Module overview
This group project enables you to apply your conceptual engineering and science knowledge to an engineering design problem. The ideas are developed through detailed design, experimentation, computer modelling and/or manufacture. You will also consider and manage wider aspects such as the (a) social, (b) economic, (c) political, (d) legislative, (e) environmental, (f) cultural, (g) ethical (h) and sustainability issues related to the subject matter of the project.
Working in groups you will meet regularly with your supervisor and any external sponsor, develop your team working, plan your project, present your work through meetings with your supervisor and sponsor and also prepare and submit reports and oral presentations. You will consolidate your project management skills. At all times you will monitor your progress as a team to ensure you are achieving the objectives set and ensuring quality of output.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Plan and meet your own deadlines
- Establish a project plan that is efficient and recognises group strengths and the time frame
- Record discussions at supervisory and peer based meetings in such a way that they can be effectively referred to in the future
- Use (if appropriate) computer based engineering tools and modelling to solve problems
- Reflect on group processes and own role in team work
- Demonstrate independence as a learner
- Monitor the progress of your design and the project outcomes
- Manage your time
- Communicate both orally and in writing
- Locate, read, understand and review research papers
- Prioritise competing demands
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of unfamiliar problems
- Assess the social, economic, political, legislative, environmental, cultural, ethical, technical, environmental and commercial aspects of the problem to be solved in order to develop a comprehensive project brief
- Coordinate a creative and innovative design solution with the effective use of appropriate design methodologies
- Evaluate critically your strategy, processes and output
- Design a component, system or process using appropriate design techniques and be able to describe key elements of those processes
- Research information related to a design solution and discuss within the group
- Gather and synthesise data, contextualise your results, recommend further work, or how work could have been improved
- Locate, read, understand and review research papers and be able to describe different research and methodological approaches across disciplines
- Describe any commercial risks [as appropriate]
- Generate ideas related to designing new or appropriate solutions, systems, components or processes
Syllabus
Key milestones are:
Initial meeting with supervisor(s)
Submission of risk assessments
Submission of extracts from your individual Design Journal at regular intervals
Interim Review
Submission of final design outputs: group report, group presentation, group video, individual Design Journal
Oral presentation.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
The main element will be regular meetings, preferably weekly but could be less often, as agreed by all parties between the project supervisors and the students. Initially, these meetings will be used to define the details of the projects and then to review the progress of the group.
An initial meeting with the students and the project coordinator will help to clarify the objectives and methods of assessment of the projects.
Depending on the project and her/his role in the team, each student could be involved in a wide range of learning activities. The following elements will be common:
Self-directed study: given the size of the projects, you may be responsible for several sub-tasks. This could include consulting relevant textbooks and researching papers, consulting members of academic staff for technical support, writing computer programs, and liaising with technicians, external companies or ‘clients’. As part of this process you should maintain an individual design journal, where you record and work on ideas, summarise information and results, outline future directions, etc., using text and sketches or other illustrations as appropriate. The journal could be kept either in the form of a notebook or electronically.)
Group-led work: you will have to synthesise and report your work to the other group members to contribute to the discussions and decision making within the group. Team work will also include organising the project, distributing the tasks between the students and coordinating these tasks.
Reporting: During regular meetings with the supervisors, the students will present their current work. At regular intervals, the students will submit Design Journal Entries summarising their work since the submission of the previous Entry. These Entries will form the basis of the next supervisory meeting. At the end of the first term a presentation describing the project plan and progress of the group will be delivered by each group to the supervisors, project coordinator or external industry sponsor. At the end of the year in May each group will submit a report, a video and a final presentation. Each student will also submit an individual Design Journal Summary, consisting of a summary of his/her contribution to the project with reference to the Design Journal Entries submitted in the course of the year. Each group will deliver their final presentation in early June, during a dedicated event.
Optionally, students may take part in the "Elevator Pitch" to apply for additional funding for the project, also developing further and improving their presentation skills.
Students will be supported by their supervisory team during the project. They should make sure that they use meetings with him or her effectively. It is up to them to also make good use of all resources available within the Faculty and the University.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Teaching | 48 |
Independent Study | 402 |
Total study time | 450 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Potential resources. The projects within this module are diverse and are supported by a wide range of potential resources, including Design Studios and workshops, time allocated within specialist laboratories and testing facilities, and specialist software. Each project group is allocated a budget which can be spent to support the project (e.g. materials for manufacture, travel), as well as time within the chemistry lab or/and Engineering, Design and Manufacturing Centre (EDMC) for the production of professionally manufactured components. Many projects have additional sponsorship from industry. You will be given a budget that you must manage to deliver your design to cost. Each project qualifies for funding at a level determined by the core project funding and the number of students in each group. Funds will cover the costs of travel expenses, materials and hospitality for project sponsors. This budget per GDP is, for 2018/19, £300 plus £80 per student. Each group should appoint a treasurer who is responsible for ensuring that the budget is properly managed. Teams who exceed their budget will be expected to settle the difference personally no additional Faculty funding will be available, except in extreme and unavoidable circumstances.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
There is no referral option for this core module. Students failing this GDP will be required to take an internal repeat year.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Design Report | 20% |
Report | 80% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal