Overview
As an engineer, you will be required to take a systems thinking approach to your work, which will require you to pull back from the minutia of technical inquiry to consider the whole systems that you are operating in. Regardless of your field of engineering, you and your work will be part of larger local, regional, and global systems and will interact with and affect the people living and working in those systems.
The “with Social and Global Implications” part of your Engineering Economics course asks you to engage in systems thinking, starting with this assignment. In this assignment, you will begin the decision-making process as outlined in Chapter 1 of your Engineering Economics textbook by conducting research on a global issue and considering the social, health, economic, and global implications.
Audience
Almost everything you write or speak as a professional engineer will be directed to some audience. Sometimes it will be a specific person, or a specific small group of people (your team, or the C-suite, for example), and sometimes it will be a more general group, such as “the citizens of Tampa Bay,” for example. In any case, it is important that you think about who your audience is, and how to speak to them.
AUDIENCE FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT
Your audience for this assignment is: Your manager, Lena, who has little to no background on plastic and microplastic pollution and needs to know more.
In this scenario, you are conducting research that you will report to someone else.
Your language should be plain and include clarifying descriptions as appropriate.
PROFESSIONAL SCENARIOS
Professional scenarios for this type of communication include: research for project proposals; research for clients; research for entrepreneurial endeavors; job talks
Sample Solution