MEET DR. ROBINSON
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Dr. Patricia A. Robinson
brings over 25 years experience to consulting and training in product
safety, particularly in the area of warnings and instructions. She is the author of Writing and Designing Manuals, now in its third edition, as well as
other books and articles. Dr.
Robinson has helped more than one hundred national and international
companies improve their warnings and instructions, addressing safety
issues in products as diverse as infant car seats, industrial gravel
separators, and food-industry patty-forming machines.
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Dr. Robinson brings a unique
blend of skills and experience to her consulting:
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Teaching and
Training
Dr.
Robinson served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College
of Engineering for thirteen years, receiving the Polygon Award for Excellence
in Teaching. In addition to developing
curriculum and teaching technical communication courses, Dr. Robinson helped
develop and served as the first Director of the Technical Communication
Certificate program.
In
addition, she served as Manager of Campus Courses for the Department of
Engineering Professional Development and as a Program Director for continuing
education courses in technical communication, including Writing and Designing
Manuals, Managing Technical Publications, and others. She continues to teach
regularly at products liability seminars.
Dr.
Robinson is at home in both academic and hands-on settings. She spent four years as a full-time
state-certified police trainer, instructing both pre-service and in-service
officers in report writing, firearms, defensive tactics, and other
subjects. As Law Enforcement Education
Director for the state of
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Writing and
Speaking
Dr.
Robinson is the author of three books, including the standard reference,
Writing
and Designing Manuals, now in its third edition, and a number
of articles in professional journals. Recent articles include “Product Liability Law:
What Engineering Experts Need to Know” (with Richard Moll and
Henry Hobscheid) in Handbook of Human Factors in Litigation, Taylor and Francis, 2004,
and “Integrated Product Safety”
in Hazard Communication Systems, Inc. newsletter, fall, 2004.
Dr.
Robinson presents regularly at professional conferences and often conducts
on-site seminars for clients.
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Expert
Testimony
Dr.
Robinson has provided expert testimony by deposition and at trial in products
liability cases involving allegations of failure to warn or failure to provide
adequate instructions.
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Robinson is author or
co-author of three books and several articles.
Books:
Writing
and Designing Manuals, 3rd Edition
2000 CRC Press,
Effective Writing Strategies for
Engineers and Scientists 1989
Lewis Publishers (co-author)
Fundamentals of Technical Writing 1985 Houghton Mifflin,
Recent Articles:
“Product Liability Law: What Engineering Experts Need to Know” (co-author) in Handbook of Human Factors in Litigation, Y. Ian Noy and Waldemar Karwowski, eds. 2004 CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
“Warnings
That Work-Four Keys to Effective Warnings” in Product Safety and Liability
Prevention Forum newsletter, fall, 2004, American Society for Quality.
“Integrated
Product Safety” in Hazard Communication Systems,
Inc. newsletter, fall, 2004.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Dr. Robinson is a Full Member
of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and a member of the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z535.6 Subcommittee for Product Safety
Information in Collateral Materials.
EDUCATION
Dr. Robinson earned her Bachelor’s Degree from