Ryan’s Story: A future software engineer

     The practice of reflection holds a special place in this class “Writing for Engineers” taught by an amazing professor Mr.B. Reflecting in such a class allows engineering students to not only develop their technical writing skills but also cultivate a broader understanding of their role as effective communicators in the engineering field. Throughout the semester, the variety of assignments that I completed has helped improve the way I think and it gives me a better understanding of how writing impacts engineers and how it can help with other projects. Examples are students can critically evaluate their writing processes, analyze the clarity and coherence of their technical documents and identify areas for improvement. In this class I was able to explore the significant role of self assessment and thoughtful analysis in enhancing technical writing prowess, fostering effective communication, and nurturing future engineering professionals who excel in written expression.

   Learning how to do a Lab report is an important thing to learn as a future engineer, it is something that is used a lot to discuss results and provide conclusions for the experiment being done. After completing the lab report, I gained a significant amount of skills such as; by enhancing my critical thinking by analyzing experimental data, drawing meaningful conclusions and making connections between theory and practical results. In Lab reports, people have to be on point and make sure nothing is wrong in their report or else it could mess up the experiment completely and maybe have to possibly redo the whole project. Doing the lab report made me check my work/findings multiple times to make sure that my experiment was conducted correctly with no errors. I learned to develop a strong foundation in scientific literacy and enhance my ability to communicate complex scientific concepts to technical and non technical audiences.

    “The Campus Connectors” was the name of my group. We had to work together in order to create a successful student center for CCNY. We searched for the best areas in campus to put the new building, how much it would cost to build everything, how long the construction would take and other factors. This took a lot of researching and preparing to do from all 4 of us, as future engineers working together is essential and doing this project has helped me work better with others, allowed me to view and listen to others perspective/ideas, helped with communicating with others more effectively and easily and etc. Working as a group made the workload feel easier since it was four people working in a group instead of one person working alone and doing all the research. 

      The most recent assignment that I completed was the technical description/presentation. Going into this, I was nervous when I was told that we would be presenting 7 times to 7 different groups of people about something related to our major. My topic was on the development of AI and how it affected society. Presenting in front of people seven times really helped with my speech anxiety and helped boost my confidence. Now I am able to give better presentations for my future classes and my career as a software engineer. I gained skills such as; being able to capture the audience’s attention, deliver information in an efficient manner, and articulate my thoughts clearly. Researching about AI was informative and interesting, I was able to learn more things about my major and the technology being built for the future.

       Throughout the semester, we’ve done multiple assignments that would help us in our careers. Mr.B taught us how our cover letter and resume should be in order to land an interview for our internships or any future roles that we may be interested in. He taught us that we should look for keywords in the job descriptions to make sure that our resume matches those keywords. We also did punctuation assignments to help us become better writers like learning how to use commas, semicolons and when to use them, how to make a sentence shorter and more effective. We did elevator pitches to each other to be prepared for interviewers and other things, all this in order to become better engineers than we were yesterday.

   In conclusion, professor Mr. B, has proven invaluable for engineering students. Through reflection, not only did I enhance my technical writing skills but also develop a broader understanding of my role as effective communicators in the engineering field. By critically evaluating my writing processes, analyzing the clarity and coherence of their technical documents, and identifying areas for improvement, I gained valuable insights into the impact of writing on engineering projects. Similarly, learning how to write a lab report provides essential skills for future engineers, such as enhancing critical thinking, ensuring accuracy in experimental work, and cultivating scientific literacy. The experience of working in a group further reinforces the importance of collaboration in the engineering profession, allowing students to harness diverse perspectives, improve teamwork and leadership abilities, and tackle complex projects more efficiently. Lastly, the opportunity to deliver presentations in front of different audiences enhances communication skills, boosts confidence, and equips students with the ability to effectively convey complex concepts. Throughout the semester, the various assignments completed in the class have prepared students for their future careers, covering aspects such as crafting effective resumes and cover letters, mastering punctuation, and delivering elevator pitches. Overall, this class has provided students with a comprehensive toolkit to become exceptional engineers, constantly striving for improvement and success in their chosen field.