ENGI41030: Group Design Project

• None

• As specified in programme regulations

• None

• To carry out a group design of a complex engineering system relating to the students programme of study.
• To develop students understanding of system design.
• To introduce team-working in the context of modern, interdisciplinary design teams.
• To apply the theory and knowledge gained in lecture courses to a complex engineering problem.

• Literature/market search for existing products/techniques.
• Identification of requirements for this design.
• Generation of possible solutions and identification of 'best' solution.
• Splitting of tasks to each student by group under supervision.
• Detailed analysis and design of each component by individual student.
• Preparation and delivery of design presentation.
• Production of final design report.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Understand the stages in the design of an engineering system, from problem conception to detailed design.
• Understand the importance of information flow within the design group.
• Understand how specialised, theoretical knowledge supports the design process.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Specification, planning and management of an engineering design project.
• Application of specialised theoretical knowledge gained from other courses to the novel solution of a problem.
• Preparation and delivery of a concise commercial feasibility report.
• Preparation and delivery of an in-depth technical report.
• Preparation and delivery of a group technical presentation.
• Provision of an imaginative and innovative solution to a complex technical problem.
• The specialised use of IT relevant to engineering, such as project management software, electronic circuit simulation software or fluid simulation software.
• Application of design processes in a professional environment.

Key Skills:

• Effective communication of advanced technical information.
• Technical oral presentation skills.
• Technical report writing.
• Effective team working and leadership in combination with independent research.
• Ability to seek out relevant information from a variety of sources.
• Ability to organise a body of information into a coherent structure.
• Time and resource management.
• Capacity for self-learning in familiar and unfamiliar situations.

• The module will be implemented by selecting a group of students, and setting the group a design task that will use skills relevant to the programme of study.
• The group will be supervised by one or more members of staff, and guided through the various stages of design. At appropriate points, work will be divided up to group members under staff monitoring. By this means, each group member will have to contribute work to the final design which is clearly their own.
• Assessment will be by submission of a feasibility report, the delivery of a group design presentation the submission of a detailed design report. The quality of the final design, the individual contributions and the groups team-working ability will contribute to the assessment. The report must demonstrate the ability to work within the bounds of professional practice.

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