For would-be engineers, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) sets the standards for university education. University engineering departments seeking accreditation must demonstrate how they meet the ABET criteria. […]
Many engineers have no idea how informative concrete petrography can be. That’s too bad, because concrete petrography is one of the most useful techniques in forensic engineering. Failure analysis of […]
Many professionals struggle to write engineering reports for clients.* Most engineering schools provide some instruction in report writing, but students’ reports tend to be formulaic and stilted. However, once students […]
While it may seem that natural disasters are becoming more frequent and more severe, it isn’t necessarily so. However, more people are moving to areas that are exposed to flooding, […]
In technical writing for clients, it’s often necessary to include numerical data in graphical or tabular form. Good tables and figures in technical writing make complex information much easier for […]
Agricultural concrete must be durable because farm animals generate wastes that are acidic and contain sulfates, chlorides, and other salts. Between the animal wastes and the cleaning that keeps the […]
Some engineering reports for clients are a few pages long, while others extend to 50 pages or longer. With long-form technical writing, most readers don’t have time to read the […]
ASTM C1709 provides a way to introduce alternative supplementary cementitious materials (ASCMs) into the marketplace. Supplementary cementitious materials include fly ash, slag cement, silica fume, and calcined clay. They can […]
ASTM C1556 is a test we use to assess the ability of concrete to resist the ingress of chloride ions. If we’re designing a high-performance concrete for a new parking […]
The art of technical writing—or any other writing—isn’t about getting it right the first time. It’s about editing until it’s right. That’s something to keep in mind when you’re having […]