The Engineer's Responsibilities in Technical Documents

The engineer today has a greater responsibility than ever before in his contribution to technical documentation. This responsibility has a number of facets. First, there is the obligation to himself in the furtherance of his career. Then there is the duty to his company in the fulfillment of his assignments. Finally, there is his accountability to the scientific community. It is the purpose of this paper to point out some of the ways in which the engineer can discharge these obligations. There is no easy road from engineer to writer, and the techniques discussed here do not pretend to achieve this end. The purpose of this paper is to point out the ways in which the engineer can improve his documentation output and thus enhance not only his image in the eyes of his supervisors, but also the company's image in the eyes of the customer. Man is innately ambitious. He has a desire to advance materially and socially, and such an advance is usually achieved as a result of universal recognition of his capabilities. In other occupations, this recognition is achieved through advertising and/or public-relations campaigns. The engineer is often not aware of the advertising potential of his documentation efforts, and therefore he often neglects this important approach to recognition. The success of an engineer's employer bears directly upon the prospects of the engineer. Basically, the engineer must do good engineering to help his company prosper.