ENME408-25W (C) Whole Year 2025

Honours Research and Development Project

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
End Date: Sunday, 9 November 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 16 March 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 24 August 2025

Description

Team-based capstone research and development project. The purpose of the course is to develop applied professional problem-solving skills. There are no pre-existing solutions paths, no standard recipes to follow. Students apply research and design, select their own tools and find their own solution.

Students will work in teams with an academic supervisor and an external mentor, to solve engineering problems set by an end-user: usually an engineering company which sponsors the project. The student team may use knowledge from any of the courses taken previously in their degree.

During the project, students will follow problem-solving processes used in industry. They will research the problem, study existing solutions, develop a list of requirements and design a new, better solution. Most projects build and test a prototype.

In addition to the team project, training will be given in professional skills; including planning and project management, budgeting, risk assessment, communication with clients, oral and written communication, personal time management, job-seeking skills, creative and critical thinking, and leadership.

This course meets the criteria for Community and Work-Integrated Learning (CWIL) Courses.

Students attempting a Minor must complete a Final Year Project (FYP) in their chosen field.

Learning Outcomes

  • Washington Accord (V4) Summary of Graduate Attributes attained in this course:
     WA3 – Design/Development of Solutions
     WA4 – Investigation
     WA6 – The Engineer and the World
     WA7 – Ethics
     WA8 – Individual and Collaborative Teamwork
     WA9 – Communication
     WA10 – Project Management and Finance
     WA11 – Lifelong Learning

  • Course topics with Learning Outcomes (and Washington Accord (WA) and UC Graduate Attributes) identified.

    1. Design: Design Thinking
            1.1. Learn how to find and absorb background knowledge in a new field (WA4, WA12)
            1.2. Create new knowledge, solutions, and functioning hardware (WA3, WA4, WA6) (EIE3)
    2. Teams: Joining your team; Getting the best out of your team; Team roles
            2.1. Enhance team-work skills (WA9)
    3. Communication: Contacting your client; Planning and writing your proposal
            3.1. Develop clear, professional oral and written communication skills (WA10) (EIE2)
    4. Skills: Creative thinking; Time management; Leadership
            4.1. Master methods and approaches for solving open-ended, real-world, complex problems (WA7, WA8, WA11) (EIE1, EIE5)
            4.2. Improve time and resource management skills to near-professional level (WA12)
    5. Job Preparation: CV writing; Job Interview skills
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

      Employable, innovative and enterprising

      Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Prerequisites

60 points at 300-level in Mechanical Engineering
and
EMTH210, ENME202, ENME201, ENME215, EMTH271, ENME203, ENME207, ENME221

Co-requisites

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 08:00 - 09:00 A1 Lecture Theatre
17 Feb - 6 Apr
Presentation A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 17:00 - 18:00 C2 Lecture Theatre
17 Feb - 23 Feb
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 10:00 - 17:00 - 17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct

Course Coordinator

Digby Symons

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Team Assessment 1 - Draft Proposal 20 Mar 2023 10%
Individual Review 1 28 Apr 2023 15%
Team Assessment 2 - Mid-Year Report 26 May 2023 10%
Individual Review 2 15% Semester 2
Individual Review 3 15% Semester 2
Team Assessment 3 10% Semester 2
Individual Review 4 25% Semester 2

Notes

For detailed course, policy, regulatory and integrity information, please refer to the UC web site, or see relevant Course or Department LEARN pages, (which are available to enrolled students).

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $2,537.00

International fee $12,475.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Mechanical Engineering .

All ENME408 Occurrences