Communicating in Mechanical Engineering

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Another common mistake many engineering instructors identify in student writing is that writers give little or no consideration to formatting. Whenever you produce a document, you should always consider how you've organized your thoughts and how you can make this known to the reader. For example, if you're writing a report, you should use headings and subheadings to alert your readers of the various sections your report presents. Then, bolding or somehow highlighting (with various font sizes, etc.) these headings can make them stand out to your readers. Also, consider how your document appears. In other words, you should use a consistent style (according to the style guidelines in your discipline). This includes margin sizes, line spacing, and even the title page you attach to the front of your document. The final draft your instructor collects should look good enough to send to a publication or a conference.