In this report, I discuss a technical writing internship I completed at E-Technologies Group, an engineering firm in West Chester, Ohio, as well as the collaborative and rhetorical implications of my work during the internship.
The report consists of four chapters. In Chapter 1, I describe the organization where the internship took place. In Chapter 2, I discuss several examples of the work that I performed during the internship. In Chapter 3, I focus on a specific long-term project on which I worked: the Quality Management System (QMS). In Chapter 4, I discuss ways in which practicing and future technical communicators can enhance their effectiveness in the field of technical writing and also how technical communicators might consider their roles contextually in the workplace. Using the QMS as an example, and citing existing research, I argue that technical writing is not only an instructive or expository activity, but also a rhetorical one. I also discuss the need for technical communicators to extend beyond their "traditional" roles in the workplace and the importance of collaborating with multiple stakeholders, including other technical writers, in projects like the QMS. Finally, I discuss the importance of advocating for the value of technical communication by those who work in the field.