Professional Portfolio

English 2100
11/22/15
Trevor Fackrell
tfackre4@bruinmail.slcc.edu

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Trevor Fackrell
13339 Newport Dawn Drive
Draper, Utah 84020
November 20, 2015
University of Utah Engineering School
72 Central Campus Drive
Salt lake City, Utah 84112
Dear Engineering Department,
I would like to apply to get into the University of Utah computer engineering school. This letter contains my
qualifications as to why I qualify to be admitted into the program. I believe I would be a great qualified
candidate to the universitys program.
I am currently a student at Salt Lake Community College with 3.8 GPA. I loved engineering even while I
was in high School and I was accepted to be a part of the Jordan Applied Technology Centers engineering
program. This was a great introduction into engineering and I was able to learn how to use AutoCAD design
programs and had numerous projects I built in the computer system among them were cars and cellphones.
These were great projects that helped me learn how to use the software and assemble items and making
parts.
I participated in nationwide technology association Called TSA Technology Student Association.
For my chapter I was the reporter in which my responsibilities included scheduling meetings and
organizing competitions in my chapter.
While at the community I took a Java Programing course to help me understand the fundamentals of
programing. This is the programing language that the University teaches in there courses as well.
I also took a welding course and I learned the import skill of oxy settling welding which I hope to
use in my classes at the University. At the least use the understanding of the approach and the
fabrication process it takes once you design a metal product
I was an assistant manager for Nickelcade and lead a staff while I worked an organized how the
tasks would be completed throughout the shifts. I also learned how to fix and maintain games.
I also worked at a tuxedo shop this helped me with my communication skills and selling skills.
Throughout my jobs how to work in teams as well what it takes to lead a team.
The documents I have included are some examples of the skills I have developed in the writing on my
education at Salt Lake Community college and my understanding of the documentation that is needed in
creating and designing products and any written documentation needed.
I look forward to hearing back on if I will be accepted into the engineering program here at the University
of Utah I hope the enclosed information helps you see the skills I have developed and how I have worked
on my education throughout the years. I can be contacted by email at trevorfackrell@gmail.com or by my
cell phone (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Sincerely,

Trevor Fackrell

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Table of Contents:
Cover.1
Table of Contents..........2
Writing Samples ......3-12
Technical Description.......3
This is an example of what a technical description. Technical Descriptions describe the
specifications and Iso standards.
Technical Instructions .......4-5
This is an example of a technical instruction sheet. Technical Instructions describe how to
use the designated item.
Organization Culture of Computer Engineering.....6-12
Resume...13
References..14

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Technical Description of 4k HD TV by Sony

4k HD
Resolution
TV
The future of
your living
room

Figure 1 (Sony Inc. (2015). Picture. Retrieved from (http://4k.sony.co.uk/))

Specifications of
Television:
Has more Pixels ratio of 3840*2160
versus old HD of 1920 * 1080
Stream Netflix through Television
Brings you 4k Movies, Photos,
Video
Best Brightness in a television yet
bringing all Aspects of light into the
television
Colors come alive with new
Triluminos Display
Built in Camera
Stream PlayStation 3 games
directly to TV
Clear Audio Technology

New HDTV Design:

This new Television design delivers crystal
clear imaging as seen in figure 1. This
amazing picture enhances the movie
watching and T.V. Show experience with
less image distortion of reality the view is
drawn more into the image than ever before.

Iso Standards:
ISO Standard 16504:2011: This standard
specifies a medium access control for
cognitive wireless networks operating in
tv bands. It also specifies a couple of
incumbent protection mechanisms which
are used to meet regulatory requirements.

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I-Phone 6S basic Instruction Guide for operating

Figure 1.
Front Facing Camera. obj. 1
Speaker
obj. 2
Lock Screen button
obj. 3

Rear Facing Camera

obj. 7

Volume up obj. 4
Home Button
obj. 6
Volume down obj.5
Touch Screen Control
obj. 8
Bottom Speaker obj. 9
Charging Cable obj. 11 Headphone Jack obj. 10
See Above Figure 1. This is the new I-phone 6s. This is an instruction guide on how the basic function of
how the new I-phone works. To start the new IPhone upon arrival and unpacking. Please hold down the
lock button (obj.3) for 2-3 seconds to start it up the I-phone is primarily controlled by the touch screen
(obj. 8). To operate the touch screen you slide, push, pinch and other movements with your fingers to
manipulate the screen the control. The other operations act as follows:

