ENME438-12W (C) Whole Year 2012

Project

24 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 20 February 2012
End Date: Sunday, 11 November 2012
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 4 March 2012
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 2 September 2012

Description

Project

• Engineering Skills:  Drawing preparation, Concept generation, Design process
• Utilisation of Research: Books, literature, patents and other information
• Numerical methods, Software utilization
• Experimental Ability: method development, practice, record-keeping
• Problem-solving and fault-finding  
• Analysis and interpretation of results  
• Ability to draw conclusions from experimental or other evidence
• Recognition of incomplete or inconclusive outcomes and suggesting ways around such situations
• Recognition and definition of project scope and goals  
• Planning and scheduling, keeping records in project folder or lab-book  
• Initiative and “self-starting” ability
• Project Management of time, scope, issues, resources, risks
• Team work, keeping promises, contribution
• Coping with unscheduled difficulties and set-backs
• Contact and communication with supervisor and sponsor
• Interpersonal skills (with supervisor, technicians, workshop, outside parties)
• Professional written and oral communication

This is a final year capstone project course for mechanical engineering students. Students take what they have learned in their degree and apply it to solving a real problem with all its complexity. Each team (usually of 4 students) works on a different 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, and are assessed accordingly.

Learning Outcomes

Engineering Practice
o Learn to apply engineering fundamentals to real problems
o Learn to foster creativity and problem solving through applying multidisciplinary aspects of engineering
o Exercise engineering knowledge and skills gained from prior coursework

Research
o Carry out applied research including experimental design
o Investigate and summarise current  literature
o Perform engineering analyses to guide and justify design decisions
o Execute design and testing according to best engineering practice
o Write proposals, reports, memos, make impromptu and formal oral presentations, and prepare poster presentations for a general audience

Project Management
o Develop organisational,  project management, research, and interpersonal (team) skills

Communication
o Learn to communicate effectively, clearly, and professionally in a variety of situations, e.g. with Supervisor and Client
o Learn to understand client’s aims, analyse and critically evaluate ideas
o Acquire skill in working with others as a member of a team
o Develop skills in communicating technical information orally and in writing
o Practice teamwork, project management, and personal time management

Professional development
o Be responsible for independent, individual accomplishment
o Learn to organize your own work toward achieving professional engineering outcomes
o Learn about professional practice and ethics

Prerequisites

ENME331, ENME332, ENME333, ENME339, ENME340, ENME341, ENME345

Course Coordinator

Dirk Pons

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Project Proposal 16 Mar 2012 10% Project Proposal
Term 1 Ind Performance Review 30 Mar 2012 5% Term 1: Individual Performance Review
Progress Report 31 May 2012 10% Progress Report
Term 2 Ind Performance Review 01 Jun 2012 5% Term 2: Individual Performance Review
Term 3 Ind Performance Review 17 Aug 2012 10% Term 3: Individual Peformance Review
Final Report 12 Oct 2012 30% Final Report
Review of Individual Contribution 12 Oct 2012 30% Review of Individual Contribution

Course links

Library portal

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,243.00

International fee $7,000.00

* 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 ENME438 Occurrences

  • ENME438-12W (C) Whole Year 2012