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Project 3
Alvin Phung
ENGL 2100-202
April 27, 2016

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710 Germania Avenue
Murray, Utah 84123
April 4, 2016
Dear Potential Employers:
I would like to apply for an internship in the field of Mechanical Engineering. I want to get
experience and meet the needs of my future career by working with your organization. Although
I do not have many experiences working in the Engineering field and disciplines, my distinctive
personality will prove an asset to employers.
Compared to other amateurs like me looking for my first step, I have the upper hand in regards to
my character. I consider myself a perfectionist and hard worker. I feel like if someone is giving
me benefits, whether in cash or life experience, I am obligated to give my efforts past 100%.
When I got my first job as a Busboy, I gave my boss and co-workers double the effort of other
Busboys. Instead meeting the standards of cleaning tables and serving drinks, I would go the
extra mile. I would handle extra tasks help the dishwashers, serve food, help and seat customers,
bag to-go orders, reload and prepare supplies/stock, etc. all while doing these tasks at a fast pace.
And it was worth it since this built a good relationship between me and the waiters and
dishwashers for helping them often. I believe cooperation and help between co-workers is
important.
With regards to education, I have attended SLCC for almost a year working on my preengineering associates degree. I have worked on a few projects for my General Education
classes. Some would be the estimate cost for a natural gas pipeline in Calculus, Narrative and
Document Analysis in General English, and Proposal Presentation and Writing in Mechanical
Engineering projects in Technical English. All of which have influenced my values in the
workplace. I plan on continuing my engineering education to the University of Utah and have
electives in Philosophy.
I appreciate your recognition toward me by taking the time to read this. If you are interested in
obtaining me to be part of your team, I can be contacted at 385-218-8299 or at
alvinrphung@gmail.com. I will take your request and company needs seriously.
Sincerely,
Alvin Phung

Table of Contents
Technical Description of AutoCAD 2016 .................................................................................... 4
This document is used to get a basic understanding of the uses and capabilities of AutoCAD 2016

Technical Instructions on AutoCAD 2016 .......................................................................................... 5

This document is used to get a understanding of how to use basic features of AutoCAD 2016

How to be a Successful Mechanical Engineer ............................................................................. 7

This document is used to understand the organizational culture of an engineering career

References .................................................................................................................................... 15
Rsum.......................................................................................................................................... 16

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Technical Description of AutoCAD 2016
AutoCAD is the leader in computer aided design software used to design 3D projects in a
broad amount of disciplines. This description will help you get a basic understanding of
AutoCAD and its capabilities and feats. Almost every industry uses AutoCAD software for its
usefulness in design. It can be used for engineering design, movie animation, and fashion design.
Becoming proficient in computer-aided design software is crucial to designers and creators. It is
one of the important ways for them to communicate their ideas to co-workers and clients. Since
the amount of capabilities and uses for AutoCAD are vast and continues to grow, I will explain
only some of the major general features. AutoCAD users will experience personalized,
connected, and advanced features.
AutoCAD allows you to personalize the software to
your needs and discipline. This personalization will prevent
interruptions from new updates. Such things include an app
that helps you take control of new updates and you are able
to customize your software. This helps prevent unwanted
changes and to match your discipline or project. You are
able to also tweak the software or add tools that you require
Fig 1 Flexible development
for your task. These include buying extensions or apps that
platform. (Autodesk)
match your discipline, sync preferences to different
computers, and programming UI for specialized applications (Fig. 1).

Fig. 2 Snap to precise locations on an

attached coordination model.
(Autodesk)

Communication features in AutoCAD allow

you to keep connected to your co-workers. These
features include constantly improving 3D printing
options and coordination models (Fig. 2).
AutoCAD also incorporates cloud services. With the
mobile app, projects can be edited on the go and on
other devices. The cloud storage services also allow
you the share your work with reviewers. This
requires no login or Autodesk software to share. The
design feed puts the collaboration between people and
the designing in one place.

Each new version of AutoCAD adds more

advanced ways for you to bring your ideas to life.
With the most recent 2016 version of AutoCAD,
you are able to refine the quality, preview edits,
easily move and copy sections. Reality computing
allows you to precisely move between planes and
add to 3D models with millimeter accuracy (Fig.
3). You can also obtain online maps and then edit
over them. There are many other features, which
include surface curve extraction, 3D free-form
design tools, and surface analysis.