Object 1: The front facing camera is operated from the applications found in the software
Object 2: This is a Speaker on the front of the phone for hearing while talking
Object 3: The lock button turns the phone on and off, as well locks the screen from being
operated
Object 4: This button controls the volume up
Object 5: This button controls the volume down
Object 6: This button is the home button, this button is used if you desire to exit and got to main
screen
Object 7: Rear Facing Camera, this is operated from the applications
Object 8: The touch screen is the main method of control, use by sliding, pinching and pushing
Object 9: The bottom speaker is the main source of sound while using the I-phone
Object 10: This 3.5mm jack is used when one desires to play music over an external source
Object 11: This is the charging cable for the I-phone known as the lightning port

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Figure 1: Sprint. (2015). picture retrieved from (www.sprint.com/landings/iphoneforever/index_p.html#!/)

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Trevor D Fackrell
Computer Engineering Report
English 2100, SLCC
September 22, 2015

Abstract
In this report I will be covering the organizational culture of computer/electrical engineering.
With the field of computer engineering as a sub field to electrical engineering it is hard to define
the culture of one without defining most of the culture of the other. In this report I will go over
the research I have done on these fields. I interviewed Elwin Hunt who is an engineer who has
his degree in electrical engineer that works as a computer engineer for L3 Communications as a
project manager. Computer engineering is the field of study in designing and integrating
computer systems into technology. Computer engineering jobs may vary in the design and
integration parts of the industry from programing to designing the electrical circuits. The type of
writing an engineer does depends on the company the engineer works for. The culture varies as
well with the size of companies in engineering. There are 3 types of organizations an engineer
works for: companies, firms, and consulting.
Keywords: Computer Engineer, Electrical Engineering, Organizational Culture.

Computer engineering is the field of study in designing and integrating computer systems
into technology. This report will be covering the organizational culture of this field. The first are
Companies which hire engineers to work for them. Firms are a company of engineers who get
hired by companies to do their projects. Consulting as an engineer is where companies hire you
for a brief period to help on important projects and to ensure quality. These are the three main
fields an engineer works in and uses their writing skills.
Methodology
Engineering is a field of constant learning and as a field of constant learning that means
what you do changes and develops as technology progresses. In order to help me understand
what engineers are doing today I interviewed Elwin Hunt an electrical engineer. I also researched
a scientific journal of the NASA space shuttle the challenger.
Personal Interview
I Interviewed Elwin Hunt to help me better understand the culture of the computer
engineering. Elwin Hunt is a Project Manager for L3 Communications. He has his degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Utah. He has worked for many companies
throughout his career, he started his career as a programmer for a robotics company and slowly
developed his skill set to be more on the computer engineering side.
Internet Resources
I found my resource through the salt lake community college website. I went to the
library and logged into the system. In order to find my source I searched computer engineering
writing culture. I used this criteria order to help me understand more of the cultural aspects of the
day to day life of an Engineer I found in scientific journals, an article on the ethics of
engineering. This article is based off the safety concerns of the NASA space shuttle, the
Challenger.
Results
Computer engineers cultures and writing habits depend a lot on the organizations that
you are working for. Whether it is a company, firm, or as an engineering consultant. I will break
down the types of writing an engineer may do into those three categories to show the results of
my research. I will as well talk about the different types of writing an engineer would do
throughout the design process. As part of this report I have interviewed an engineer Elwin Hunt
he has a degree in electrical engineering that works as a computer engineer. When we talked
about the organizational culture of engineering we talked about three major
organizations/company sizes that exist within engineering.1
Personal Interview
Elwin stated in his interview about education that each university has their own way of
differing the computer and electrical engineering degrees and both are usually run by the same
department anyways. Some colleges he said even combine the degrees. His first job has lead him
to be more programming based which is one of the major differences between an electrical
engineer and a computer engineering. He said that electrical engineers dont make great
1

