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Moqsud, M Azizul: Professional Communication for International Engineers, Hamburg,
Anchor Academic Publishing 2015
PDF-eBook-ISBN: 978-3-95489-914-2
Druck/Herstellung: Anchor Academic Publishing, Hamburg, 2015
Additionally: Yamaguchi University, Japan, 2014
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The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography.
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© Anchor Academic Publishing, Imprint der Diplomica Verlag GmbH
Hermannstal 119k, 22119 Hamburg
http://www.diplomica-verlag.de, Hamburg 2015
Printed in Germany
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PREFACE
In recent years engineering works have been developing rapidly throughout the
world. The knowledge of engineering communication, which is essential to deal
with the various people involved with the works, has thus advanced with the
advancement of globalization. To the students and civil engineers such new
knowledge of communication should be made available in suitable book form.
This book gives broad coverage of recent developments; it should meet the
present need of global communication in English. It is designed as a textbook for
undergraduate students and also as a compendium for practicing civil engineers.
Emphasis is given to the qualities of "teachability" and "practicability." And
attempts were made in presenting the material to bridge the gap which is
generally recognized to exist between the theory and practice. In order to
achieve these objectives, the use of practical knowledge which is most
necessary for the communication for an engineer in different parts of the world
has incorporated in this book.
In essence, the book is the outgrowth of the author's 20 years experience as a
student, teacher, engineer, researcher and management of international
association as a Civil Engineer. From 2001-2014, the author attended and
presented his papers in major international conferences in the field of Civil
engineering in USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, India, Italy, the
Netherlands and many east Asian countries. As a result, a vast fund of
information on communication is included in this book. Besides these, as a
secretary general of a recognized International association of civil engineering,
he has to communicate with the various countries people very often.
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Dedicated to my Parents
Professor M.A. Hannan
Professor Kanrun Nahar
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 What is the meaning of engineering communication?
1.2 Why do we need to have the skill of communication as an Engineer?
1.3 How many types of communication skill should we have?
1.4 How to improve the skill of communication?
1.5 Qualities of a professional Engineer
1.6 Preparation for a global career as an Engineer
Chapter 2 Self Introduction in a technical meeting
2.1 How to introduce oneself in a technical seminar?
2.2 Preparation of self-Introduction
Chapter 3 Oral Presentation for Civil Engineers
3.1 What is oral presentation?
3.2 An overview on oral presentation
3.3 Effective presentation
3.4 Ten general rules for effective presentation
3.5 Structure of an effective presentation
3.6 Questions and answer time
3.7 Language during engineering presentation
3.8 Body language
3.9 Interaction with the audience
3.10 How to deal with nervousness?
Chapter 4 Technical Writing
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Technical writing for communications
4.3 Types of technical writings
4.4 Academic/ Technical paper
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4.5 Abstract writing
4.6 Journal paper writing
Chapter 5 Business Letter writing
5.1 Business e-mail Writing
5.2 Business e-mail etiquette
5.3 Formatting e- mails
5.4 Example of official email
5.5 Formal Letter Writing
Chapter 6 Graph Explanation
6.1 Describing graphs and charts
6.2 Some useful words for graph explainations
Chapter 7 Civil Engineering Terms
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Numbers and symbols
7.3 Sequence
7.4 Fractions
7.5 Basic mathematical symbols
7.6 Greek notations
7.7 Metric prefixes
7.8 Formulas
7.9 Reading the SI unit
7.10 Technical terms used in engineering
Chapter 8 Poster Presentation
8.1 Ideal format for Poster Presentation
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8.2 Example of a Best Poster
8.3 Format of a good poster
8.4 What makes a good poster?
Chapter 9 Spoken Communication for Engineers
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Some general words for greetings
9.3 How to speak/express during communication if you can not understand
anything?
