Although many students prefer texting, email is still the prevalent form of communication on campus and in industry. Writing email is more complicated than it appears and often causes miscommunication. To write effective emails, writers need to consider the target audience and purpose of the email, among other aspects. This one-session workshop will cover email language issues such as tone, appropriate salutations and closings, and other issues such as the responsible use of the medium.

Many engineering conferences require the submission of a written abstract as the first step in writing a paper. In this two-session workshop, students will learn to identify the elements of a well-written abstract, write one of their own, and receive peer and instructor feedback on it.

In the first of four sessions, graduate students will learn the basics of presentation design and delivery appropriate for contexts such as research group and conference presentations. The following session will be devoted to instructor and peer evaluation of the slides students create outside the workshop. For the final two to three sessions, workshop participants will give individual ten-minute PowerPoint presentations. While one student presents, the others in the group will evaluate the delivery and slide design and then provide written and oral feedback. Each presentation will be filmed so the students will have a record of it.

This is a three-session workshop for students who will be presenting their research in poster form. The first session will cover the unique design requirements for a poster and how to speak with the poster’s audience. The second session will be used to discuss actual engineering conference posters and logistics of poster sessions. Finally, in the third session, students will bring in a draft of their own poster and receive peer and instructor feedback on it.

Engineers often need to discuss their research with non-experts. This one-session workshop covers the contexts and purposes of these talks, as well as the need to do audience analysis and how to adapt one's message to a particular audience. These adaptations include language use, appealing to different learning styles, and nonverbal communication.

In the first session of this two-session-long workshop, students will view examples of various graphics and learn how to create them for use in conference and journal papers, in addition to PowerPoint slides. Workshop participants will create their own graphics and bring these to the second workshop session to receive peer and instructor feedback.

This is a five-session-long workshop for students who want to refresh or enhance their knowledge of basic written English and learn strategies for identifying and correcting errors. The sessions will focus on common grammar problems and typical issues in punctuation and mechanics. Workshop participants will write brief professional biography, as well as one other document. Both documents will receive peer and instructor feedback.

If you’re using your time away from campus to start writing an academic research paper, you may be interested in this workshop to help you with the literature review section (also called the introduction or background section) of your paper. This is where you need to refer to previous research in your area and organize that research in a meaningful way. This workshop consists of three one-hour sessions in which you will learn how to organize and write your literature review and do guided peer review on your draft with other students in the workshop.

This is a one-session condensed version of the “Writing a Publishable Paper” workshop to provide students with an introduction to writing an academic paper. It includes information on how to decide where to publish, the publication process, and the typical organization and components of a journal or conference paper. This workshop is intended for graduate students who do not yet have any research ready for publication.

Students seeking positions in academia need a CV, rather than a resume, for their application. The first session of this two-session workshop will cover the essential information and organization of a CV, and the second session will be used for students to bring in a draft of their CV for peer and instructor feedback.

This one-session workshop is held every fall and spring semester before the Purdue Engineering Student Council (PESC) Industrial Roundtable and EXPO, respectively. Topics covered include using the PESC website to identify and research potential employers; a job fair day plan; meeting with recruiters; and special job search tips for international students.

This is a one-session workshop covering the use of etiquette in written, spoken, and nonverbal communication in professional contexts such as the job search process. Students will learn how to make a good impression on potential employers in writing, to interact verbally, and to be aware of the impact of their body language and table manners.

This is a two-session-long workshop to help students write resumes and cover letters for job applications. The first session covers the information that both documents should contain, and the second session provides an opportunity for students to bring in a draft of their resume and cover letter for peer and instructor feedback.

After documents are revised for content and organization, writers need to edit their work for readability. This four-session workshop will give participants the tools they need to polish the final version of a paper. Using a piece of their own unpublished written work, students will learn how to edit it for tone, conciseness, coherence, and grammatical and mechanical accuracy. This interactive workshop will also include peer revision as students provide feedback on each other's writing.

For students finishing their M.S. in engineering and planning to apply to a Ph.D. program, this two-session workshop will focus on writing a more detailed statement-of-purpose (SOP) essay to attract the attention of prospective faculty advisors. In the first session, students will consider the content and language of the SOP. The second session will be devoted to peer review of students’ SOP drafts tailored to a specific Ph.D. program at a university of their choice.

This 11-session long workshop is designed to guide advanced Ph.D. students through the process of writing a journal or conference paper based on their individual research. At the conclusion of this workshop, students should have a paper that is ready to submit to a conference or journal. Because the workshop will focus on the content, structure, and process of writing the paper, students already will need to possess strong skills in written English. Topics covered in the workshop include audience awareness, library research strategies, copyright concerns, and the individual sections of a conference or journal paper. Students will be expected to write both during and outside of the workshop and participate in guided peer review sessions of their written work. The focus of the feedback will be on the content and organization of the writing rather than the grammar.

The selection of academic papers for publication in journals or presentation at conferences depends upon the ability of peer reviewers who can objectively judge the suitability of the paper for a particular venue. This three-session-long workshop is designed to help graduate students understand the review process, write an effective review, and learn how to respond to reviewers' comments. Students participating in this workshop will need to have access to an unpublished manuscript in their field; they will write a review of it based on the criteria supplied by the actual venue to which the manuscript will be/has been submitted. The final session will be devoted to instructor and peer evaluation of the review.

Fellowship programs sponsored by government agencies and foundations such as the EPA, NASA, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, the Ford Foundation, and Hertz Foundation offer opportunities for graduate students to help fund their education. In the first session of this two-session workshop, students will learn how to interpret fellowship application essay requirements and do prewriting activities. The following session will consist of instructor and peer evaluation of an essay the students write according to the requirements of a fellowship application of their choice.