MECH ENG 4143A - Honours Project Part A

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2016

The course information on this page is being finalised for 2016. Please check again before classes commence.

The aim of the project is to provide solutions to engineering problems related to industry or to school research, with a primary emphasis on engineering design. Students will be taught and learn through self directed research the engineering issues of personnel and resource management, project and business management, risk management and the legal aspects pertaining to engineering businesses. The course will cover the principles of quality management and continual improvement, including: Justification for quality management and continual improvement, Overview of quality management system types, TQM, Lean Systems and The Six-Sigma Process, Advanced Product Quality Planning, Design Failure Mode Effect Analysis (DFMEA), Process Failure Mode Effect Analysis (PFMEA), Design Verification Plan and Report (DVP&R) and Case Studies.

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Course Details

Course Code	MECH ENG 4143A
Course	Honours Project Part A
Coordinating Unit	School of Mechanical Engineering
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Contact	Up to 48 hours lectures/tutorials, 20 hours individual supervision, 180 hours project
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Assessment	Preliminary report, exhibition, seminar, final report, assignments

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr William Robertson

EMPP coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Reza Ghomashchi

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Workshops will be given in the allocated lecture timeslots relating to content required to complete the course requirements. Please refer to the complete schedule on MyUni for further details.

Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course, students should have sufficient knowledge to:
- Develop a research or project plan.
- Determine appropriate milestones and their associated time frames.
- Manage a small group undertaking research or a project.
- Orally present their findings to a large group with widely varying degrees of technical knowledge.
- Prepare a well-written technical report detailing their project.
Students will develop an appreciation of and will demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics, and relationship to the profession of engineering of the following skills:
- Best practice Project Management and Risk Management.
- Systems Engineering fundamentals and systems thinking.
- The law relating to professional work and the forms of legal protection relevant to business and industry.
- Financial Accounting.
- Fundamentals of Human Resource Management and its relevance to the engineering profession.
- Marketing fundamentals for products, services and ideas.
- Business fundamentals.
- Ethics and Decision Making relevant to Engineering and in situations of uncertainty.
University Graduate Attributes

No information currently available.
Learning Resources
Required Resources

Students will be expected to conduct thorough literature reviews in their chosen areas of application to gain the knowledge they need to satisfactorily complete their project. Specific additional resources (software/hardware/guidance) will be supplied as necessary by each project supervisor.

Recommended Resources
- Document preparation and bibliography management software, such as LaTeX and BibTeX, or Microsoft Word and Endnote.
- Gantt Chart software such as Microsoft Project or an open source equivalent.
- Engineering drawing software such as Inventor, and the engineering drawing standards to produce professional-quality drawings for fabrication.
Online Learning

A large repetoire of information relating to technical drawing, document preparation, seminar presentations, and so on, will be made available through MyUni.
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes

The primary interaction each student will have for their project is through their principle supervisor. Some projects will also have co-supervisors and/or external supervisors/sponsors/partners. In addition, workshops will be given throughout the year to assist in the management of the project and its deliverables.

The supervisor's role is to provide advice and guidance, and to ensure that the project proceeds in a fruitful direction. You should not expect your supervisor to do your thinking for you, or to tell you exactly what to do. You are expected to generate your own ideas, to seek out information for yourself, and to make your own decisions about what to do and how to do it. You should make arrangements with your supervisor for WEEKLY CONSULTATIONS at which progress may be reported, discussed and assessed.

Your supervisor is responsible for signing off on all engineering drawings, workshop (fabrication) requests, purchase requests, re-imbursements, and so on.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Honours projects are only successful with consistent application of time and effort over the entire year.

According to University policy 669, for a nine-unit course the minimum structured workload is 108 hours with a total expected student workload of 468 hours. This equates to twelve hours per week for thirty weeks (twelve weeks per semester, plus six weeks during breaks) for individual or group project work, not counting workshops and supervision meetings.

Students must manage this time as convenient for their own schedules; this might be three blocks of four hours spread throughout each week, for example. This time must be logged weekly and included in the final report.

The structured workload of 108 hours is broken down into: 1hr supervision meeting per week (30 hours); workshops (54 hours, one/two per week); seminar attendance (8 hours); expo attendance (16 hours).

Learning Activities Summary
Workshops will include:
1. Project Expectations & Organisation
2. Project Management and Risk Management
3. OH&S and laboratories
4. Protecting IP and Importance of a workbook
5. Journal Writing
6. Reference Search & Literature Review
7. Design and technical drawing for fabrication and machining
8. Report Writing 1
9. Report Writing 2
10. Report Writing 3
11. Report Writing 4
12. Creating graphs for reports and presentations
13. Documents using LaTeX
14. Risk Management Safety System-RMSS
15. Postgraduate Information Session
16. Seminar Instructions
17. Poster workshop
18. Seminar presentation
19. Organisation of exhibition
20. Financial Accounting
21. Business for Engineers
22. Marketing for Engineers
23. Human Resource Management
24. Ethics
25. Law for Engineers
More information will be made available on each of these topics through MyUni.
Small Group Discovery Experience

Each project group is expected to meet with their supervisor(s) for approximately one hour per week.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment for the honours project is broken down over the entire year as follows:

What	When	Marks (%)
Project charter	Sem 1, Week 4	7
Preliminary report	Sem 1, Week 12	10
Seminar	Sem 2, mid-sem break	10
Expo	Sem 2, Week 12	10
Final report	Sem 2, Week 11	50
Student performance	N/A	7
Meeting minutes	Weekly	2
Online quizes	Various	4
TOTAL		100

Assessment Related Requirements

Strict deadlines must be enforced for equity purposes. A penalty of 5% per 12 hours or part thereof applies for late submission of written assessment.

Written assessment is subject to strict word limits; please see the Course Handbook for further information.

Assessment Detail

Please see the Course Handbook for more detailed information.

Submission

All written assessment is to be submitted through MyUni.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

NOG (No Grade Associated)
Grade	Description
CN	Continuing

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

Custom supervisor SELTs are provided at the Expo event for students to complete.

For supervision concerns during the year, students should approach the course coordinator and/or the head of school as soon as possible to resolve any possible conflicts or disputes.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator