February 2008 Archives

Knovel has scheduled a “Knovel Enhancements Walk-through Webinar” for Wednesday March 5th at 1 PM Eastern time and invites you to attend. Previous sessions have run approximately 30 minutes. You can visit http://knovel.ilinc.com/register/cmcmxr to register.

Improvements include:

• Tabbed navigation structure with Basic Search, Browse and Fielded Search modes

• A Fielded Search function that remains persistent throughout the search, making it easier to revise search criteria

• An enhanced Browse function which simplifies drill-downs

• Availability of the Knovel Unit Converter throughout the site

February 20 — In conjunction with National Engineers Week, the National Academy of Engineering and a coalition of engineering and educational organizations announced today the launch of “Engineer Your Life,” a new Web site to encourage academically prepared girls to enroll in undergraduate engineering programs. The site is part of a national effort to tell high school girls, and the adults in their lives, about what it is like to be an engineer.

News Release

Engineer Your Life

From today’s What’s new@national-academies.org

The National Academy of Engineering announced the grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century. A diverse committee of experts from around the world, convened at the request of the U.S. National Science Foundation, revealed 14 challenges that, if met, would improve how we live.

News Release

Web Site

Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students
[ http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/ ]

“Crafting meaningful and articulate lab presentations and correspondence can be difficult for anyone, including engineers and other scientists. This particular set of resources is designed to teach engineering and science students about creating and writing materials such as resumes, formal laboratory reports, presentation slides, and so on. The guidelines are gathered into several different sections, including “Introduction”, “Presentations”, “Correspondence”, and “Formal Reports”. There is material for instructors here as well, and the offerings include pieces on the design of writing assignments, the interactive teaching of writing, and the evaluation of writing assignments. Finally, the site also contains a number of writing exercises on grammar, punctuation, and word usage.”

From The Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, Feb. 15, 2008

Rhetoric for Engineers [ http://www.tcnj.edu/~rgraham/rhetoric/ ]

“As a field of study, rhetoric has enjoyed a popular resurgence in at the college level, and when deployed effectively, various rhetorical devices can make any piece of writing much more compelling. Ron Graham has created this site designed to help engineers and “other practical people” with the practice and art of rhetoric. The site includes a summary of basic rhetoric, along with some “Two-Minute Drills”, which are designed to help engineers with developing answers to questions like “Are engineers made or born?” and “Define ‘reliability’”. Visitors can also look over the site’s complete contents via an interactive guide which covers everything from abstraction to workplace distractions.” One can also subscribe to the Rhetoric for Engineers mailing list. From the “Scout Report”, Univ. of Wisconsin, Feb. 15, 2008