Courses

(3 credits)
This course develops skills in composition, argumentation and persuasive professional writing, especially for those students whose first language is not English. Note: Students who pass ENCS 272 with a C- or higher will fulfill the Faculty Writing Skills requirement, and will be eligible to enroll in ENCS 282.

(3 credits)
This course introduces essential types of professional engineering communication—technical reports, abstracts, proposals, and scientific papers. It covers research and referencing methods for engineers and computer scientists. Students complete an oral presentation and a major report. The course is open to students who have passed the Engineering Writing Test (EWT) or completed ENCS 272 with a satisfactory grade.

(3 credits)
This course examines thinking, arguing, and creativity in science and technology. It explores complex problems using theories from communication, business and psychology. Case studies of successful and failed innovations are presented. We examine the roles of experts and researchers in the diffusion of ideas, and the impact of diffusion on economics, media and society.

(1.5 credits)
This course familiarizes students with the Professional Code and the Engineers Act, and Quebec and Canadian legislation for engineering projects. It covers health and safety issues such as safe work practices, general laboratory safety. It also provides a thorough discussion of professional engineering ethics.

(3 credits)
This course explores the social history of technology, and sensitizes students to the social and environmental problems cause by unexpected effects of technology. Students examine the diffusion of innovation and public perception of engineering and engineering solutions.

(3 credits)
This course examines crucial questions in our information society: ethics, surveillance and privacy, economic globalization, intellectual property, the digital divide, computer-based profiling and hacking, electronic democracy, information productivity and the work/life balance.

(3 Credits)
This course familiarizes graduate students with the conventions of academic writing. Topics include organization of paragraphs and documents, abstracts, academic and professional writing styles, plagiarism and appropriate use of cited materials.

(3 Credits)
In this course, students develop their written and spoken professional skills. The dual focus is on academic writing (e.g., research methods, organization and management of thesis and dissertation writing, creation of publishable articles) and professional communication in the industry (e.g., project proposals, executive summaries, technical reports).