1. THOUGHTS ON THE QUOTE PICKED DURING THE FIRST LESSON 02/09

 “Without clear lines of communication, our ideas would stay within our own small development teams instead of becoming mature products. While this is obvious to those of us who have become experienced engineers, the real question is: Why is it lost to us when we are engineering students?”

~ Akbar R Khan, Software Systems Engineer, USA, “Good Communication Is Essential...” (2014)

In my opinion...

  • As engineering students, the quote resonates with us really well. Akbar delivered a really short yet sharp and concise message with the quote. It shows the transition in communication ability from engineering students to experienced engineers. From this we can infer that communication skills amongst engineers is developed with time and experience.

  • Based on our experiences, most of the lessons in school were theoretical. Although hard skills such as math and physics are beneficial to us during tests/work that requires calculations. Soft skills like interpersonal communication cannot be taught, as it must be cultivated through repeated practice.

  • We are thankful that in polytechnics (as well as in SIT) we were introduced to multiple interdisciplinary modules which shed some light on communication essentials.

  • Having a blend of normal theoretical engineering modules and interdisciplinary modules enabled students to be able to better communicate their designs/proposals in projects. With a broadened perspective, engineers are able to convey their ideas and thoughts through different means of communication such as verbal, non-verbal and visual aids.

Comments

  1. Xuan YiSeptember 4, 2024 at 11:47 PM

    I completely agree with all four of the points you made. Individuals will grow as engineers as they gain experience. and through some modules that we learned at Polytechnic and SIT, we were able to communicate using the points you mentioned. Verbal, nonverbal, and visual aids.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brad BlackstoneSeptember 6, 2024 at 7:59 PM

    Thanks for this highly detailed and insightful explanation, Krissh.

    ReplyDelete

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