Unit information: Group Industrial Project in 2018/19

Unit name	Group Industrial Project
Unit code	MENGM5000
Credit points	40
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Lawrie
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
Faculty	Faculty of Engineering

Description including Unit Aims

In this unit students will undertake an advanced engineering team project combining technical and commercial aspects at a level of sophistication representative of that within an industrial environment. Many projects are run in association with industrial companies, and arise from real company or user needs with team working and project management playing important roles. Aspects such as marketing, interpreting customer requirements, producing technical specification, design, experimentation, manufacture, costing, safety and evaluation of performance are covered. Communication skills are an important aspect to the course.

Aims:

The aim of the project is to enable students to grasp the essentials of an open-ended problem and apply themselves to its solution, organise their own work and integrate it with the overall activities of the team, as well as coordinate the overall direction of the team, and communicate their work through a group technical report and group presentation.

The objectives are that the students should be able to:

• apply the knowledge and skills that they have acquired over their course;
• demonstrate that they are capable of developing their knowledge and skills when tackling a new problem;
• understand, investigate, and integrate a wide range of non-technical factors such as cost and safety;
• design, develop and test whether physically or virtually a new device or machine;
• make substantial progress when faced with a technical challenge within the resources available to them;
• plan and organise their work and co-ordinate it with that of the team and other members of the University;
• plan and pace their work and manage their time effectively;
• present their work clearly in written and oral forms.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Learn how to plan and execute a project and work to a budget (ILO1).
• Learn how to work in a team to achieve a global goal (ILO2).
• Learn to write a detailed and structured technical report (ILO3).
• Advance knowledge in the subject area of the project (ILO4).
• Conceive, develop, manufacture and test a device or machine (ILO5).
• Develop research, technical and practical skills in an area relevant to the project (ILO6).
• Learn to communicate technical results via presentation (ILO7).
• Identify management techniques that may be used to achieve engineering objectives (ILO8).
• Carry out assessments relating to health, safety and environmental risk (ILO9).

Teaching Information

Each team is allocated an academic supervisor at the beginning of the year. He or she is responsible for advising the team and students on how they might progress with the project. The content and methods of the project are negotiated between the team (students) and the supervisor. A project specification that will be a broad outline of aim, objectives, methods of the project should be completed within the first three weeks. This form must be signed by both the supervisor and the student. Over the course of the year it is recommended that the students and his or her supervisor should meet regularly to assess progress and plan future work. Toward the end of semester 1 there will be a formal progress meeting between each student and supervisor and a further form will be completed that will summarise the main discussion points/requirements/ problems/change of work plan with respect to the project. This review document must be signed by the student. Part way through the second semester there will be a mid-project review and feedback session between the team and their assessors. This is also an opportunity for the team to prepare and give a short presentation. The aim of this session is to provide further feedback and assistance to the team. These documents will be required for the end of project assessment. It is expected that a draft copy of the group technical report be produced before Easter so that the supervisor can give detailed feedback on its content.

Project teams are usually comprised of 4-6 students. Students are expected to study in detail different aspects of the same problem. Students are encouraged to support one another and they will produce a single coherent technical report. However, students will be assessed individually and they must ensure that they work on, and report, distinct areas at the end of the project. Supervisors will advise students on this.

Assessment Information

Assessment of each project will be made by two assessors whose marks account for 75% of the final mark. The remaining 25% is assessed by the supervisor who considers student performance throughout the unit. In making their assessment the assessors will agree a mark based on the following:

• completed project specification (ILO 1);
• report from the mid-session progress review in semester 1, typically week 10 or 11 (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4, ILO5, ILO6);
• report from the mid-project review and feedback session with the assessors, typically in weeks 14-16 of semester 2 (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4, ILO5, ILO6);
• end of project report on the student by the supervisor (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4, ILO5, ILO6);
• technical report written by the team and submitted after Easter, typically week 22 (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4, ILO5, ILO6);
• poster or web site produced by the team and submitted shortly after submission of the technical report (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4, ILO5, ILO6);
• 20 minute group presentation by the team to their assessors followed by up to fifteen minutes of individual questions (viva voce) ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4, ILO5, ILO6, ILO7).
• In week 10 students provide a updated, finalised risk assessment and project plan. In addition they provide one page document with individual reflections on group work to date and management thereof. This document will also include their suggestions regarding management of the group in Semester 2 (e.g. note taking responsibilities, actions, project risks, meetings, formats, sub groups, supporting collaborative works.) These documents will be evaluated and discussed at mid-session review in Week 10 (LO8, LO9).

The important points for students to note are:

• the project specification, the mid-session progress report, and the review and feedback session will be used for assessment;
• a group technical report must be produced by the end of the Easter Vacation, typically week 22 (see note in methods of teaching)
• a web site or a poster must be produced and submitted with or shortly after the technical report;
• a group presentation must be prepared and a viva vice exam will take place immediately after it.

Guidance on the preparation of the technical report and the web site or poster will be given in supporting lectures.

Reading and References

• Hunt, A., Your Research Project: How to Manage it. (2005), 1st ed., Routledge Publishing. ISBN-10: 0415344077. ISBN-13: 9780415344074.
• Booth, W.C., The Craft of Research. (2008), 3rd ed., University of Chicago Press. ISBN-10: 0226065669. ISBN-13: 9780226065663.
• Day, R.A. & Gastel, B., How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper. (2012), 7th ed., Cambridge University Press. ISBN-10: 1107670748. ISBN-13: 9781107670747.
• Walliman, N., Your Research Project: Designing & Planning your Work. (2011), 3rd ed., SAGE Publications. ISBN-10: 1849204616. ISBN-13: 9781849204613.
• Berry, R., The Research Project: Hot to Write it. (2004), 5th ed., Routledge Publishing. ISBN-10: 0415334446. ISBN-13: 9780415334440.