Communication Mechanics: A Podcast for Engineers

Communication Mechanics
Communication Mechanics: A Podcast for Engineers

Welcome to Communication Mechanics! Hosted by the Webb Communication Program at Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. In each episode, we explore how communication shapes the success of  engineers, researchers, and industry professionals. Join us as we share stories of triumphs, challenges, and the strategies that fuel success. Whether you're a seasoned pro, an aspiring student, or simply passionate about engineering, listen as we demystify compelling communication in the world of mechanical engineering.

Episodes

  1. APR 7

    Prepping for NSF GRFP Applications

    In the Season 2 Finale, Jill sits down with Dr. Alena Alamgir, Director of Technical Communication for Materials Science at Georgia Tech. The two discuss preparing documentation and application materials for the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, or NSF GRFP.  Show Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 Intro and Welcome 01:33 The Basics: What is NSF GRFP? 04:07 How many years does the Fellowship fund? 04:59 Restraints on who can apply 05:59 Documentation and Composing Required Documents 13:48 Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts as Criteria in Practice 18:00 Practicing Framing Research Problems to Align with NSF Priorities 20:38 Questions for advisors before applying 22:14 Considering and soliciting recommendation letters 30:13 Preparing for Applicant Workshops and Primary Purpose of Workshop Attendance 36:05 How to get the most out of attending the workshops and actionable steps for applying 39:43 When the solicitation comes out and episode wrap upA transcript of this episode is available here.  We will return for Season 3 of Communication Mechanics in the Fall of 2025.  Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.

    44 min

  2. MAR 24

    Engineering Safety Communication

    In this episode, host Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Mark Ligler, Vice President of Factory Automation Systems in Georgia and member of the Woodruff School Advisory board, to talk about the importance of communicating safety in engineering.  Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 Introductions and guest introductions 01: 33 Importance of safety to future engineers 04:32 Helping others communicate safety needs 08:04 Poor safety communication leading to issues 11:15 Building a safety culture 13:55 Effective safety communication 18:30 Leaders and Managers communicating the importance of safety 20:37 Safety communication in high vs low risk fields 22:45 Common mistakes in safety communication 24:46 Common mistakes in safety signage 28:18 Role of the engineer as a safety communicator 36:08 Challenges engineers can fix by anticipating them 40:48 Final thoughts and advice on learning engineering safetyA transcript of this episode is available here.  Podcast edited by Lee Hibbard.

    43 min

  3. MAR 10

    Code Commenting

    In this episode, host Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. David Torello, Director of the Clark Scholars Program and the College of Engineering's Dean's Scholars Program in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. The two discuss code commenting, an oft overlooked communication genre in Engineering, and consider best practices and use cases for creating effective code comments.  Show Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 - Introducing guest 02:02 - Code Commenting as Communication 03:14 - Purpose of Code Commenting 05:44 - Mapping out Communication for Code Commenting 09:17 - Genre Expectations for Code Commenting 15:33 - Audience needs and Usability of Code Commenting 23:02 - Code Commenting Ethos and Impact of Code Comments 24:53 - Trustworthiness of Code Comments 30:29 - Quality of Code Comments 34:15 - Student Perspectives on Code Commenting 37:56 - What David wants to see from Code Comments 42:04 - Advice for students wanting to keep their skills fresh 46:14 - General advice for code commenting and understanding communicationA transcript of this episode is available here. Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.

    51 min

  4. FEB 24

    Bridging Design and Machining: How to Create Effective Technical Drawings

    In this episode, host Jill Fennell talks to Dr. David Smith, lecturer in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and Scott Elliot, manager of the Machine Shop at the Montgomery Machining Mall about the importance of creating technical drawings that communicate information effectively between engineers and machinists.  Show Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 - Welcome and Introductions 02:56 - Thinking about technical drawing as communication 05:40 - what engineers need to know about the role of the machinist 07:43 - examples of students not knowing the machinist’s needs 11:45 - Importance of anticipating communication needs between engineer and machinist 13:39 - Contracts and Machinist’s response to questions or uncertainties in a drawing 16:18 - Information that should (and should not) be included in technical drawings 21:34 - Machine Design assignment David gives to refresh specific skills 27:26 - Advice for students in ME 1670 to best understand the genre 32:02 - what is the most important aspect of technical drawing from the machinist’s point of view 34:28 - what is and is not the machinist’s job? 38:36 - recommendations for students working with Montgomery Mall for the first time A transcript of this episode is available here.  Edited by Lee Hibbard

