement guide project, I was in a group of four working on the Oculus Rift CV1, a VR headset. We had to create replacement guides for the battery, lens, facial interface, headphones, and remote button. Our goals were to write instructions in a technical fashion that was as clear and simple as possible and to take accompanying pictures that helped clarify our words. I am glad that my team's guides have helped thousands that need to repair their VR headsets. 

Of the two projects, my technical report was my favorite, as it related to my life and helped a team that I proudly worked on. I was a member of Cal Poly Racing Formula SAE specifically working for the chassis sub-system (though I did contribute to the composites and suspension sub-systems also). I was looking forward to working with manufacturing the chassis using composites, so I decided to investigate if pre-impregnated carbon fiber sheets or resin-infused carbon fiber would be better overall. I looked at a multitude of aspects, including cost, strength-to-weight ratio, and feasibility. After researching through manufacturer's websites and interviewing the manufacturing lead and the composites lead, I found the better solution using a decision matrix and wrote my detailed report. I also gave my report to Formula leadership to consider for the next year's car. 

After finishing my technical writing class, I was able to use my new skills in action through both personal projects and class projects. My resin infusion design project gave me an opportunity to clearly communicate my knowledge and plans through proposals and literature reviews. My AERO 300 (numerical analysis using MATLAB) class was another chance to demonstrate my technical report skills.