Term Paper Assignment •  5-10 pages (typed, double-spaced)

•  Employment opportunities in the 2 – 5 year time frame

•  describe the role of the chemical engineer in society and industry

•  at least 10 references since 2000; <3/10 as URL •  <5 pages or >10 pages will be returned

•  final draft due Last Day of Class, December 3, 2010 •  Grading (10% of overall grade) as A+,A,A-…C..

–  based on technical writing skills

Some ideas: environment & energy •  going green: the “recycle” cycle •  biosphere as a big chemical reactor •  bio-geo-chemical cycles •  trading food for fuel: EtOH, diesel substitutes •  emissions control, implications of envir. disasters •  gas hydrates on the ocean floor as an energy source •  photovoltaics, why aren’t we using solar cells? •  “mythology” of fuel cell technologies •  petroleum vs. coal vs. nuclear: sustainable energy? •  what can we do about the growing CO2 problem?

–  CO2 sequestration, Kyoto protocol

Natural Gas

Hydrates

Biogas

Nuclear Power Generation

www.ruf.rice.edu/~hydrates/images/img001.jpg http://www.duke.edu/web/nicholas/bio217/jmz28/GlobalCarbonCycleLG.gif

http://www.makinemekanik.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/biogas-cycle.JPG http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/13/313-004-E8107F92.gif

Photovoltaics

Fuel Cells

Steel Manuf.

http://www.greenjobs.com/Public/images/fuel-cell.jpg

http://www.energy.ca.gov/distgen/equipment/images/photovoltaics.gif

MeOH synthesis

http://www.jmcatalysts.com/ptd/images-uploaded/LCM-flowsheet.jpg

http://www.metsoc.org/virtualtour/processes/images/Primary+Steel+Flow-Sheet.jpg

What is technical writing? •  Technical writing is NOT literary writing.

Technical writing serves a completely different purpose...it must be clear, concise, and unambiguous.

•  Short declarative sentences are the easiest to write, the easiest to read, and they are usually clear. However, many short sentences in a row will sound too abrupt and monotonous.

Writing Well…

“Clutter is the disease of American writing…the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb which carries the same meaning that is already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the writer unsure of who is doing what – these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur, ironically, in proportion to education and rank.”

W. Zinsser

Improve your writing line-by-line

“You probably should delete all intensive adverbs – very, really, truly, actually, and the like. If you’ve chosen the right word, adding a very defeats your purpose. If you haven’t got the right word, the very offers poor compensation. Readers pay no attention to this overused word.”

Claire Kehrwald Cook

Scientists must write well…

“In science, every statement should be based on evidence and not on unsupported opinion. Speculation cannot take the place of evidence. The scientist should therefore avoid excessive qualification. Words and phrases such as possibly, probably, perhaps, is likely to, and is better referred to perhaps should cause you to think again. Have I considered the evidence sufficiently? Is there enough evidence for the qualification to be omitted?”

Robert Barrass

Strunk & White: The Elements of Style Online: http://www.bartleby.com/141/

Elementary principles of composition

The paragraph is the unit of composition: one paragraph / topic Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence End the paragraph in conformity with the beginning Use the active voice (action is expressed directly) Put statements in positive form Omit needless words Avoid a succession of loose sentences Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form Keep related words together In summaries, use only one verb tense Emphatic words @ end (most impt words @ end of sentence)

Strunk & White: The Elements of Style

“Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary parts.”

•  definitely proved •  orange in color •  viable alternative •  worst-case maximum possible error •  because of the fact that

“Avoid fancy words. Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy and the cute.”

Technical Writing:

10 Things to Remember

1. Know your audience

•  Make the technical depth of your writing compatible with the background of your readers. – Are you writing for engineers? managers?

technicians? lay people?

•  Never start writing until you have decided to whom you are writing.

2. Use a clear, conversational style

•  A technical paper should not have the same chatty tone as a personal letter. However, most technical professionals lean too far in the other direction – their sharp thinking is often obscured by windy, overly formal prose.

•  Key to technical writing: –  Keep is simple (KISS principle) – Write to express – not to impress

•  A relaxed, conversational style can add vigor and clarity to your work.

Different styles

•  The data provided by direct examination of samples under the lens of a microscope are insufficient for the purpose of making a proper identification of the components of the substance.

•  We have found during conversations with customers that even the most experienced equipment specialists have a tendency to avoid extruding silicone hoses.

•  The corporation terminated the employment of Mr. Joseph Smith

•  We can’t tell what it’s made of by looking at it under a microscope.

•  Our customers tell us that most equipment specialists do not want to extrude silicone hoses.

•  Joe was fired

Formal Informal Conversation

3. Be concise •  Technical professionals are busy people. Make

your writing less time-consuming for them to read by telling the whole story in the fewest words possible

How do you make your writing more concise?

•  Avoid redundancies: needless wordiness in which a modifier repeats an idea. –  a new innovation (if it’s an innovation, it’s already new) –  very unique (unique means there is only one!)