Hunt, Elwin. Personal Interview . 11 Sept. 2014

programmers because they program very basic coding for example a processer talking to a
graphics card, where as a computer engineer handles programing on a much more complicated
and higher level. 2
Internet Resources
In this Technology & Human Values journal it talked about how the engineers of the
failed NASA flight of the shuttle Challenger on 28 January, 1986. This article talks about how
the engineers were pressured into making a decision of meeting a schedule over safety. The night
before the launch of the Challengers shuttle the Engineers said that the shuttle should not launch
the following day due to temperature concerns. When the brought this up an engineer in a
management position was told to take of his engineering hat and put on his management hat.3
Engineering Companies
From my interview with Elwin hunt I learned engineers often times work for companies.
Companies can be as large as Apple or could be a small starter business as those engineers write
very similarly to an Engineer in a firm. I will focus specifically on the larger companies and the
writing in which is done there. As I interviewed Elwin Hunt about the writing in large companies
he informed me that usually they hire a technical writer to write for them. They are in charge of
writing the design process as well as any technical documents that go along with a project such
as user manuals. The Engineer would effectively communicate to the technical writer about what
is needed to document.4
Engineering Firms
I also learned in my Interview that engineers may form a group or a firm of Engineers to
be hired out for projects. They work off site from the place they are hired to do a project for and
are payed to do a specific job. These Engineers usually work on multiple projects at a time.
Firms are made up of all types of Engineers Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, and etc.
These Engineers use their different skill sets in a team to work on developing for the company
that hired them. 5
Engineering Consultants
Elwin informed me that an engineer who is a consultant would be doing writing in a
different way than the other two types might do. Engineering consultants would be writing about
their opinions on how the design process went and proposed changes and what was good
throughout the process. An Engineering consultant usually works for a short amount of time to
help solve issues or finalize a project. An Engineering consultant usually has a skill set that is

Hunt, Elwin. Personal Interview . 11 Sept. 2014

William T. Lynch and Ronald Kline Science, Technology, & Human Values 25 (2000): 195-225.
Hunt, Elwin. Personal Interview . 11 Sept. 2014

Hunt, Elwin. Personal Interview. 11 Sept. 2014

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rare and needed for a specific job. These engineers usually travel around to do their business.
They are on and off work a-lot but make large amounts of money.
Writing in the Design Process
Elwin talked about how the design process starts with the project, what is the project.
When one knows the project that they will be working on then the engineer would start on
breaking down the requirements of the project. After the requirements are decided one would
then move into brainstorming as to how the project would be completed and then decide which
way an engineer will go to engineer your project. Engineers then would break down assignments
and requirements as to what is needed in the process. After the process of defining what they are
going to do is done, they would move on into using the engineering skills they have developed a
project. For example a computer engineer for the I-phone would figure out how best to integrate
the new technology into the rest of the system and how it would all work together while working
with programmers to develop the software. The design process is the process from the beginning
of a project all the way to the end of a project and the design elements that were involved
throughout. 6
Discussion
While working as a computer or electrical engineer the levels of writing you will do will
vary as discussed because of the three levels organizational structures one may work for. As each
of these organizations have different purposes each will have different cultures.
Personal Interview
When I asked him the differences between computer and electrical engineering degrees
he laughed and stated that they are so similar that what makes the difference in your future career
is the first job you get.
Internet Resources
This is an important example of how cultures of companies can affect the people using
the technology created. This would also be an example of how an engineer would use writing in
what he does. I am sure the engineers did some kind of writing to inform people of the safety
hazards of launching under 53 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Engineering Companies
In a company setting where you are hired to be focused on their specific task and to focus
on that depending on how large or small the company is they may hire a technical writer to
document all the design process for you or they may ask the engineers to document the process.
It is a good idea and practice for those engineers to know and understand how a technical
document works even if they are not writing it. Hiring a technical writer allows the engineers to
focus more on the engineering of the design rather than the technical writing that is used. This is
effective for large companies such as apple who needs to meet deadlines of their projects and the
66