9.4 Some connective words and phrases you may use during speaking
Chapter 10 Listening Communication
10.1 Introduction
10.2 How to start for listening skill improvement?
10.3 How to improve your listening skills?
Chapter 11 Thesis writing/Report writing
11.1 Introduction
11.2 What is thesis?
11.3 Standard format for thesis
11.4 Title page
11.5 What is an abstract of a thesis
11.6 Acknowledgement
11.7 Table of contents
11.8 Introduction
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11.9 Literature review
11.10 Materials and methods
11.11 Results and discussion
11.12 Conclusion and future recommendation
11.13 References
11.14 Appendix of a thesis
11.15 Difference between thesis and report
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Chapter 1
Introduction to Engineering Communication
1.1 What is the meaning of engineering communication?
Engineers are the responsible persons to build the infrastructures and the
overall development of a nation. Specially the civil engineers are directly
connected with the construction of buildings, roads, bridges, airports and
ports and various hydraulic structures such as dams, barrages etc. As a part
of the works of the engineers they have to communicate with various people.
1.2 Why do we need to have the skill of communication as an Engineer?
a.
To exchange views/words with other people related to
technical/engineering matter.
b. Communication is key.
Winning recognition, respect and more business relies on your ability to
communicate important information clearly, professionally and
appropriately.
1.3 How many types of communication skill
1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading and
4. Writing
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1.4 How to improve the skill of communication
1. Study English communication everyday
2. Try to remember at least 1 new word/day.
3. Use that word when you practice communication.
4. Practice communication
5. Study the technical words in your field in English.
6. Speak as much as you can get chance with the foreigners in English.
7. Read English magazines, story books, Newspapers.
8. Watch English Movies, listen English songs and study the lyrics of the
song.
9. For writing: Practice to write anything everyday...like your personal
blog or FB status or diary in English with correct spelling.
10. Finally, try to write the summary of the technical things you have learnt
each day!
Always remember "Practice makes a man Perfect".
1.5 Qualities of a professional Engineer
A Professional Engineer should have following Qualities:
(According to American society of Civil Engineer, ASCE)
1. Courage
2. A thirst for knowledge
3. Imagination
4. Sound Judgments
5. Accuracy in thoughts and actions
6. An instinct for economy
7. Capacity for leadership
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8. Ingenuity, the ability to be creative
9. Hard working
10. The ability to communicate effectively
So from the above 10 qualities of a professional engineer, it is seen that
communication is very much important which should be improved by
practicing. Sometimes, many people have enough knowledge but the skill of
communication is not up to the mark then it is very difficult for them to shine
in life. So every civil engineer should improve his/her qualities without
wasting his/her time by judging himself/herself which quality from the above
list are absent with him.
1.6. Preparing for a global career as a Civil Engineer
The variety of exciting global opportunities available to civil engineers will get
you think about your particular interests and motivation. While some civil
engineers may flow unintentionally into an international career, most careers are
the result of careful planning, experience, and preparation. There are several
things that engineering students can do during their university years to better
position themselves for a global engineering career.
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English is commonly used as the international language among companies and
project teams around the globe. On a global scale, technical sales take on an
even more critical role. The rapid increase in the demand for global technology
translates into a critical need for trained technical people to handle international
sales, installation, field engineering, and customer liaison roles with clients
across the globe. These engineers must not be only technically skilled, but also
must have appropriate training in language, culture, customs, and sensitivity to
effectively interact with foreign customers. They must appropriately represent
themselves, their company, the product, the culture and most significantly, then
must be able to demonstrate that their firm has the motivation and talent to
adequately serve the global customer in a manner consistent with the cultural
and technical needs of that customer.
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Chapter 2
Self Introduction in a Technical Meeting
2.1 How to introduce oneself in a technical seminar?
Civil engineers have to attend and present their research in various seminars or
conferences in which the medium of communication is only English. They have to attend the
international meeting as well. During this type of meeting one must introduce himself/herself
properly. Though there is no such hard and fast rule for this type of self introduction but still
there is some common type of format to do that.
Here is an example of self-introduction:
My name is " Sei Tanaka"
I am from Japan
I am studying in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yamaguchi University
My research area is "Environmental Engineering"
Nice to meet with you.
It is very common to ask the person for the first time about his/her country of origin. In that
case it is better to start as "Excuse me, may I know where are you from?"
To build up the international network with the people from different countries is a very
important for a civil engineer. As any international conference and seminar is a great chance
to meet with a lot of people at the same time, it is very common to make self introduction
with other experts in the similar field by introducing himself.
