Andrew Malcolm earned a New York State Regents’ diploma in electricity (1948) and diploma in electrical technology (1950) from Westchester Community College in New York. He worked as an electronics technician, design engineer, and chief draftsman before becoming an engineering writer in 1960. Then, for ten years he worked as an engineering writer in the military and aerospace electronics industries. He returned to college and received a BS and MS in printing (1971, 1977). From 1972 to 2001, he has taught English to engineering and science students at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.

Prof. Malcolm has applied electronics to teaching English to the deaf using the synchronous display of print with speech sound. His research has included testing the efficacy of instruction by this simultaneous method, including demonstrating that flashing target words and morphemes on a video screen results in statistically significant improvement in student performance. He has also demonstrated improved learning techniques for hard-of-hearing students (as contrasted with the profoundly deaf) and the significance of class size, class time, and attendance to learning.

Prof. Malcolm is a life member of IEEE having joined the IRE in 1954. He has been published in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on Engineering in Medicine & Biology, IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation Communication magazine and IEEE-USA Impact. He was general manager of the Indian River Engineer, the newsletter of the Cape Canaveral Section of IRE, 1959—1962; general chair of the 1984 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference; member of the IEEE-USA Health Care Engineering Policy Committee, 1987—1991; editor for the IEEE-USA Technology Policy Council, 1990—1992; and has presented one or two S-PAC talks each year since 1995.

Prof. Malcolm has been president of the Teachers of English and Language Arts special interest group of the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf and has been published in American Annals of the Deaf and Teaching to the Deaf and Second Language Learners. He has received many awards for writing, including the Gannet Newspapers' Golden Pen award. He was secretary of the Society for Technical Communication (2002—2004), has been published in STC journals, and has been a fellow of STC since 1986.

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WINNING RÉSUMÉS

Like anyone else seeking employment, engineers prepare their résumés to convince prospective employers of their abilities. Often, however, in writing their résumés, many applicants fail to respond to the needs of the readers, that is, their prospective employers.

This presentation will focus on audience analysis for producing winning résumés. In large companies, résumés are usually read by human resources personnel first. Only when accepted by HR personnel are résumés sent to the real employers. That step is skipped in small companies. To write a résumé that wins an interview, an applicant must be aware of these dual roles and create a document which responds to the needs of both audiences. Techniques are included to use if one’s résumé doesn’t result in an interview. Advice is offered on the subject of truthfulness in what is included and what is not included in résumés.

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ENGINEERING WRITING

When electrical engineers communicate with printed words, their writing skills are exposed to customers, colleagues, and superiors. If their letters and reports to customers fail to communicate appropriately, their employers lose business. If engineers' reports and memos to colleagues and superiors obfuscate, they are likely to become less effective employees and are less likely to obtain employment rewards.

This presentation will use the product approach to improved writing. Formats for technical and other announcements, letters, memoranda, news releases, proposals, manufacturing and process procedures, reports and technical papers will be discussed, with examples. The speaker will also present simple, effective language structures to communicate complex ideas and will suggest word-processor techniques to maximize communication while saving the time of both writer and reader.

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HISTORY OF ELECTRICAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

The education of electrical engineers is often so concentrated that little time is devoted to the history of their field. Having an understanding of how scientific discovery occurred and the order in which electrical inventions appeared gives an engineer a valuable perspective on today's technology. Timing of invention and political influence are vital in reaping the rewards of new technology. DeForest & Fleming disputed over the invention of the vacuum tube, Westinghouse & Edison over DC vs. AC, and Armstrong & Sarnoff over the application of FM and TV.

The electron, unseen and unknown, has existed since the beginning of time, yet the benefits of its control have been applied for society's use for barely 125 years. This presentation will trace electrical discovery, science, and invention quickly from the Greek philosopher Thales (600 B.C.), and Ben Franklin (1706—1790) to Galvani, Faraday, Wheatstone, Morse, Bell, Edison, Westinghouse, Steinmetz, Tesla, Armstrong, DeForest, Zworkin, and Shockley, et al. The presentation ends with atomic power generation, stereo radio, color television, and mainframe computers.

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