My name is Maraj Phatandain and this is my English 21007 (Writing for Engineers) Portfolio. Here you will find several pieces of my work as well as a self evaluation of my writing skills throughout the Fall 2018 semester.

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Self Evaluation

My experience throughout this course was truly life changing. I must first give most of the credit to my inspiring professor Maryam Alikhani. In the beginning of this course, I felt as though my writing was average. I never considered myself a great writer because I always resonated with math and science as opposed to writing and English. I enrolled for this course to learn about the middle ground of engineering and literature. In the end, there were three major assignments that honed my writing skills as an engineer.

My first assignment had to do with choosing a concept and writing a report on it. A report consists of describing the concept, explaining how it works, and showing how an understanding of the concept can be beneficial to the world in which we live. Being very similar to a science project, my group and I had no trouble creating the report as we’ve had experience creating one before. As I was working on this paper, I did learn new words in the process. Through comments and tips from my professor, we learned how to be more direct and get straight to the important aspects of the paper. We did this by using strong adjectives and transition words. All in all, I feel this assignment increased my vocabulary and ability to make a paper flow.

The second assignment I was given was a Technical Description in which I described all the parts and science to a thermos. This assignment was individual and had two parts. A technical poem and a technical description. I was never fond of poetry, and I am still not fond of poetry but creating a poem on a thermos helped me think of the thermos in a different way. While using imagery and metaphors to promote the use of a thermos, I gained a creative view of a thermos. After writing my poem, I thought of a thermos as a living thing and gained a more positive view of it. The technical description was a specific description of all the parts of a thermos. In doing this, I gained a full understanding of a thermos and how all of its parts work together to keep drinks a constant temperature. This was an unusual and interesting assignment and I think it forced me to learn many new vocabulary words. Most importantly, I learned more about vacuums and how its utilized to make a thermos as efficient as it is.

Last but not least, my final group assignment was a proposal on an innovative product or idea to solve a problem that is faced from day to day. In my opinion, this was the hardest, yet more interesting assignment in that it forced us to think outside of the box. Critical thinking was a large part of the course and this paper proposal. My group and I proposed the Fire Suppressant Grenade which is a spherical device about half the size of a soccer ball that suppresses fires once thrown into one. Within this assignment, my group and I utilized persuasion to get readers to buy and invest in our product. When I am working in the future for a company, I now have the courage to write and submit a proposal to promote any idea I think is worth sharing. New ideas and inventions change lives every day and being able to write a proposal is a start.

 

Links to My Self-Evaluation:

1. Word: Self Evaluation
2. Docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UDibtoP6Y9_OXGmkSnop0Q8FmUEhvK8bGgMGfktDu5I/edit?usp=sharing

For a better insight, feel free to read my papers throughout the semester with the links provided below.

Assignment 1

1. Here is a link to my first major paper in the class! In this assignment, I researched and tested the efficiency of water drainage through a vortex. This is a downloadable Microsoft Word Link. Lab Report (1).
2. If you are more comfortable with docs, here is a link to access my first assignment. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1leC9BZZAAt1n_CnYRE2FKr_erxYAQxOb_Vt08uM-X8A/edit?usp=sharing

Assignment 2

1. Here is a link to my second major paper on technically describing a thermos! This is a downloadable Microsoft Word Link. Technical Description_ Thermos.
2. If you are more comfortable with docs, here is a link to access my second assignment. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tLWWDSJKOUEqPHlM5Ty-4xXtXlk6PiwahZEIlUwN04Y/edit?usp=sharing

Assignment 3

1. Here you will find a link to my third and final project/paper! This is a downloadable Microsoft Word Link. Fire Suppressant Grenade (2)
2. For a accessible docs file, click this link! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BrTXrlTq3r1ZWz62phYUYWKgDy9Kz5G-tbFUf7bwr6g/edit?usp=sharing

 

All in all!

I had an amazing and beneficial experience in this class. My professor was amazing and her style of teaching was very inspirational. I have learned more than expected on technical writing styles and I cant wait to utilize my abilities to make a change in the future.