Hunt, Elwin. Personal Interview. 11 Sept. 2014

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engineers need to focus on the engineering, while still getting documentation written for what is
needed to communicate to management and future engineers what went on.
Engineering Firms
While working for an engineer firm the firm would be responsible for documenting the
design process, that frim would almost always have the engineers document the design process.
It is crucial for these engineers to document all the steps in the design processes as detailed
below. The engineers in a firm would be updating the company along the design process with
developments in the project. They would as well use writing to communicate with the other
engineers on the same project discussing problems or ideas. As the engineers communicate with
each other memos would be used to communicate. An engineer who works for a firm will be
doing a lot of communication through writing.
Engineering Consultants
If one was an engineering consultant then their writing would not necessarily be of the
documentation of the design process. Engineering consultants would read the firms or companies
documentation to familiarize themselves with the process in which has gone on. They would
then document the needed or proposed changes, or document all they see right. An engineering
consultant does just what the title suggests consult on the projects already in motion and use
their very specific skill set to improve the needed projects. Engineering consultants need to be
efficient in their skills of technical writing to communicate their expertise to the company or firm
that hired them briefly.
Writing in the design process
Engineering writing is very technical, engineers would develop technical reports using
APA style guidelines to break down the design process. Computer engineers would write things
such as a user manual for a program or design briefs. As I interviewed Elwin Hunt one of the
things he emphasized on the importance of writing was documenting everything down.
Especially the importance of writing design requirements down as you start a project. He said all
too often someone doesnt specify some requirement in writing so when others look at
requirements they dont design to meet the specification that was missing. It is important to
document everything down in the design process.
Conclusion and Recommendations
After doing this paper and learning more about the organizational culture of engineering
and about firms, companies and being an engineering consultant. This gave me a direction of
where to find my first job after I get out of school. I would most likely try to find work at a
company I think that would suit an engineer just starting off. I found really interesting how some
companies actually hire technical writers to do the writing on the design process. That shows
how important a job it is to create a job and hire someone to be a writer for them. It is important
for my future as an engineer to understand this writing process and to become efficient at it in
my years of schooling. I found it very interesting that Elwin hard a hard time distinguishing
between an electrical and computer engineering degrees, given that I now need to research some
more into the University of Utah and the differences in there two degrees.

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References
William T. Lynch and Ronald Kline Science, Technology, & Human Values Vol. 25, No. 2
(Spring, 2000), pp. 195-225

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Trevor D. Fackrell,

13339 Newport Dawn Dr., Draper UT, 84020

Email: trevorfackrell@gmail.com
Mobile: (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Career Summary and Objective:
Motivated and hard-working college student searching for part time employment. Excellent
employment history, high level of responsibility and a trusted team member. My Career
Objective and goal is to get a Bachelors Degree in Engineering and follow it up with a Masters
in Business Association.
Education and Awards:
Alta High School: Member of Honor Roll.
Jordan Applied Technology Center: Member of TSA was reporter for my Chapter in TSA.
Competed in state TSA competition for robotics.
Salt Lake Community College: Currently Getting Gen Education Degree. Estimated
Completion April 2017. Current GPA 3.8.
Employment:
Sandy Nickelcade:
Aug09-Dec12
Assistant Manager: I was Lead of Staff team while I worked. I helped fix games & solve
problems for customers and counted register at the end of the night and counted all money
for deposits.
Tuxedo Junction:
Jan12-Dec12
Sales Consultant: I was on the sales team for tuxedo junction. I would help
weddings/individual rentals (prom etc.) I was partially commission based.
Lowry and Associates:
Jan15-Current
Status Team Member: I track Audits for this Insurance Auditing Company. I email Auditors
Asking for updates on their current Audits and Update the Insurance Carriers as well as our
company on where they are with these audits.
Goals:
Engineering degree: I plan to get an Engineering Degree from the University of Utah. Will
transfer the University of Utah August of 2017, Estimated Bachelors April 2020.
MBA: I hope to obtain my MBA down the line after I start my career to continue Education
throughout my life as it is an important part of life to learn more. It is something I enjoy
doing and look forward to obtaining more degrees in my life.
Skills & Service:
Computer Aided Drafting experience: Auto CAD and Inventor
Java Programing Experience: 1 Semester at SLCC
Oxy settling Welding: 1 semester at SLCC
Awards and Certificates:
I have my Eagle Scout, for my project I built shelving units for the Utah Food Bank. I was a
member of Honor Roll at both Alta High and Jordan Applied Technology Center.

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References:
Lee Hoang, Owner of Sandy Nickelcade #: (801) 571-0220
798 9400 S, Sandy, UT 84094
Dee Shirts, Tuxedo Junction #: (801) 467-8216
1231 3300 S, South Salt Lake, UT 84106
Candace Hunter, Manager at Lowry and Associates Cell #: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
967 Pioneer Rd, Draper, UT 84020