Examples

•  advance plan •  actual experience •  two cubic feet in volume •  cylindrical in shape

•  during the course of •  in the form of •  in many cases •  in the event of •  exhibits the ability to

•  plan •  experience •  two cubic feet •  cylindrical

•  during •  as •  often •  if •  can

Redundant & Wordy Rewrite as

4. Be consistent

•  Inconsistencies in technical writing will just confuse the reader and convince them that your work and reasoning are as sloppy and disorganized as your prose.

•  Technical writers must strive for consistency: –  numbers, units of measure, symbols, equations –  hyphens, punctuation, capitalization –  grammar, technical terms, abbreviations

5. Easy on the jargon •  Every domain of science and engineering has its own

special language. Technical jargon is a helpful shorthand when communicating with professionals in your field; however, readers without your special background can become confused.

•  For example: “yield” –  ChemE: how much product a reaction makes –  Car driver: slow down at an intersection –  MechE: when a material is fatigued or has failed

•  Use legitimate technical terms when they communicate ideas precisely; avoid excessive jargon just because the words sound impressive. “Gravimetrically conveyed” is the same as “dumped.”

6. Avoid big words

•  terminate •  utilize •  incombustible •  substantiate •  optimum

•  end •  use •  fireproof •  prove •  best

Technical writers often use big, important-sounding words instead of short, simple words. Fancy language can frustrate the reader. Use plain, ordinary English.

7. Be specific

•  a tall spray dryer •  plant •  process unit •  unfavorable weather •  structural degradation •  high performance

•  40-ft tall spray dryer •  oil refinery •  distillation column •  rain •  leaky roof •  90% efficiency

Technical readers are interested in technical information (details) such as facts, figures, conclusions, and recommendations. Do not say that something is good, bad, fast, slow, or easy when you can say how good, how bad, how fast, how slow, or how easy.

8. Break it up •  Long, unbroken blocks of text are stumbling

blocks that intimidate and bore readers.

•  Breaking it up into short sections and short paragraphs makes it easier to read.

•  Short sentences are easier to read that long ones.

•  Keep sentence length under control: write sentences that can be read aloud without losing your breath.

9. Use visuals

•  “A picture is worth a 1000 words” •  Drawings, graphs, and other visuals can

reinforce your text. Pictures can often describe things which are extremely hard to convey through words.

•  We remember ~10% of what we read, but ~30% of what we see.

photos, maps, schematic diagrams graphs, pie & bar charts, tables, flowsheets

10. Use the active voice •  Active voice → action is expressed directly

–  “John performed the experiment.” vs. –  “The experiment was performed by John.”

•  When possible, use active voice. Your writing will be more direct and vigorous; your sentences will be more concise.

Control of the bearing oil supply is provided by the shutoff valves.

Leaking of the seals is prevent by using o-rings.

Fuel-cost savings were realized through the installation of thermal insulation.

Shutoff valves control the bearing oil supply.

O-rings keep the seals from leaking.

The installation of thermal insulation cut fuel costs.

Passive Active

Organize your story •  Abstract (executive summary): “big picture”

–  Scientific publications always include a taste of the results + important conclusions of the work

–  often difficult to write…because it must be short •  Body: “supporting details” •  Conclusions: “wrap-up”

•  Tell them what you are going to tell them •  Then, tell them •  Then, tell them what you just told them

Said another way…

General Rules

•  write out numbers (seven vs. 7) •  units (metric) •  affect (influences) vs. effect (a result) verb vs. noun

•  insure vs. ensure (get insurance vs. to guarantee) •  NO colloquialisms (y’all, gonna, ain’t, etc.) •  SPELL CHECK! (There is NO excuse!)

Bibliography Rules

•  Direct quotations from other authors must be cited. NO EXCEPTION!

•  All substantial information taken from another source should be cited: – give due credit to prior work / ideas –  relieve responsibility for accuracy – points the reader to more information – provides a date for ideas

Bibliographic Style for your paper

•  Three or fewer references can be pure URLs

•  Web stuff: dig down to the original source/document

•  Must use the MLA format from library: - http://www.library.ucsb.edu/help/citeformat.pdf

9 Steps to Better Technical Writing

1.  Write a brief purpose statement 2.  Consider the obstacles that your readers face 3.  Determine the technical level of readers 4.  Determine the decision-making level of readers 5.  Find out what decision makers want 6.  Collect and document information carefully 7.  Write an outline 8.  Write your first draft quickly 9.  Revise in stages

W.S. Pfeiffer – Pocket guide to technical writing

Other pointers •  No sentence fragments •  Use commas! •  Figures

–  All figs must have #s AND captions – MUST have a reference in the running text –  If you take it from somewhere…you MUST cite it!

•  Consider breaking your paper into sections with appropriate headings –  Introduction, specific topics, conclusions/summary

•  Proofread + spell check → I have no sympathy