Getting in the Right Mindset for Engineering School

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Bart Leahy

If you’re a literary person at heart, engineering school might seem a bit intimidating. What I have going in my favor is that I’ve been documenting and observing aerospace engineers’ work for 15 years now. If I haven’t had the precise educations they’ve had, I’ve at least seen them in action so I know what to expect. What follows are my thoughts as I get myself in the right frame of mind to attend classes soon. Continue reading →

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The Difference Between Engineering and Design

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Bart Leahy

One of my genius engineer friends asked me to define the difference between engineering and design. I am going to tap dance around this question just a bit because I’ve never actually been an engineer, just watched them work. Wish me luck! Continue reading →

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Space Writing: It’s About More Than Just Conference Papers!

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Bart Leahy

Last week I received an email from a physics student named Curtis. He had a project for an English class dealing with writing cultures and wanted to understand the writing culture at NASA. Needless to say, he came to the right place. : ) His specific questions below wanted to get at how and why technical writers support engineers in the space business. Continue reading →

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When is a Test a Failure?

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Bart Leahy

From an early age, we’re taught/trained to pass tests. It’s an unfortunate word educators use for knowledge assessments because it can warp our attitudes toward tests in the scientific or engineering worlds. Experiments and hardware tests can have different definitions of failure that don’t (necessarily) reflect on the person(s) performing it. Continue reading →

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Saving Lives With Checklists

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Bart Leahy

The recent scary engine fire aboard United flight 328 reminded me that a lot of our transportation infrastructure depends greatly upon clear, easy-to-read technical documentation–specifically, checklists. Today I’ll walk through some helpful guidelines for pilot checklists…or any checklist, for that matter. Continue reading →

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