Program Description
This minor promotes the core belief that engineering and technical work is more useful, understood, deployed, and engaging when the communication that supports and surrounds it is as carefully crafted as the technical work itself. Within the technical and engineering fields, students will explore the concepts of communicative practice, communication design, communicative context, and professional identity via not only written words but also by the plethora of multimodalities available to the technical expert. Our target population is undergraduates who are skilled in their engineering studies that understand that communication is a core complimentary skill that supports technical endeavors at all levels.
All College of Engineering undergraduates are eligible; students must be affiliated with the College of Engineering in a specific undergraduate major.
Academic Standards
Grade Requirements
Each course must be completed with a grade of C or better to count toward the minor.
A cumulative minor GPA > 2.0 in all courses taken towards the minor (not overall GPA).
Minor Declaration Information
Pre-approval is required, with an application process to begin. Students intending to earn this minor should seek early guidance (as soon as their sophomore year) by contacting the Director of the Engineering Communications (EC) Program. Send an email to engrcomm_info@cornell.edu for more information.
Note: Students undertaking a minor are normally expected to complete the requirements during the time of their continuous undergraduate enrollment at Cornell. Courses at graduate-level (5xxx) cannot be considered for the minor, even via petition. As well, pursuant to an agreement with the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), students will not be permitted to declare both the Engineering Communication Minor and the CALS Science Communication and Public Engagement minor (known as SCoPE or SciComm).
Each application will be reviewed for its completion plan, a statement of intent, and the student's College of Engineering advisor consent. Forms will be provided by the EC Minor Advisor. A reviewed e-portfolio will be required before the minor is granted.
Program Information
- Minimum Credits for Minor: 18
Minor Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| 3 |
| Organizational Communications for Engineers | |
| Engineering Communications | |
| 3 |
| Communication and Technology | |
| Communication, Environment, Science, and Health | |
| Persuasive and Ethical Communication | |
| Independent Study in Engineering | |
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ENGRD 2720 | Data Science for Engineers | 4 |
| ENGRC 3023 | Communication Intensive Opportunity: Practicum in Technical Writing | 1 |
| ENGRC 3025 | Creating and Communicating Your Digital Professionalism | 1 |
| ENGRC 3026 | Engineering Presentations and Expert Presence | 1 |
| ENGRC 3027 | Cross-cultural Communications and Ethics in the Workplace | 1 |
| ENGRC 3340 | Independent Study in Engineering Communications (section 601, general) | 1-3 |
| ENGRC 3340 | Independent Study in Engineering Communications (section 602, Social Justice and Engineering: Communication at the Intersection of Practice) | 1-3 |
| ENGRC 3340 | Independent Study in Engineering Communications (section 603, specialized) | 1-3 |
| ENGRC 3341 | Honors Engineering Communications | 1 |
| ENGRC 3700 | Communications Consulting for Engineers | 3 |
| ENGRG 3600 | Ethical Issues in Engineering Practice | 3 |
| ENGRG 3900 | Foundations of Engineering Leadership | 2 |
| ENGRG 3910 | Applied Engineering Leadership (must be admitted to Leadership Certificate Program) | 3 |
| ENGRG 4990 | Teaching in Engineering Leadership | 1-4 |
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ENGRC 3111 | Communications for Junior Lab I | 1 |
| ENGRC 3120 | Communications for Practical Tools for Operations Research, Machine Learning and Data Science | 1 |
| ENGRC 3152 | Communication for Game Development | 1 |
| ENGRC 3610 | Communication for Transportation Engineering | 1 |
| ENGRC 3640 | Technical Communication for Applied Engineering Physics | 1 |
| ENGRC 4152 | Communication for Advanced Game Development | 1 |
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| AEM 2500 | Environmental and Resource Economics | 3 |
| AEM 3245 | Organizational Behavior | 3 |
| AEM 3249 | Entrepreneurial Marketing and Strategy | 3 |
| BEE 4530 | Computer-Aided Engineering: Applications to Biological Processes (W-I or C-I semesters only) 1 | 3 |
| BEE 4730 | Watershed Engineering (W-I or C-I semesters only) 1 | 4 |
| BEE 4590 | Physical Design in Biological Engineering 1 | 3 |
| BME 4440 | Science Policy Bootcamp: Concept to Conclusion 1 | 3 |
| CHEME 4320 | Chemical Engineering Capstone Design I (W-I or C-I offerings only) 1 | 4 |
| COMM 2450 | Communication and Technology (W-I or C-I offerings only) 1 | 3 |
