Real-Life Communication -- Solution
Here's a less technical version of the paragraph:
Stability control systems are becoming more readily available as a vehicle option and offer the potential for helping to control a vehicle during a skid. On a slippery surface or when tires have reached the limits of their ability to grip the road, a skid can result. A vehicle skid can occur two ways. If the rear of the vehicle slides around as if the steering wheel were turned much more sharply than intended, it is called oversteer. When the vehicle continues to move straight ahead as if the steering wheel weren't turned enough, it is called understeer. Stability control systems compare signals monitoring the position of the steering wheel, the angle of the vehicle and the rotational speed and grip of the tires to determine if the vehicle has deviated from its intended path and is in an oversteer or understeer skid. The system then applies the brakes on only one side of the vehicle, allowing the tires still turning on the other side to pivot the vehicle back around onto its intended path of travel.
Communication skills are very important for automotive engineers, says Jennifer Stockburger. She provided the examples above.
Stockburger tests vehicles and tires for a magazine. Effective communication is particularly vital in her case. "Obviously, in this position I'm in, it's extremely important because we're actually conveying information -- that's our product," she says.
"If we can't say it in layman's terms, nobody's going to get it. I can sit here and talk all day about oversteer and understeer and static friction and rolling friction, but that doesn't make any sense to most people."
Automotive engineers talk to others on their design team. They talk to managers in manufacturing plants. They write technical reports that include abstracts. Abstracts are explanations of your findings in general terms.
Some automotive engineers work for parts manufacturers. They need to convince automotive manufacturers to buy their products. Being clear and concise is essential.
"You have to explain how it works, why it works that way, why it can't do something, why it can do better [at] something else, but you're talking to an engineer who has responsibility for 40 products, and he doesn't want reams of data," Stockburger says. "He wants the bottom line."