English for Engineering

This section will explain a series of tasks that must be completed as homework.  You should complete five (5) tasks and two (2) presentations during the semester.  The tasks have deadlines that should be met because they will be discussed in class.  The tasks should be completed by writing between a paragraph and an essay to complete the task. Material that is not covered in the book should be researched from the internet, textbook or other sources. Some of the tasks have a project component as well that has to be completed by the deadline. All Tasks are based on the specified page from the textbook Cambridge English for Engineering.

You work for a manufacturer of hand tools and have been asked to investigate using alternative materials in your products. For instance look at the notes on for two examples:

1. Joiners' Hammers (for nails)
2. Lump Hammers (for masonry chisels)
3. Other types of hammers (please specify)

Consider the hammer head and the hammer shaft.  (What makes a hammer a useful tool? What materials would be ideal for these?  Why would they be ideal? What is the cost of these materials?)

1. Wood Saws (for cutting wood)
2. Hacksaws (for cutting metal)
3. Other saws (specify saw type and what it is meant to cut)

Consider the saw blade and the saw handle or frame. ((What makes a hammer a useful tool? What materials would be ideal for these?  Why would they be ideal? What is the cost of these materials?)

You may pick any type of hand tool that you are familiar with (pliers, screw driver, wrench, etc...) but make sure to include the name of the tool and the main use of the tool.

Possible research topics: Types of materials and why they would be good for a specific tool and what makes tools work in the way that they do

DUE: March 25th in class

You are working for an extreme sports manufacturer in the cluster ballooning department.  You should pick one of the listed (below and page 29) issues and write a way to overcome this problem.  Try to focus on making the sport of cluster ballooning more accessible to the general public (this means ease of use, materials used, re-usability of materials and cost).

1. Assembly time
2. How plastic cable ties are used
3. A tree structure
4. How water bags are used
5. The advantage of tying each individual balloon
6. The problem of using a net to contain the balloons
7. (not in textbook) The re-usability of materials (parachutes can be used many times, but if you pop balloons to descend(see story page 28), then new balloons would have to be purchased each time you did the sport.)

Possible research topics: More about the sport, the materials involved, types of balloons used and cost of materials

DUE: April 1st in class

Task 3


National Academy for Engineering at http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/