| COMM 2850 | Communication, Environment, Science, and Health (cannot be taken to fulfill both Category A and Category C) | 3 |
| COMM 3200 | Technology, Behavior and Society | 3 |
| COMM 4450 | Computer-Mediated Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 2880 | Expository Writing (non-fiction) | 3 |
| ENVS 2000 | Environment and Sustainability Colloquium | 1 |
| ILROB 2230 | Leadership in Organizations (Inactive) | 3 |
| INFO 2950 | Introduction to Data Science | 4 |
| INFO 4200 | Information Policy: Applied Research and Analysis (additional info in Appendix B) | 3 |
| INFO 4240 | Designing Technology for Social Impact | 4 |
| INFO 4270 | Copyright for Information Systems | 3 |
| INFO 4310 | Interactive Information Visualization | 3 |
| INFO 4430 | Teams and Technology | 3 |
| INFO 4561 | Evaluation and Society | 3 |
| MAE 4272 | Fluids and Heat Transfer Laboratory (W-I or C-I offerings only) | 3 |
| MSE 3010 | Materials Chemistry | 3 |
| MSE 4030 | Senior Materials Laboratory I (W-I or C-I semesters only) 1 | 4 |
| MSE 4050 | Senior Thesis I (W-I or C-I semesters only) 1 | 3 |
| NBA 5070 | Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers | 3 |
| NTRES 3330 | Ways of Knowing: Indigenous and Place-Based Ecological Knowledge | 3 |
| PHIL 3340 | Modal Logic | 3 |
| PSYCH 3420 | Human Perception: Application to Computer Graphics, Art, and Visual Display | 3 |
| STS 4451 | Making Science Policy: The Real World (meets in Washington DC, spring term) | 3 |
Statistics
Language
Any language course, besides English, at 3xxx level or above, up to four credits can be taken in this category. Students who pass a Cornell Advanced Standing Exam (CASE) sitting may petition for credit in this category.
Study Abroad
Students may petition to have Study Abroad communication courses, up to three credits, count towards the minor. Formal petition required, approved in advance of the Study Abroad experience, not after.
Graduation Requirements for Engineering Minor Degree Programs
Requirements
Students may pursue minors in any department in any college that offers them, subject to limitations placed by the department offering the minor or by the students' major. Completed minors will appear on the student's transcript. Not all departments offer minors. Additional information on specific minors can be found above, in the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook, in the undergraduate major office of the department or school offering the minor, and in Engineering Advising.
An engineering minor recognizes formal study of a particular subject area in engineering normally outside the major. Students undertaking a minor are expected to complete the requirements during the time of their continuous undergraduate enrollment at Cornell. Completing the requirements for an engineering minor (along with a major) may require more than the traditional eight semesters at Cornell. However, courses that fulfill minor requirements may also satisfy other degree requirements (e.g., distribution courses, advisor-approved, or major-approved electives), and completion within eight semesters is possible.
An engineering minor requires:
- successful completion of all requirements for an undergraduate degree.
- enrollment in a major that approves participation in the minor.
- satisfactory completion of six courses (at least 18 credits) in a college-approved minor.
Students may apply for certification of a minor at any time after the required course work has been completed in accordance with published standards. An official notation of certification of a minor appears on the Cornell transcript following graduation.
Upon finishing the minor, students should be able to perform well in these areas of competency for diverse, organizational, and global audiences:
- Written Communication/Research: Identify, research, negotiate, and compose differing forms of communication to further a technical or engineering effort at a pre-professional level; skillfully use valid research methods for identifying and incorporating outside sources into projects
- Oral Communication/Presentations: Plan, devise, formulate, design, and report information via professional presentations or short talks for a variety of diverse technical and stakeholder needs
- Multimodal Communication: Identify, test, and skillfully integrate new software tools that allow for engineering work to be advanced; visualize, illustrate, and appropriately caption visuals; discriminate between methodologies for creating visuals other multimodal artifacts; create visuals and multimodal artifacts that are accessible
- Ethics: Identify, research, negotiate, and produce communication that respects diverse expertise and perspectives
- Teamwork: Collaborate effectively in teams (not simple ad hoc groups); appraise teammates' contributions; collaborate in teams to identify, negotiate, assign roles, draft, and finalize projects with equality of effort in mind
