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Unit information: Individual Research Project (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) in 2020/21

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Unit name Individual Research Project (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering)
Unit code MENG30009
Credit points 40
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Professor. Phil Mellor
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

The Individual Research Project provides students with an opportunity to develop the skills required to scope and solve real, open-ended problems, to plan and organise work, and effectively communicate results. This involves evaluation of academic literature to establish the state of the art in the relevant discipline, in order to address an open-ended engineering question through analytical, design, numerical and/or experimental methods.

The projects are wide-ranging and often multidisciplinary. Projects may be scientific and involve the study of certain phenomena, may be technology or product-orientated with a design emphasis, or may be on a topic related to systems and management.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

  • Find relevant research literature and analyse and interpret it in the context of a given problem.
  • Gather, refine and process appropriate data and visualise the results in an effective manner.
  • Carry out risk assessments relating to their project work.
  • Apply engineering knowledge and techniques (analytical, design, numerical or experimental) to solve an open-ended engineering problem.
  • Critically evaluate technical results.
  • Communicate technical results via structured technical report and presentation.
  • Effectively discuss and verbally defend technical knowledge.

Teaching Information

Students will be allocated an academic member of staff who will supervise their work throughout the duration of the project. The overall specification of the project is decided by the supervisor with input from the student. They will discuss technical aspects and the supervisor will advise on project direction in regular meetings. The individual research supervision meetings are complemented by a range of non-project-specific resources on topics such as planning, literature searching, report writing and presentation skills.

Assessment Information

The Group Project will include a written report and presentation (produced by the team), followed by an individual viva. Leading to a single summative mark. The marking criteria will take account of performance in both parts. Fromative feedback will be provded during supervision meetings.

Other Pass Requirements:
In addition to achieving the minimum pass mark students must complete a stage gate assessment in order to be awarded credit points.

Reading and References

Specified by project supervisor.

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