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Free E-Book for IEEE Members: Writing for Success—An Engineer’s Guide, Volume 1

By Georgia C. Stelluto

Writing well is important for today’s engineer. Proposals, reports, technical articles, instructional guides, specifications, RFPs, test plans, SOPs, marketing data sheets, white papers, patent applications, and numerous other specialized documents are part of engineers’ responsibilities in every discipline.

In the first book of this four-book series, award-winning author Tom Moran presents writing from an engineer’s perspective — looking at comparisons between the steps that lead to good engineering practice — and those that result in writing excellence.

This book is not a technical writing text — at least, not the type of text used in most university classrooms. Instead, Moran’s hope is that it will serve as an inspiration and guide to help engineers approach their writing tasks with the same confidence and skill that they take to the technical problems that confront them. When that happens, they will find that the emails, reports, test-plans, and other documents they write are as useful, successful and valued as their engineering efforts.

From 1-31 October, IEEE-USA is offering Writing for Success—An Engineer’s Guide, Volume 1:  Designing for Success free to IEEE members. Please look for the download link in your monthly Today’s Engineer Email Update, which should arrive in your email inbox on 16 October.

From 1-30 November, IEEE-USA’s free E-Book for members will be The Best of Backscatter from Today’s Engineer—Volume 1. The first e-book in this series contains a collection of columns from a former IEEE Spectrum editor, Donald Christiansen, about “all things engineer and engineering.”

IEEE members can purchase the other three books in Tom Moran’s writing series, additional volumes in the Best of Backscatter series, and other IEEE-USA E-Books at deeply discounted prices by going to IEEE-USA E-Books at http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks/default.asp

To purchase IEEE member-only products and to receive the member discount on eligible products, members must log in with their IEEE Web account.

Call for Authors

The IEEE-USA E-Book Editorial Board is seeking authors to help introduce a series of 12 e-books in 2013, under the title: Shaping an Engineering Career. This series will bring the life experiences of engineers and engineering managers who have built successful careers on both successes and failures.

Shaping an Engineering Career will include personal recollections by engineers and managers who can demonstrate through life experiences the satisfaction from being immersed in their career. This E-Book series will also address how careers were shaped — and the circumstances that shaped them.

The Shaping an Engineering Career E-Book series is a volunteer effort.  The chair of the E-Book Editorial Board, Gus Gaynor, will write Book 1. 

If you have an interest in writing one of these E-Books, or suggesting a substitute, email Gus Gaynor, Chair, IEEE-USA E-Book Editorial Board at (g.gaynor@ieee.org).

• Book 1:   Introduction to the Series (Gus Gaynor)

• Book 2:   Technological Leadership

• Book 3    The Engineering Environment: Management’s Expectations

• Book 4:   Digital Technology: Hardware Engineering

• Book 5:   Digital Technology: Software Engineering

• Book 6:   Research

• Book 7:   Product Development

• Book 8:   Manufacturing Engineering

• Book 9:   Equipment Design

• Book 10: Systems Engineering

• Book 11: Engineers as Innovators and Entrepreneurs

• Book 12: Advancing to Management

Authors: This series of E-Books describes the challenges that engineers and their managers face in building their careers. The objective: document the progression from neophyte engineer to either specialist or manager; who and what inspired you, and how; how you dealt with successes and failures; how you integrated your work with other colleagues; how the organizational culture affected your performance; how you dealt with non-supportive managers; and end with recommendations for a successful career.

E-Books should be between eight and ten thousand words.  More details on formatting your E-Book for submission will be discussed, when and if you are chosen to participate in this project.

	Comments on this story may be emailed directly to Today's Engineer or submitted through our online form.

Georgia C. Stelluto is IEEE-USA’s publishing manager, editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA in ACTION, and manager/editor of IEEE-USA E-Books.

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.

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