The AE department has supported and continues to support writing. They consulted with the KU Writing Center initially in order to get ideas about student writing. When I was hired, I began using writing projects in the three-course sequence with this in mind: to make connections between the courses and to use writing to emphasize those links.
Our department also emphasizes that AE students work on different types of written reports. The students are taught to consider their audience and to adopt a voice that is appropriate for each. The technical reports that engineers write often use the passive voice. However, proposals may go to non-engineers and as such are more appropriately written using the active voice. For instance, if an engineer uses too much of an optimistic, salesmanship voice (active) that is short on precise details when speaking to fellow engineers, they will rip the presenter apart. And conversely, if a group of non-engineers listens to a report written with a dry, passive voice, they rip the presenter apart.
