ENGR489 (2024) - Engineering Project

Prescription

Students will work on an individual project of a complex nature in order to develop a solution to an engineering problem. In addition to the technical engineering development work, the project may require consideration of issues such as customer specifications, cost analysis, IP and product testing and delivery. Students will be required to give an oral and a poster presentation as well as a final report on their project.

Course learning objectives

Students who pass this course will be able to:

1. Design, implement and evaluate a solution to an appropriate engineering problem. This should demonstrate an understanding of the various trade-offs involved, provide documented evidence justifying those design decisions made and demonstrate technical leadership through innovation. (3(a), 3(b), 3(c), 3(f))
2. Justify the quality of your solution through effective written and oral communication, and through practical demonstration. Quality issues include, but are not limited to: the selection of appropriate technology; application of appropriate engineering and professional practices; consideration of real-world issues, such as scalability, reliability, safety and sustainability (where appropriate). (1(a), 1(b), 2(b), 3(b), 3(e))
3. Assemble evidence from a range of sources to compare and analyse the relationship between your solution to the engineering problem and that of similar systems and/or approaches. Sources include, but are not limited to, books and academic papers, (2(b), 3(d))

Course content

We’ve designed this course for in-person study, and to get the most of out it we strongly recommend you attend lectures on campus. Most assessment items, as well as tutorials/seminars/labs/workshops will only be available in person. Any exceptions for in-person attendance for assessment will be looked at on a case-by-case basis in exceptional circumstances, e.g., through disability services or by approval by the course coordinator.
 
If you started your programme of study remotely and can only study remotely, please contact the School so we can help and confirm what courses are available.
 
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ENGR 489 consists of an individual project which is done under the supervision of one (or more) of our academic staff or an academic and industry supervisor. The aim is to let you show-case all of the skills you have learnt during your BE degree. In particular, you will design, implement and evaluate a solution to a complex engineering problem. You will also present your solution through a final report, an oral presentation and a practical demonstration.

Withdrawal from Course

Withdrawal dates and process:
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/course-additions-withdrawals

Lecturers

Teaching Format

A schedule of lecture topics will be available online. Regular meetings with your supervisor need to be arranged (Weekly meeting preferable).
 
This course will require interactions with staff members / industry partners / volunteers during project development and subsequent evaluation.

Dates (trimester, teaching & break dates)

• Teaching: 26 February 2024 - 31 May 2024
• Break: 01 April 2024 - 14 April 2024
• Study period: 03 June 2024 - 06 June 2024
• Exam period: 07 June 2024 - 22 June 2024
• Teaching: 08 July 2024 - 11 October 2024
• Break: 19 August 2024 - 01 September 2024
• Study period: 14 October 2024 - 17 October 2024
• Exam period: 18 October 2024 - 09 November 2024

Set Texts and Recommended Readings

Required

There are no required texts for this offering.

Mandatory Course Requirements

In addition to achieving an overall pass mark of at least 50%, students must:

• Submit both the preliminary and final reports.
• Deliver the final oral presentation.
• Demonstrate and explain the artefact.
• Maintain a current copy of all work on University-approved storage systems, to demonstrate achievement of all the CLOs of the course.

If you believe that exceptional circumstances may prevent you from meeting the mandatory course requirements, contact the Course Coordinator for advice as soon as possible.

Assessment

Your grade will be determined through an assessment of the various reports, a presentation and a demonstration..

• Preliminary report - 20%
• Final report and oral presentation - combined 40%
• Artefact and demonstration - 40%

Assessment Item	Due Date or Test Date	CLO(s)	Percentage
Preliminary report	Week 12 of T1	CLO: 1,2,3	20%
Final report and presentation	Report due on Week 12 of T2, Presentation in the T2 assessment period	CLO: 1,2,3	40%
Artefact and demonstration	Artefact and Demonstration TBD	CLO: 1,2,3	40%
A meeting log that must include a record of: * when student / supevisor met. * what action points were agreed for the next meeting. * what action points were achieved since the last meeting. * a statement on any action points not achieved since the last meeting.   [Penalty of up to two grades points from final grade for not adequately submitting a log.]	Week 12 of T2	CLO: 1,2,3	0%

Penalties

Late submissions will be penalized and extensions will not be given without prior arrangement with supervisors and the course coordinators. You should expect a penalty of one grade per day of lateness (i.e. A- would be reduced to a B+).

Extensions

Individual extensions will only be granted in exceptional personal circumstances, and should be negotiated with the course coordinator before the deadline whenever possible. Documentation (eg, medical certificate) may be requested.

Submission & Return

Assignments and reports to be submitted using the ECS online submission system, accessible through the course web pages. Marks and comments will be returned through the ECS marking system, also available through the course web pages.
 
Student submitted work may be used during the formal Engineering NZ re-accreditation visit to VUW scheduled for 2024, as part of the evaluation process for the programme.

Group Work

Where appropriate, team projects are permitted. In such case, all reporting items must still be individually prepared and, ideally, each student will do a distinct part of the project (distinct being judged by the project supervisor and course coordinators).

Workload

In order to maintain satisfactory progress in ENGR 489, you should plan to spend an average of 10 hours per week on this paper, spread over the 30 weeks that the course runs (i.e. including mid-trimester breaks). During term time, a plausible and approximate breakdown for these hours would be:

• Lectures/tutorials: Will be held as and when required.
• Project work: 10 hours per week.

NOTE: It is essential for you to ensure that you put enough time in your project throughout the course duration. Your supervisor can give you warnings if your progress is slow due to lack of efforts. After three warnings, the associate dean will arrange a meeting with you to discuss your progress and ways of improvement.
 
NOTE: Time spent for writing research papers (both conference and journal papers) will usually not be counted for your project. If you plan to prepare a research paper during this project, please seek consent from your supervisor. An approval from Associate Dean of Students and the Head of School is also necessary.

Teaching Plan

See: https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/ENGR489_2024FY/LectureSchedule

Communication of Additional Information

All online material for this course can be accessed at https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/ENGR489_2024FY/

Links to General Course Information

• Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/exams/academic-integrity
• Academic Progress: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/progress/academic-progess (including restrictions and non-engagement)
• Dates and deadlines: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/dates
• Grades: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/progress/grades
• Special passes: Refer to the Assessment Handbook, at https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/documents/policy/staff-policy/assessment-handbook.pdf
• Statutes and policies, e.g. Student Conduct Statute: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/strategy
• Student support: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/support
• Students with disabilities: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/st_services/disability/
• Student Charter: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/learning-teaching/learning-partnerships/student-charter
• Student Feedback on University courses may be found at: http://www.cad.vuw.ac.nz/feedback/feedback_display.php
• Terms and Conditions: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/study/apply-enrol/terms-conditions/student-contract
• Turnitin: http://www.cad.vuw.ac.nz/wiki/index.php/Turnitin
• University structure: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/structure
• The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy:
  Victoria University values te reo Māori. Students who wish to submit any of their assessments in te reo Māori must refer to The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy
  He mea nui te reo Māori ki te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika. Ki te pīrangi koe ki te tuhituhi i ō aro matawai i roto i te reo Māori, tēnā me mātua whakapā atu ki te kaupapa here, The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy
• VUWSA: http://www.vuwsa.org.nz

Offering CRN: 18688

Points: 30
Prerequisites: ENGR 201, 301, 302; 45 further 300-level pts from the BE(Hons) schedule
Duration: 26 February 2024 - 10 November 2024
Starts: Trimester 1+2
Campus: Kelburn