Unit information: Individual Research Project in 2013/14

Unit name	Individual Research Project
Unit code	MENG35000
Credit points	40
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Shterenlikht
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 aims of the research project is for you to develop the skills required to solve real, open-ended problems, to plan and organise work, and effectively communicate your results. In addition the study will allow you to focus on a particular area and implement some of the knowledge gained on the course. The projects are wide-ranging and often multidisciplinary. Projects may be scientific and involve the study of certain phenomena, or perhaps product-orientated with a design emphasis, or maybe on a topic related to management and organisation.

Aims:

The aim of the project is to enable the student to develop the skills necessary to tackle substantial, extended problems. The objectives are that the student should be able to:

• apply the knowledge and skills that they have acquired over their course;

• 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 other members of the University;

• plan and pace their work and manage their time effectively;

• communicate their work clearly in written and oral forms.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Learn how to plan and execute a project and work to a budget

• Learn to write a detailed and structured project report

• Advance knowledge in the subject area of the project

• Learn to communicate results to a jury

Teaching Information

Each student is allocated an academic supervisor at the beginning of the year. He or she is responsible for advising the student on how they might progress with the project. The content and methods of the project is negotiated between the student and the supervisor, and a project specification that will be a broad outline of aim, objectives, methods of the project should be agreed and written down on the form provided by the end of week 3 of the Autumn Term. This form must be signed by both the supervisor and the student. Over the course of the year it is recommended that the student and his or her supervisor should meet regularly to assess progress and plan future work. At the end of the Autumn Term there will be a formal progress meeting between the student and supervisor and a further form will be completed that will summarise over about half page of A4 the main discussion points/requirements/ problems/change of work plan etc with respect to the project. This review document must be signed by the student. These documents will be required for the end of project assessment. It is recommended that work on the content of the project should finish at the end of week 18 to allow sufficient time for a draft copy of the project report to be produced. Projects are usually paired so that two students will be studying different aspects of the same problem. Students are encouraged to support one another, but they will be assessed individually and they must ensure that they produce distinct bodies of work at the end of the project. Supervisors will advise students on this.

Assessment Information

Assessment of each project will be made by a jury of three academic staff which will not include the project supervisor. In making their assessment the jury will agree a mark based on the following pieces of evidence:

• project specification from the beginning of the project (see above);

• report from the progress meeting at the end of the Autumn Term (see above);

• end of project report on the student by the supervisor;

• project report written by the student and submitted at the beginning of the Summer Term;

• poster or web site produced by the student and submitted at the beginning of the Summer Term;

• 10 minute presentation by the student to the jury followed by up to fifteen minutes of questions.

The important points for students to note are:

• the project specification and the mid term progress report will be used for assessment;

• a report must be produced by the end of the Easter Vacation;

• a web site or a poster must be produced early in the Summer Term;

• a presentation must be prepared and an interview will take place immediately after it.

Guidance on the preparation of the report and the web site or poster will be given in the Spring Term.

Reading and References

Specified by project supervisor