Biomedical Engineering: Citing, Generative AI, and Writing

As a student, and in your future career as a professional engineer, you need to communicate clearly with others. Whether it’s an assignment, a report, company documentation, or an email, you must convey information in a manner that can be interpreted and understood by others. Unclear writing can lead to costly misinterpretations, errors, and potential hazards.

In addition to good writing, you need to cite your information sources. Providing references in your assignments and projects is about giving credit to other’s hard work, and if you don’t, it’s plagiarism. As a student, plagiarism can lead to academic offenses that affect your grades and your progression through your program.

Finally, as the array of Generative AI tools grows, you need to understand how to use them appropriately, and what the current stance is regarding AI tools at the University of Waterloo. This includes issues of copyright, use in the classroom, and citing AI tools when used in your work.

You can find resources to answer all of these questions below.