Discourse Community Activity

For the purposes of this weeks blog assignment and activity I’m choosing to focus on the third element of the six elements used to identify a discourse community. Element three states that a discourse community “Uses participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback.”

My company designs and develops jet engines for use in different styles of aircraft. Developing an aircraft engine requires the cooperation of three different entities; the government or airline company (the customer who has a specific request they’d like met), the airframer like Boeing (they build the actual airplane), and the company who develops and builds the powerplant for the aircraft (the engines).

The costumer will have certain requirements they want in an aircraft design like number of passengers or ordinance the aircraft can carry or fuel efficiency. It is then up to the airframer and the engine maker to create an aircraft that will give the customer what they want. It’s a lengthy process but to keep the airframe and the engine design compatible, the two companies will engage in regular (sometimes monthly, sometimes weekly) meetings to see compare how the two designs are developing and to make sure they will work together. These meetings will involve engineers from both companies and from all disciplines as well as representatives for the customer. In these meetings, for example, an expert on heat transfer may discuss air temperature and flow in one area of the engine but a materials specialist will speak and say that the build material won’t be able to standup to the temperatures the engine is expected to produce. At this point all parties involved will work together to develop a solution.

Meetings like this take place all the time and ensure that by the end of the process (a process that can take years) the customer is delivered an aircraft that works harmoniously with it’s engine powerplant.