Waterloo Engineering Writing Style Guide
Waterloo Engineering uses the University of Waterloo Communications and Public Affairs (CPA) Writing Style Guide, which is available at http://communications.uwaterloo.ca/. This document, the Waterloo Engineering style guide, outlines a number of items specific to the Faculty of Engineering that are not included in the CPA style guide. This document should be used as a companion to the CPA writing style guide for all engineering publications. This style guide will be updated regularly; to ensure you are working with the most recent version, visit http://www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/news/resources.html.
Spelling and Hyphenation
C coursework (as in a coursework master’s degree) is one word, no hyphen E email, e‐commerce • For emerging technical prefixes (e‐,nano‐, etc.) use a hyphen (nano‐engineered materials, nano‐biological systems) except when adding to a one syllable root (nanoscale, nanobots). For established prefixes, consult the dictionary. Engineering V (not Engineering 5 or Engineering Five; no hyphen) M micro‐electro‐mechanical systems (note the hyphenation) multidisciplinary N nanometre, nanomaterials, etc. • For emerging technical prefixes (e‐,nano‐, etc.) use a hyphen (nano‐engineered materials, nano‐biological systems) except when adding to a one syllable root (nanoscale, nanobots). For established prefixes, consult the dictionary. Nexus (not NEXUS) P Phillip Street (not Philip or Phillips) is the name of the street that Lot B enters from Q Quantum‐Nano Centre (note the hyphen)
Last updated May 21, 2008 Page 1 of 4
Waterloo Engineering Writing Style Guide
Punctuation
Series Comma • Omit the series comma (the comma between the next‐to‐last item in a list and the “and”) unless it is needed for clarity. Therefore write “science, technology and values,” not “science, technology, and values.” • Note: One place where you will often need to include the series comma is in lists of departments, organizations and the like whose names include the word “and.” Therefore write “Our newest research centres are the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research, the Biotechnology and Health Engineering Centre, and the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy."
Capitalization
Academic Units • Waterloo Engineering follows the CPA style guide convention of capitalizing names of faculties, colleges, departments, schools, institutes, centres, and other academic units only when they appear in their full and proper forms. (Faculty of Engineering, the faculty; the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Chemical Engineering Department, professor of chemical engineering, the department; the School of Architecture, architecture, the school.) • Note: To distinguish the faculty (meaning Faculty of Engineering) from faculty members, use phrases such as “faculty member,” “professor,” and “faculty complement” or “Faculty of Engineering” and “Waterloo Engineering” where required to ensure the definition is clear and to avoid confusion. Programs and Options • We do not capitalize the names of disciplines or academic programs or options. “He’s studying computer engineering.” “Waterloo has Canada’s only nanotechnology engineering program.” “She’s taking the management sciences option.” Waterloo Engineering • The faculty’s preferred name for itself is Waterloo Engineering; note that this is considered the formal title, equivalent to Faculty of Engineering, and should thus be capitalized.
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Waterloo Engineering Writing Style Guide
Miscellaneous
Degree Names Below are the correct names and official abbreviations of the degrees offered by Waterloo Engineering. Note that none of the abbreviations include punctuation: that is, we offer a PhD, not a Ph.D; a BASc, not a B.A.Sc. • Bachelor of Applied Sciences BASc • Bachelor of Architectural Studies BAS • Bachelor of Software Engineering BSE • Master of Applied Sciences MASc • Master of Architecture MArch • Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology MBET • Master of Engineering MEng • Master of Management Sciences MMSc • Doctor of Philosophy PhD Take care to use appropriate apostrophes when referring to these degrees more generally, and do not capitalize the degree. “She’s studying for her bachelor’s degree.” “We offer several master’s degree programs in management sciences.” “Waterloo Engineering has retooled its coursework engineering master’s programs.” Avoid using “PhD” as an adjective. That is, write “a doctoral candidate,” rather than “a PhD candidate.” Department Names and Abbreviations Below are the correct names and short forms of Waterloo Engineering’s academic units. In informal contexts, in headlines, or where space is at a premium, you may sometimes want to use short forms of longer department names. Use the complete name in a first reference, and the shorter forms only on second reference – if at all. • Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology CBET • Department of Chemical Engineering not generally used • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering CEE • Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering ECE • Department of Management Sciences not generally used (note the ‘s’ – it is not management science) • Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering MME • Department of Systems Design Engineering Systems Design • School of Architecture Architecture
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Waterloo Engineering Writing Style Guide
Program Names Waterloo Engineering offers the following programs. These are not the accepted short forms for degrees or departments; they are abbreviations to be used only where copy space is at an absolute premium, such as in WEAL class notes or narrow website columns or sidebars. • Architecture ARCH • Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology BET • Chemical Engineering Chem • Civil Engineering Civil • Computer Engineering Comp • Electrical Engineering Elect • Environmental Engineering Enviro • Geological Engineering Geo • Management Engineering (undergraduate) MSci • Mechanical Engineering Mech • Mechatronics Engineering Mtron • Nanotechnology Engineering Nano • Software Engineering SWE • Systems Design Engineering SD Vision 2010 and the Vision 2010 Campaign The name of our strategic plan is Vision 2010. The phrase Vision 2010 Campaign refers specifically to the fundraising campaign that will raise the money necessary to implement our plan priorities. Take care not to confuse the two. The formal goal of the Vision 2010 strategic plan is “we aspire to be widely recognized as Canada’s premier engineering school and counted among the leading engineering schools in North America.” In the two years since publishing the plan, we’ve made sufficient progress that we now routinely leave off the first part of the aspiration, and say something along the lines of “we are working to earn Waterloo Engineering a place among the leading engineering schools in North America” or “we aim to be counted among the leading engineering schools in North America.” However, it is still necessary to cite the original aspiration accurately when discussing the plan goals in a formal context.
Last updated May 21, 2008 Page 4 of 4