ECE 582: Electrical and Computer Engineering Design I Introduction, TI Contest, and Technical Definitions

Office Hours Chris Barthol Office:Caldwell 380 Office Hours: MWF 1-3pm Please me before hand

Goals for this lecture TI Contest Go over technical definitions Assignments  Resume  Due Today

TI Contest gram/index.htm gram/index.htm

Technical Definitions Chapter 3 in Pocket Book of Technical Writing by Finkelstein “In technical writing, definition is the process by which one assigns a precise meaning to a term.” – Fink, p.25

Technical Definitions II (Qualifier +) Term = Classification + Differentiation Qualifier:  “used when general context for a definition needs to be established up front” – Fink p.26 Classification:  “a general category in which the term fits” – Fink p.27 Differentiation:  “Narrowing the meaning of the term to just one possibility within the class.” – Fink p.29

Technical Definitions III Know you audience Define abbreviations the first time you use them Your technical definition may spur the need for more technical definitions. (Extensions – Fink page 30)  Further definition  Compare and Contrast  Classification  Cause and Effect  Process  Exemplification  Etymology

Abstraction Ladder

Group Time Form into groups