Here you will find quick tips and perspectives on a variety of topics related to technical communication. If you have suggestions for additional blog posts, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Applying to Fellowships: Advice from Grad Students
October 24, 2024 One constant concern throughout grad school is funding. You could take many routes to secure funding, but fellowships are a popular option. Fellowships are typically merit-based awards to support a graduate student’s personal, academic, and/or professional development. They usually contain two parts: a personal statement and a research proposal. The former details your academic and… View Article
Formulating a Research Topic
August 13, 2024 Motivation and scope As master’s and PhD students, we all aspire to conduct quality research. The question many of us are faced with is: how do we formulate a research topic that is well poised for performing quality research? Research topics are meant to encompass the majority or entirety of our work during our graduate… View Article
Thoughtful Engagement with Disability Through Inclusive Design Principles
July 25, 2024 In both conference submissions and grant writing, writers are often asked to describe the broader impact of their research. In some cases, writers may be asked to address how their work will contribute to diversity and equity in their field. Disability is often appealed to as a justification for technological development, and as a moral… View Article
The Memo Memo
June 25, 2024 Cover Sheet Project Name: MIT AeroAstro Comm Lab Blog Posts Memo Subject: Using memos within AeroAstro research teams Author: Nicholas Belsten To: Engineers, Scientists, and research team members in the field of Aeronautics and Astronautics Initial Creation Date: 05/29/2024 Revision Number: V1.0 Revision Date: 06/23/2024 Executive Summary Memos are a formal but simple method… View Article
Getting Started on Your Paper: The Skills Nobody Taught You
May 24, 2024 … Sooo… What are you avoiding right now? Come on. There’s no way you’re reading this unless you’re avoiding something. You’ve got an Overleaf document open. You’ve copy and pasted the abstract that was accepted into the conference you applied to months ago. You’ve got your literature review spreadsheet, your results, and code open. You’ve… View Article
Applying to Grad School
November 9, 2023 Applying for graduate programs can be a daunting task, especially given the variance in what each program requires its applicants to submit. This blog post seeks to guide you through the application process by providing a step-by-step list that summarizes the main components common to most applications. 1. Find programs you’re interested in Before… View Article
Technical Photography
June 8, 2023 Want to achieve maximum impact with your technical photographs? This blog post describes how to conceptualize and capture your images. I sat down in the hard, wooden chair with my laptop on the table angled so that both of us could see the screen. It was the first time I was going to have… View Article
Create content for your personal website using good communication techniques
April 24, 2023 Building a personal website for the first time or feeling stuck on how to fill in content? This post shares ways to use the MIT Commkit archives to build your website! Personal websites can serve as engaging resumes, helpful research documentation, personal blogs, and many other possible functions. A website might combine all these… View Article
Insightful maps and connections: tools for effective literature reviews
January 19, 2023 The purpose of a literature review is to generate a state-of-the-art overview for a particular topic. This requires identifying the most relevant papers to the topic at hand and crafting a story about how the papers are related to one another. This can be a challenging endeavor without some way to strategize and organize the… View Article
Subtle cues: how to make your writing easier to read
August 22, 2022 When it comes to technical writing, everyone has their own style, usually crafted during years of previous schooling. Regardless of style, effective technical writing shares a certain charisma which comes off the page. As a reader, this might manifest as a feeling of effortless comprehension, or a feeling that the writer is walking you through… View Article