    42 min

  5. FEB 10

    Transferring Fundamental Communication Skills to Engineering

    In the first episode of Season Two of Communication Mechanics, Dr. Jill Fennell is joined by Dr. Andy Frazee, Director of Writing and Communication in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Lending his expertise in the first year writing sequence of English 1101 and 1102, he offers strategies and connections between required communications courses and technical courses for early career engineering students.  Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction to Topic and Guest: 00:56 Learning transferring skills in English 1101 and 1102: 2:37 Understanding Audience, Purpose, and Genre: 6:08 How Decision and Design courses in ME are similar to 1101 and 1102: 11:34 ME 1670 and English 1101/2 and maximizing transfer between the two:  14:04 Importance of collaboration and intersection between collaboration and communication: 16:53 Transferable concepts and the importance of process: 20:09 Scaffolding design reports and process work in ME and English: 24:01 Revision skills and internalizing process: 26:05 Transferring basic writing skills from 1101/2 to ME 1670: 33:13 Communication decisions and the power of intentional decision making in your communication: 40:34 Final advice on transfer, intentionality, and communication decisions: 43:56A transcript of the episode is available here. Episode Edited by Lee Hibbard

    45 min

  6. 11/11/2024

    Communication Mechanics Episode 5: Communicating Senior Design Projects - Lessons from Capstone Winners with Mechkiwis, Part 2

    In Part 2 of the final episode of Season 1 of the podcast, Dr. Jill Fennell speaks to three members of the team that won in the category of Best Mechanical Engineering Project at the Spring 2024 Capstone Engineering Expo, the Mechkiwis. Seniors Isabelle Gustafson, Miguel Daly, and Sana Hafeez share the experience they and their fellow teammates - Claudia Vitale, Lena Moller, and Maxwell Gart - had creating communication materials for their project and designing a successful expo presentation. Shownotes and Timestamps: 01:11 Third category: Innovative nature of the team’s solution 09:38 Fourth category: Presentation energy at the Expo 13:01 Team’s delivery during pitch and how it contributes to audience investment 16:40 Presentations and matching the energy levels between presenter and audience 23:09 Unexpected challenges or successes 27:48 Advice and Tips for future presenters and engineering students 29:46 Wrap up and outro Thanks for listening to season 1 of the podcast. Season 2 will begin in early 2025.

    31 min

  7. 11/04/2024

    Communication Mechanics Episode 5: Communicating Senior Design Projects - Lessons from Capstone Winners with Mechkiwis, Part 1

    In Part 1 of the final episode of Season 1 of the podcast, Dr. Jill Fennell speaks to three members of the team that won in the category of Best Mechanical Engineering Project at the Spring 2024 Capstone Engineering Expo, the Mechkiwis. Seniors Isabelle Gustafson, Miguel Daly, and Sana Hafeez share the experience they and their fellow teammates - Claudia Vitale, Lena Moller, and Maxwell Gart - had creating communication materials for their project and designing a successful expo presentation.  Part 2 will be posted next week on Monday, November 11th. Shownotes and Timestamps 01:08 Episode Introduction and Guest Introduction 03:30 Capstone project introduction 05:10 Working on a Medical Project in an Engineering Context 07:25 Adjusting to different communication demands for the project 10:35 Team distribution of audience analysis and communication choices 13:27  Communication challenges in different parts of the project 18:25  Introduction to The Expo Judging Rubric 19:22 Team’s consultation of Judging Rubric and Expo preparations 26:57 First category: the Problem the team is solving 32:54 Second category: Solution to the problem 41:37 Usage of cadaver photos during the Expo and how to show them appropriately

    46 min

  8. 10/21/2024

    Communication Mechanics Episode 4: Writing Effective Technical Reports - Beyond Chronological Narratives