Fig. 3 In this case, a new lighting fixture

is being decided where to be placed.
(Autodesk)

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Technical Instructions on AutoCAD 2016
These instructions will help you get started designing in AutoCAD 2016. Knowing the
basics and how to get around will aid you in your computer-aided designing skills. This for
people who just got the software so this guide will be simple and requires no prerequisites. As
you get used to the controls, you will work faster and increase your designing skills.
When you first open AutoCAD, you will be brought to
the start tab. From here you can press Learn to find tutorials and
help or press Create. Pressing Create will allow you to manage
your existing projects or begin a new one. Press Open File to
open a previous project. To
start fresh, press Start
Drawing or click on the plus
tab at the top (Fig. 1).
Across the top, you are given
Fig. 1 Create multiple
tools and buttons you can use. designs in one program
The large middle section is
Fig. 2 Change panel sizes to
the workspace where you
your preferences
draw. And across the bottom is the command line that set
important settings. If you would like change any of the panel sizes, there is a small icon on the
top toward the right (Fig 2.).
You are now ready to draw. In the Home tab, the Draw section gives you the basic tools
for drawing. You can see this in Figure 1. If you want more information and help on a tool or
button, hover you mouse over the button until a description is given. Pressing any of the small
white arrows of each button will give you more options with that tool. This allows for many
ways to make a shape or use a tool in the way that best fits your goal. After creating a shape, you
need to press the same shape button again to make a second one, or you can press the Enter key
to do the same.
When you have not selected a tool or button, Selection
Mode is active. In this mode, you can select shapes and interact
with them. Hovering over an object will white-highlight it and give
you information on the object. Clicking the object then bluehighlights the object. From here you can use the Properties button
at the top to the right to change details such as color and
transparency (Fig. 3). You modify your object in the Modify
section in the home tab. This section is next the Draw section seen
in Figure 1.
Any object that is selected will have nodes that are shaped
as squares. Hovering over these nodes will give you information of
the curve or line the node is on. Clicking and dragging the nodes
will allow you to move or morph the shape. Selecting multiple
objects to edit is also possible. All you need to do is click on each

Fig. 3 Change object

characteristics with this
button

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object before editing. Dragging from one point to another on the workspace can also do this.
The command line has even more tools and preferences. The preferences and tools that
are active are colored in blue. Simply click on them to disable and activate the preference. You
can type in the command bar to search for commands used in the software.
If you find yourself making a mistake, press the Escape key to undo it. We have covered
all the basics of AutoCAD. There are many things to explore and master. Try experimenting with
different options and buttons to familiarize you with AutoCAD 2016.

How to be a Successful Mechanical Engineer

Alvin Phung
ENGL 2100-202
February 15, 2016

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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to understand the organizational culture and genres of
writing of mechanical engineering. To succeed in mechanical engineering and STEM careers,
effective communication skills are required. This conclusion came from online browsers, the
SLCC library database, and an interview. From the research, I was able to find patterns in the
results of my sources. These major patterns were found in the teamwork, work environment,
attire, and communications used in mechanical engineering. After analyzing my results I was
able to see how they are all related to the importance of writing and speech skills. From the
conclusion, it is recommended that one should put focus into these skills if they have not already.
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, Organizational Culture, STEM

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Introduction
Organizational culture is the beliefs, values, and practices of a certain discipline or career.
The culture that a discipline holds also influences how and what the types of writing are
conducted. This document is discussing this relation to conclude what it takes to succeed as a
mechanical engineer. One who is interested in pursuing mechanical engineering must be
proficient in communication to succeed. Be able to interact in the workplace is becoming more
of an asset to employers and increases your chance of hire.
Writing and speech skills are just as important as the traditional analytical, math, and
science skills for engineering. The emphasis of these traditional skills creates a misunderstanding
on what it takes to become successful in a technological career. A popular belief in technological
careers is that it does not require writing or speech skills. This document will disprove these false
expectations of STEM students and may focus their attention to communication skills. For a
clear path to my conclusion, explanation in the methodology of my research will come first.
Come following will be my results, discussion, and conclusion.
Methodology
When trying to find the culture and styles of writing of mechanical engineers, I first had
to know the basics of the career before researching. I did this by searching for articles and videos
of a day in the life of a mechanical engineer on Google. This helped me narrow my research
topics by knowing what parts of the engineering culture are relevant. Due to convenience, all of
my resources were revealed on the Internet.
Internet
After knowing the basics of mechanical engineering, I searched up specific
characteristics on the culture from Google. Searching for individual details when searching