2.2 For preparation of self-introduction
As it is common, every students or engineers should remember or memorize his
self-introduction for a technical meeting by practicing. Specially, if you have any problems to
pronounce any particular word then try to make it clear by doing the same utter many times
correctly. Such as "I'm a student of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yamaguchi
University, Japan" should be remembered and pronounce properly during the
self-introduction.
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Chapter 3
Oral Presentation for Engineers
3.1 What is oral presentation?
Oral presentation is the technique to say something in a formal presentation in a particular
topic. Normally, the topic of oral presentation is decided beforehand. Now-a-days, oral
presentation is very common to share the research outcomes as well as work description
both in the academic level as well as in working place.
3.2 An overview on oral presentation
Many people say that giving a presentation is very frightening task for them. Most of us have
experienced this type of fear and is often called stage fright, speech anxiety, or talking terror.
In fact, some surveys show that fear of speaking in front of groups is one of the greatest
fears people have. Some people actually say that giving speech is more frightening than
falling off a building, having financial difficulties or even snakes.
Here are a number of things to keep in mind if you have any stage fear if you have to make a
presentation:
Your audience understands your nervousness; they know how you are feeling, how
hard it is to present well and will forgive any honest mistakes.
Nervousness is usually invisible; most of your audience will not notice the small
changes in your voice or occasional mistakes; most speakers who describe themselves
as nervous appear confident and calm to the audience.
Be yourself; let your personality come through and relax as much as possible.
Check out the room first; check out the space, the equipments, the lights.
Concentrate on the message and don't talk about topics that are not related to the
message.
Begin with a slow, well-prepared introduction, have a confident and clear conclusion.
Most importantly; be prepared by practicing, practicing and more practicing. Practice
leads to confidence.
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3.3 Effective Presentations
Effective presentations are one where the presenter recognizes that communication is
both intellectual and emotional. On the intellectual side make sure you organize your
ideas logically and keep your message simple. The emotional side deals with gaining
and maintaining the audience's attention. Here are some general rules to follow;
Convey "controlled enthusiasm" for your subject-the audience will forgive a lot if
the speaker is enthusiastic and shows some passion.
Posture, tone, don't lean, alter your tone and use intonation.
Your audience will mirror your attitude-radiate confidence without preaching and
your audience will believe you are very knowledgeable
Don't confuse enthusiasm with loudness; try to convey a range of emotions from
concern, anticipation, excitement, dismay.
Honestly discuss pros and cons (strengths and weakness); always explain the
strengths or advantages first and then present the risks and challenges.
Be aware of the time, do not finish too early or go on too long.
3.4 Ten General rules for effective presentation
The approach followed in this section provides some general rules or guidelines for
presentations made with PowerPoint and similar software. However, before we get into the
heart of the section it is important to go over some general rules for making and giving
presentations. Please remember the rules to help you in your own presentations.
1. Keep the number of slides as small as possible. Less is More! Too many slides are
confusing for the audience. If your presentation is scheduled to be 30 minutes long,
make sure your presentation has no more than 20-25 slides.
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2. Do not write a lot of text on a slide. A slide should never have more than 6 words on a
line and never more than 6 lines.
3. Do not write in full sentence on your slide, only key words or phrases.
4. Do not read what is on your slide! Your job is to speak, not read.
5. Make eye contact with your audience. You should maintain eye contact for at least 4
seconds and move your eyes in a zigzag pattern.
6. Prepare your presentation knowing who your audience will be.
7. Make sure to give handouts to your audience at your presentation.
8. Use a laser pointer but do not move it too fast.
9. Days before the presentation, check whether that room is equipped for PowerPoint
presentation.
10. Arrive to the presentation room early to set up and be prepared to start on time
3.5 Structure of a Presentation
A basic presentation is made up 3 basic stages; 1) The Introduction 2) the Body and 3) the
Conclusion. Each one of these stages consists of different parts.
A. Title page
· The title of the presentation should be small in size
· Title should be all capital letters and big font size (Arial Font).
· Write your name and affiliation clearly.
· You can use photo, logo if you want.
B. Introduction
Making a good introduction is very important for giving an effective presentation. A good
introduction grabs your audience's attention right at the beginning and makes them
interested in what you have to say. The introduction stage is made up of 2 parts.
1) The self-introduction
2) The topic introduction.