    In this episode Dr. Jill Fennell speaks with Dr. David MacNair, Director of Laboratory Development at Georgia Tech, about technical reports and the importance of moving beyond chronological narratives in engineering communication.  Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction to topic and guest 00:54 Technical Reports and their role in Engineering 04:28 Communication challenges for novice report writers 05:48 Significance of organization in avoiding pitfalls 07:07 Importance of organization in relation to pre-determined formats 10:34 Why writing chronologically is not the best option 12:47 Impact of poorly written reports on decision making 15:40 Importance of considering specific clients in teaching report writing 16:25 Why choosing an organizational strategy is the Engineer’s job 20:58 Examples of prioritizing client needs and the impact on report organization 22:48 Guiding students towards making effective organization decisions 26:08 Specific Organizational Strategies, importance of considering audience 28:54 When chronological IS appropriate or best 31:03 Results and Discussion sections and importance of organization within them 34:42 Actionable advice and tips for students to improve their organizational skills 40:14 Wrap up 42:09

    43 min

  9. 10/07/2024

    Communication Mechanics Episode 3: Understanding Audiences

    In this episode Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. David Anderson, Principal Engineer at Exponent, to talk about the importance of understanding audience in Engineering Communications.  Show Notes and Timestamps Episode Introduction 00:56 Why engineers should prioritize audience 2:02 How did you realize the importance of understanding audience 03:20 Audience influence on design decisions 05:22 Audience needs - anticipating and addressing 12:32 How can new engineers learn about different workplace roles and expectations 14:32 Sharing Information for specific stakeholders 17:03 Examples of Successes and Challenges in Engineering Communication 22:33 Unique difficulties of engineering communication 29:43

    38 min

  10. 09/23/2024

    Communication Mechanics Episode 2: Applying to Graduate School

    In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell has a conversation about applying to graduate school with Dr. Andrei Fedorov, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.   Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction and Guest Introduction 00:54 Purpose of graduate school application documents 02:03 CRISP acronym for a successful grad school applications 05:42 C -Creative 06:08 R - Research 06:41 I - Integrity 08:25 S - Specific 09:09 P - Powerful 10:47 Documents for Grad School applications 11:45 Prompt based personal statements at the Woodruff School 12:19 Prompt 1: Self description and introductions 13:43 Prompt 2: What sets you apart 17:25 Prompt 3: Why this school 19:13 Personal statement deep dive 22:58 How personal should a personal statement be? 23:39 Tailoring Yourself to the School 24:19 Culture of different schools 26:19 Dos and don'ts 28:21 When to start application process 33:12 Return to communication principles 35:55 Wrap up and outro 37:19

    39 min

  11. 09/08/2024

    Communication Mechanics Episode 1: The Webb Communication Program Goals and Tenets

    In this inaugural episode, podcast host Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. Amit S. Jariwala, Director of Design and Innovation at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering to discuss the Goals and Tenets of the Webb Communication Program.  Show Notes and Timestamps:  Introduction, meeting the host and guest: 00:00 Webb Communication Program Goals: 03:45 Program History and Purpose: 06:32         Program structure and scaffolding: 08:28 Program Core Tenets 11:58         Implicit Task 1: Balancing Cognitive Load and Content: 18:34 Implicit Task 2: Determining what counts as information: 21:34 Implicit Task 3: Determining the actionable threshold: 22:38 Implicit Task 4: The Trustworthiness Threshold: 25:49 Implicit Task 5: Understanding Genre: 28:23                 Situational Learning: 33:26                         Audience Avatars: 36:52 Tenets’ reflection of Engineering Students’ Needs: 39:49 Program’s alignment with Industry Expectations: 42:39 Appropriateness and Responsiveness in different learning scenarios: 45:03 Working with GTAs and TAs on giving communication skills feedback: 47:24 Communication and success in engineering careers: 49:17 Advice and information for incoming students: 51:09         Unique features of program: 53:31 Student Takeaways from podcast episode: 54:14___ This podcast was edited by Dr. Lee Hibbard, Lecturer in Technical Communication at the University of Michigan school of Engineering.

    56 min
  • 11 Episodes

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About

Welcome to Communication Mechanics! Hosted by the Webb Communication Program at Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. In each episode, we explore how communication shapes the success of  engineers, researchers, and industry professionals. Join us as we share stories of triumphs, challenges, and the strategies that fuel success. Whether you're a seasoned pro, an aspiring student, or simply passionate about engineering, listen as we demystify compelling communication in the world of mechanical engineering.

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