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helped me get answers quicker rather than typing a day in the life of... in different ways. This
helped me get information on the different components of mechanical engineering culture. I was
getting this info from universities, websites dedicated to careers, and articles. Although the
Internet helped find me huge amounts of information, I still needed to confirm the reliability of
less professional writings.
SLCC Library Database
After finding enough information on Google on various details on culture and writing, I
decided to find data that would support what I found. A good place for me was the SLCC library
database. My target information was full texts of statistics and works made by professionals. I
found it hard to find specific details on culture when using the same technique as before. But
searching the keywords mechanical, engineer, and communication brought me to plenty
statistics and works on the effect of communication. Although the database was effective in
confirming information from other Internet sources, I found a hard time finding an abundance of
information.
Interview
This was surprisingly the easiest to accomplish out of the three. I first did a Google
search on mechanical engineering companies in Utah. From the first page of results, I was able to
find websites that were dedicated to finding their users job opportunities. I also found websites
that were dedicated to finding their users a certain service, in my case, engineers. From these
sites, I typed in mechanical engineering into the websites search bar. From the results, I was
able to email interview requests to many engineering companies. This email included all the
information they needed to know about the interview. Within a few days, I was able to email
questions to a company that participated and received a timely response. The interview allowed

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me to access reliable and detailed information. But due to the interview requests being sent by
email, only one company gave me recognition.
Results
When researching I was able to find an excess amount of data about the culture of
mechanical engineers. However, I will only go through the major patterns of information I found
from my sources. I will focus on the culture of teamwork, work environment, appropriate attire,
and the types of communication used.
Organizational Culture
I interviewed Mr. Bodell from Millcreek Engineering on his corporations culture. He
gave me the details from the inside. When I asked him on the use of teamwork in the workplace,
he pointed out that their engineers do a lot of basic work by themselves. But needed
collaboration for when design and quality checks were involved (personal communication,
February 1, 2016). I found similar results on my online sources. Almost all information I found
online emphasized the inevitable use of teamwork. This emphasis on teamwork was found
evident in the mechanical engineers designing and planning processes. One source going far as
to saying [n]o engineer works alone. Engineering is a team sport and also stating that for
complex projects, mechanical engineers must work with other disciplines (Career Cornerstone
Center, n.d., para. 1).
Another pattern in culture that I found researching was the contrast in the work
environment. Depending on your job assignments, you could work in a variety of places.
According to Hagler (2013, p. 164), a mechanical engineer doesnt always work in an office.
Depending on their responsibilities they can work at test sites, construction areas, or workshops.
The responsibilities of an engineer could also end up out of the state or overseas. Nicholas (n.d.),

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a former SLCC student, conducted a personal interview with Mr. Greenwood, a mechanical
engineer. He shares that he works mostly offsite and overseas. He warns that this makes time
between friends and family limited.
Related to the work environment is what a mechanical engineer wears to work. My
interview with Mr. Bodell reveals that the dress code is relaxed for the office. But when meetings
take place between employees or clients, formal wear is required (personal communication,
February 1, 2016). The choice of attire goes further than just the office and meetings. Engineers
could work in high maintenance areas like construction zones. A mechanical engineers
wardrobe consists of a variety of outfits. You may wear overalls and a hard hat one day, and a
suit for another. Poster describes the diversity of outfits as a way to quickly adapt to the needs
of a particular assignment (Poster, n.d., para. 1).
Genres and Types of Writing
Other than the basic memos, emails, and safety rules between employees, an engineer
needs to communicate in diverse ways. One of these ways of communication is the practice of
writing proposals. According to the Career Cornerstone Center website (n.d.), 75% percent of
experienced engineers spend 10% to 30% of their time writing proposals. Expressing how one
can support their proposals is a prominent skill in engineering. In order to support their ideas,
they include problem sets, written reports, oral reports, and graphical presentation in their work
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT], n.d.). The use of CAD and drawings is also
highly valued. With my interview with Mr. Bodell, he described drawings are typically the
language of mechanical engineers (personal communication, February 1, 2016).
Verbal skills are also just as important as writing and drawing communications. When
searching online, the go-to response from my sources was talking to clients. You may talk to

