Technical communications in aerospace: an analysis of the practices reported by US and European aerospace engineers and scientists

Two pilot studies were conducted that investigated the technical communications practices of US and European aerospace engineers and scientists. Both studies had the same five objectives: to solicit the opinions of aerospace engineers and scientists regarding the importance of technical communications to their profession; to determine the use and production of technical communications by aerospace engineers and scientists; to seek their views about the appropriate content of an undergraduate course in technical communications; to determine aerospace engineers´ and scientists´ use of libraries, technical information centers, and online databases; and to determine the use and importance of computers and information technology to them. Responses of the US and European aerospace engineers and scientists to selected questions are presented.<>