Lance Becker, a graduate student in the Technical Writing Graduate Certificate Program and the MA Program in English at Tech, recently published the article “Considering the Technical Communication Graduate Certificate” in the July/August issue of Intercom – the monthly magazine of the Society for Technical Communication (STC).

The United States’ largest professional organization in the field of technical communication, the STC’s Intercom magazine reaches a broad international audience of individuals working in professional communication positions in industry, government, and education.  Becker, an STC member and an Illinois-based project engineer, was one of only eight authors asked to contribute to Intercom magazine’s 2018 special issue on education in technical communication.

In the article, Becker draws from his own experiences as a student in Tech’s online Technical Writing Certificate Program to identify the benefits, challenges, and opportunities associated with pursing this kind of study. In so doing, he presents factors prospective certificate students should consider when debating if online certificate programs are right for them. Becker also notes the need to balance a variety of work, life, and academic factors when participating in such programs.

While Becker, who received a BS in Industrial Engineering with a minor in English from Eastern Illinois University, currently works as a project engineer with Illinois Crane, Inc., he is also currently completing his MA in English online at Tech. In his current position, he reports recommendations for the engineering and application of overhead cranes, providing both procedures and proposals to accomodate the material handling needs of large manufacturing-based facilities. A student entering his second year of graduate coursework at Tech, Becker plans to use his graduate certificate in Technical Writing – and his degree in English – to author technical specifications for the welding industry and to teach technical writing at the community college level.