Learning Products Engineer title

[KAREN_OTTO -at- HP-SPOKANE-OM2 -dot- OM -dot- HP -dot- COM]

Item Subject: cc:Mail Text
     I will *hotly* :-) contest the purpose of engineer in the LPE job. My
     LPE job has continuously entailed tasks that only an engineer can be
     reasonably expected to do.

     I program and contribute to product design. I have designed an
     antenna, helped define structure of firmware, and tested whole
     products, not just the manuals. We create diagrams, not copy them from
     the HW designers. Having writing skills combined with engineering
     skills makes us better at deciding what needs to go in the manuals
     than the R&D wonks do.

     That said, YMMV. Not everyone in HP has the engineer-oriented product
     line that my division does.

     HP's structure is quite engineer-centric. If you are an engineer, you
     can be allowed to do most anything. In my particular division,
     engineers are needed in most positions because the product is so
     highly technical. This is test equipment for the cellular/PCS
     industry, and we are frequently teaching as much about the celllular
     system as we are about the test equipment. Additionally, there are
     about three new systems appearing each year.
     So, we have engineers in design, writing, applications, sales,
     marketing, and just about anywhere else you might imagine.

     kind regards,
     karen otto (rare animal - the engineer who can write!)


     >Date:    Mon, 13 Jan 1997 10:22:54 -0800
     >From:    Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- MARVIN -dot- ENG -dot- SUN -dot- COM>
     >Subject: Re: Titles for Technical Writer
     >
     >Garret Romaine wrote:
     >
     >>Anyway, I'll also add one of my favorite technical writing titles,
     >>courtesy, I believe, of Hewlett-Packard:
     >>
     >>Learning Products Engineer
     >>
     >>The reason I like the title is because, by my interpretation, it
     >>means I can
     >
     >>not just write, but engineer my documents. In other words, tinker
     >>with them
     >>long after the first customer shipment was due, all in the name of
     >>improvement.
     >>

     >This title is indeed used at Hewlett Packard. Having worked with
     >some writers from there in a joint project, I am not as enamored
     >with it as you are. It seems to reflect a feeling, at least in the
     >writing group with which I worked, that their job was mainly to
     >pass along technical information from the engineers to the users,
     >rather than trying to interpret that information or write it in
     >a way best suited to their users. When it came down to a decision
     >between what the engineers wanted versus what was best for the
     >documentation, they always went with the desires of their engineers.

     >I much prefer the term "writer," which I think implies not only
     >the process of putting words down on paper but also with making
     >decisions about the best way to present the written word.

     >****************************************************************
     >Janice Gelb                  | The only connection Sun has with this
     >janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com   | message is the return address.
     >http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8018/index.html
     >
     >"Usenet is like Tetris for people who still remember how to read"
     >
     >*******************************************************

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