Unit information: Year in Industry in 2021/22

Unit name	Year in Industry
Unit code	COMS30008
Credit points	120
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Dr. Drury
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	In order to transfer onto the Year in Industry programme students must achieve an average of 60% in their first year units, 50% in their second year and be successful at interview with industry.
Co-requisites	N/A
School/department	School of Computer Science
Faculty	Faculty of Engineering

Description including Unit Aims

The Year in Industry Unit has been designed to provide students with professional engagement in a structured and supervised environment to build upon knowledge and skills gained during their first two years of study in an Industrial context.

The aims of this unit are to:

• Provide students with additional knowledge, skills and experience derived from spending a period in industry;
• Enable students to apply appropriate knowledge and skills within a professional setting;
• Allow students to develop and build evidence of UK-SPEC competencies that begin progression towards Chartership with one of the professional institutions relevant to their discipline;
• Provide an insight into the use of Engineering in a commercial environment and the constraints imposed on engineers by economic, environmental and social issues;
• Provide the opportunity for students to extend their knowledge and experience of the discipline through independent study.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the placement, students should have a(n):

1. Knowledge and understanding of the way in which engineering is used in an industrial or commercial context.
2. Ability to work effectively as part of a professional engineering team and to take independent initiative.
3. Ability to present complex issues to others through written reports and oral presentations.
4. Knowledge and understanding of the pressures of working within financial and time constraints, and the importance of effective planning to manage this.
5. Ability to consider and evaluate their own work in a reflective manner, with specific reference to UK-SPEC engineering competencies.
6. Ability to manage their own learning and professional development.

Teaching Information

1 hour “Welcome Back” seminar for entire cohort in addition to the week 0 activities for the cohort into which students return,

1100 plus hours industrial placement, this would typically equate to between 35-40 hours per week for a 9 month period – it is anticipated that while on placement student will undertake basic elements of CPD which will feed through to the Reflective professional development journal

Attendance at symposium day

2 x 3 hour meetings with academic supervisor, this would typically break down to:

• 1 hour of student, industrial supervisor and academic supervisor
• 1 hour of student and academic supervisor
• 1 hour of academic and industrial supervisor

Supervision during industrial placement by Industrial Mentor. It would be preferred (although not essential) that the Industrial Mentor either already be registered as Chartered by the relevant professional body or in the process of becoming registered.

Assessment Information

The assessment schedule below is designed to encourage students to reach the competency requirements for professional registration. It follows a similar structure to that required for CEng registration after graduation.

1. Initial industrial assessment 10%

• Initial industrial verbal presentation (between November-December, max 15 minutes) delivered to the academic and industrial supervisors covering:
  1. Company description, including aims and where relevant, vision/mission statements
  2. Your role within the company
  3. Mentoring and professional development
  4. Summary and future plans
• Project pro-forma to be completed by the student, industrial mentor and academic supervisor outlining the project definition (non-assessed piece of work)

2. Interim industrial assessment 30%

• Interim Industrial verbal presentation (between March-April, max 15 minutes) delivered to the academic and industrial supervisors, covering:
  1. Progress of placement to date
  2. Your role within the company
  3. Mentoring and professional development
  4. Summary and future plans for the remainder of the placement
• Report submission in April

• 2,000 word project initiation document - Outlining the process for which the industrial process/product report will be delivered, providing objectives, scope and purpose

3. Reflective professional development journal 20%

• 1,500 words per submission
• Three journal submissions throughout the placament, November/December, March/April and June
• Discuss elements of continued professional development (CPD) which have been undertaken on placement which have the potential to contribute towards the development of competencies, please refer to the Engineering Council’s UK-SPEC as a guide

4. Final industrial assessment 40%

• 5,000 word Industrial Process/Product Report, evaluating a process used within the placement company and providing recommendations for improvement
• Report submission June
• Verbal presentation delivered at Year in Industry Symposium - June to departmental cohort, academics and industrial partners

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. COMS30008).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.