Why should engineers be better writers? Benefits of an engineer that is a good writer?

Question

Ok so technically engineers aren’t exactly the best writers, being more science oriented. So my question to you is why should engineers be better writers? Of course we know they need to get their thoughts across through writing, or a bridge can collapse killing millions, but what are some other reasons? I will give the best answer to someone with a really thorough and detailed explanation.

Answer 1

At first thought, it seems like engineers do not have to be good writers. They need technical skills more than writing skills. That is true, but with the time, this also has been changed little, not entirely.
Engineer has to have technical skills. But as time demands, he has to add to his skills. Nowadays competition among engineering companies is such a throat cut, that companies can’t win project only on technical skills of their engineers. Writing skills will make client aware of what this companies are offering.
I worked for one of the biggest engineering companies in US (usually it is between 17 to 21 rank as per ENR) until last year. I am not working as an engineer currently. Based on my experience from inspector to resident engineer and then project manager, we need to write more and more everyday. Inspectors have to write more in their daily report today then 15 years ago for the same kind of construction activity. It is easy to sue contractor or engineering company today for any kind of injury to construction worker or general public. After project completed, Resident Engineer’s Diary (it is actually Resident Engineer’s daily report) opens in court building. Where lawyers interpret it in legal language, not in technical language. I was trained by my resident engineer, when I was an inspector, to write and explain more, where as old timers say less writing is better. Lawyers interpret that if it is not written, it never happened. That forces engineers to write more and carefully, requiring writing skills.
Two of my projects I worked on ended in court battle between client and contractor. Contractor uses every piece of correspondence between client and contractor to win the case. On one of my project ( I was an assistant resident engineer) contractor had actually lawyer reporting to his field office (or field trailer). Contractor’s every piece of correspondence was going through him. In our field office we had to rely on our own skills.
Government‘s process to select engineering company is different then to select contractor (where lowest bid most of the time wins). For engineering companies, they have to write technical proposal as part of the total package of submission. Even though it is called technical proposal, writing skills are main in that section. Without good writing, your good technical skills are not exposed. Most companies rely on their project managers to write the technical proposal.
I think these are the three main reasons ( I am sure there are many more depending on the area of engineer’s practice) why engineers have to be good writers too.
Benifits are clear, you will be noticed by your boss, pay rise, promotion, etc.

Answer 2

Engineers do not spend all of their time making calculations and designing "stuff", even tho that is what we would rather be doing.
All engineers, at some point in their career are going to have to write an equipment or material specification, or a technical report or review, or an equipment recommendation, or part of an instruction or start-up manual, or a bid revue, etc, etc, so the more writing skills that an engineer has, the longer he is likely to remain employed.
Writing skills are important.

Answer 3

Something one of my professors always tells us: Everyone else has it easy. All they have to do is learn how to do their own job. Engineers have to learn how to do their own job, as well as everyone else's, so that when the time comes, we can explain to everyone else what we're doing in terms that they'll understand.

Engineering isn't always just about math and science and crunching numbers. We have to know how to take all those things and turn them into coherent thought--usually easier said than done. I can rattle you off Bernoulli's Equation, but if you didn't know anything about it, I would have to be able to explain what it meant, in a way that made sense.

Yes, we do need to get our thoughts across through writing. That really is the most important part. We need to be able to take the data that we collect, the numbers we calculate, and turn them into words that everyone else can understand at a glance. We need to translate from what our customers ask of us, into engineering, then back into something that they'll understand when they ask us how our project is progressing. Engineering (be it civil, mechanical, electrical, computer, etc) is a language in and of itself, made up of numbers and equations and experiments and techical details. Writing forces us to translate all of that back to something less confusing.

Despite the common misconception of engineers being bad writers, I think we HAVE to be good writers, moreso than, say, a history major, who can always go back and cite some source or text. The only thing we have to cite is our data. And most of the engineers/engineering students I know aren't bad writers--we just don't LIKE writing, most of the time.

Answer 4

The most compelling reason is purely selfish. You will stand out in the crowd. You will appear unusual,on the beneficial side, if you communicate clearly and concisely.

The first impression a prospective employer will get, is what you have written in you application and resume.

Answer 5

Simply put:
If an engineer can't communicate his
expertise, hes useless.
He must clearly explain complex problems to
simple clients on a regular basis.
(I'm retired, I can say it now!)

Answer 6

if you write well, they make you spend your whole life on documentation.
MIKE