Intro and Blog 1

Hi my name is Cory Beck and I'm majoring in Computer Engineering. After I graduate I would love to pursue a career with a government contractor developing new hardware/software solutions for the military. Something interesting....I was just about to have shoulder surgery because of a mountain biking accident my freshman year and I decided to make a bet with the doctor (I had already had some medication at this point). He told me earlier that once he started the anesthesia, I wouldn't be able to count past 15 before I went to sleep. I bet a dollar I could count to 20. When he started the anesthesia, I started counting aloud, "1...2...3..." and by the time I got to 13 I was skipping numbers on accident. He made me go back to the numbers I missed. I only remember getting to 15 or 16 but when I woke up from surgery I had a dollar in my pocket and a note that read, "Congratulations, you made it to 20"! :-)

There is a seemingly endless amount of communication in my field. One of the most important forms of communication is written documents from customers that specify how a piece of hardware or software is supposed to function. It's important for the engineers to be able to interpret these documents and communicate with each other. Meetings and emails are other forms of communication that enable engineers to collaborate with each other and work out issues with whatever product is being designed. Besides using documents, emails, and meetings, engineers also use nonverbal communication like body language and graphics for GUIs.

Good communication is characterized by the ability to not only write documentation, but to be able to interpret it also. Being able to write clear and effective software design documents will allow software developers to work efficiently. If the document isn't so clear, having the ability to determine the intended message is also a great communication skill. Of course, oral communication skills are always necessary because in the end, whether for collaboration meetings or fancy demonstrations, engineers tend to meet face to face when it comes time to critique, test, and deploy new products.