Engineering and communications Prompt #3

By Ryan Ellis

The importance of getting involved in programs related engineering can't be expressed enough. It is said that if you are an engineering major and your university has a formula one racing team, it would be in your best interest to join it. An engineer is all but guaranteed a job out college if they were on the school Formula One or Baja racing team.

A major component of being involved in a school team like Formula One is effective communication with your peers/group members. Communication varies in different areas in the world of engineering. I decided to interview my Father, an Assistant Manager in body weld operations for the Toyota Motor Company in Plymouth, Michigan. According to my father, Jeffery Ellis, writing and communication at Toyota other than non formal emails is done in reports called A3/A4 reports. These reports a formal presentation documents that present an issue, what the issue is causing in the company, and what can be done to solve it.

According to Jeffery, the key to A3 and A4 reports is "Not so many words - to be as visual as possible." Commenting on the structure of the reports, Jeffery also said that "(It) can be difficult to simplify complex problems or engineering proposals into high level single page format using as little verbiage as possible."

The main idea here is that communication is of upmost importance. Wether its in the form of written reports or oral presentations, commutation is the key to being a successful engineer.