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clients in a variety of ways, like meetings, online, phone call, overseas, etc. You may also talk to
people of different focus like people in production, marketing, law, and other engineering
disciplines (Career Cornerstone Center, n.d.). Duggan (2014) of the Department of Engineering
of Letterkenny Institute of Technology conducted a study. Duggans job was to identify the
significance of generic skills perceived by students. Her data revealed that more than %90 of
participating students believed that oral and written communications were important in one way
or another (p. 15).
Discussion
My research on mechanical engineering clearly shows that communication is just as
relevant as STEM skills. But how did cooperation in technological careers become so important?
It is actually quite simple. Like with many careers, the organizational culture influences the
genres and types of writings produced in the career. Each of the major patterns of culture I found
influences the writing produced in mechanical engineering.
Teams are assets to the engineering careers. Disciplines working together are becoming a
requirement as projects become more and more complex. A complex project like designing an
airplane or a spaceship to Mars cannot be done by one engineer, or even by a whole engineering
discipline. It requires people from many departments and disciplines. Therefore writing and
verbal skills for mechanical engineers are highly valued. With my interview with Mr. Bodell, I
liked how he described the usefulness of communication. He said, [m]echanical engineers are
kind of like the glue between other disciplines (personal communication, February 1, 2016). He
was referring this to the frequent conference calls engineers attended at Millcreek Engineering.
Working in teams also affects what to wear for the different work environments.
Appropriate attire should be chosen. It would not be suitable to wear overalls and a hard hat to

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market your design ideas overseas. Using proper attire in certain situations will complement the
oral and written interactions. When the pressure is on, it is important to effectively convey your
ideas and thoughts clearly, especially for an engineer. Professors at MIT state that [e]ngineering
work is critically dependent upon communication skills. Engineers must be able to report their
ideas and designs clearly and succinctly to their coworkers, supervisors, and customers (MIT,
n.d.).
The emphasis on theses skills does not mean that your mechanical engineering career will
be strict and bland. When asking questions to Mr. Bodell about how uptight the workplace is, he
described it as fairly laid back. Millcreek Engineering tries to hire people who can be fun and
events occur during the summer like sports, picnics, and barbeques (personal communication,
February 1, 2016).
Conclusion and Recommendations
To sum up, the reality of mechanical engineering is far from its stereotypes. The research
paves a clear path to the seriousness of communication skills. After learning the impact of these
skills, a STEM student may start to value them or decide to change majors. But it should be
recommended that students value these skills since success in most businesses require them.
Being unaware of the significance of these skills may lead to false expectations after graduation
for STEM students. Due to cooperation being the backbone of success, people who value
communication skills will receive a greater chance at it.

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References
Autodesk 3D Design, Engineering & Entertainment Software http://www.autodesk.com/
Career Cornerstone Center. (n.d.). Mechanical Engineering. Retrieved from
http://www.careercornerstone.org/mecheng/medaylife.htm
Duggan, L. (2014). A Quantitative Analysis of Students' Perception of Generic Skills within an
Undergraduate Electronics/mechanical Engineering Curriculum. Online Submission,
Hagler, G. (2013). Mechanical Engineer. Careers In Physics, 164.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (n.d.). Technical Communications in Mechanical
Engineering. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/me-ugoffice/communication/
Nicolas, B. (n.d.). Organizational Culture: What it's like out there. Retrieved from
http://engineeringwriting.weebly.com/organizational-culture-what-its-like-out-there.html
Poster, C. (n.d.). What Do Mechanical Engineers Wear to Work? Retrieved from
http://www.ehow.com/info_8711398_do-mechanical-engineers-wear-work.html
The Skills Factory. (2105, March 22). AutoCAD 2016 Tutorial for Beginners. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLdYxHXvNx0

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Alvin Phung
710 Germania Avenue, Murray, Utah 84123
Phone: 385-218-8299, e-mail: alvinrphung@gmail.com

Career Objective
An internship related to the Mechanical Engineering career field. Looking in particular for an
introduction to the field. Currently undecided in what discipline in Mechanical Engineering to
pursue in. Interested in weapons and defense, optics and sound, and energy producing machines.
Looking for internships to expand my understanding of engineering disciplines so that I have a
more clear choice. Pursuing to transfer to the University of Utah for their strong Mechanical
Engineering resources.

Educational Background
Salt Lake City Community College, Associates of Pre-engineering, expected Fall 2017
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Coursework in General Education including Technical English and Calculus.
Coursework in Engineering Prerequisites including General Chemistry, MatLab Problem
Solving, Calculus II, Statics, and Physics for Science and Engineering I and II.

Other Work Experience

Banzai Teppan Yaki, The only Busboy and Waiter Assistant openly available, West Valley,
Utah, 7/14-5/15

Skills and Languages

Cantonese Chinese Able to understand basic and simple Cantonese phrases
English fluent and main language
Programming Language Basics of MatLab calculations
Computer Experience: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint
WPM with accuracy: 50+

References
Given upon request.