2017/18

This module provides the opportunity to integrate and apply the knowledge and understanding gained in the other core modules of the programme and demonstrate the skills required of professional engineers in an industrial context.

This is by means of a group design project, which is inspired by an industrial partner and prepares students for professional practice. The project provides experience of team working whilst being assessed on an individual basis. Students will integrate their knowledge and understanding in order to specify and solve a complex engineering problem (or user need) related to tunnelling, through the creation and development of a designed infrastructure or system. The project also allows students to develop their understanding of project management, time management, ethics, sustainability and environment, health and safety and risk. Students will develop effective communication and leadership skills and are encouraged to reflect upon the skills they have and are developing.

By the end of the module a student should be able to:

• Extrapolate existing knowledge and experience and apply them in an integrated systems approach to solve a complex and unfamiliar engineering problem
• Extract and critically evaluate relevant data in order to apply engineering analysis and advanced problem solving skills, in order to complete an engineering project to the satisfaction of a customer and/or user
• Use innovative techniques, materials or methods in delivering the project.
  
• Consider the wider context of the project including, risk, ethics, environmental and sustainability limitations, intellectual property rights, codes of practice and standards, health and safety and liability, to inform the project specification (problem brief) as relevant to the project.
  
• Plan and manage a project from the initial brief to a deliverable outcome
  
• Demonstrate effective communication, both verbal and written, to a technical and non-technical audience.
  

Course Description

Design is a major activity within all branches of engineering. Similar design methods and skills can be applied at many levels of detail from the conceptual arrangement of a complex system down to the physical embodiment of its constituent parts. Designers use a range of skills and a repertoire of prior knowledge to synthesise an appropriate solution that satisfies the various constraints of the problem. Their efficiency and success depend on judicious use of analysis, experience and creativity.

Modern designers need to possess a range of skills, including; the ability to generate innovative designs and solutions to problems, the ability to design for a particular manufacturing process, the ability to collaborate effectively across teams and the ability deliver compelling presentations of designs. While the delivery of precise and detailed engineering designs is a key skill, the impact of pervasive simulation tools, automated and generative design tools, as well as cloud computing and cyber-physical systems means that designers of the future will require both traditional design and manufacturing knowledge as well as a whole new repertoire of skills.

This module aims to introduce students to the complexities of the design task and equip them with some of the techniques and experience required to design for a function and manufacturing/construction process within their discipline.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

• Imagine and create innovative products that are fit for purpose;
• Balance competing technical, commercial, regulatory, socio-environmental requirements in engineering design;
• Apply a methodical approach to the solution of design problems from design conceptualisation through to design verification;
• Use computational tools to aid the application of theoretical models to the quantitative design of functional components;
• Develop effective team-working practices;
• Develop effective project management skills;
• Develop effective communication behaviours.

Engineers are required to make appropriate selection of materials and manufacturing processes taking due account of performance, cost and sustainability.

Each unit will require students to explore the interaction of material, manufacturing process and design on the performance of engineered products as well as the wider implications of their use on the environment.

The aim of this module is to build fundamental knowledge of statics and behaviour of structures that underpin many branches of engineering science. This will provide the knowledge required for further study in the design and analysis of structures from buildings to spacecraft, motor vehicles and wind turbines. The module will increase the students’ ability with mathematical analysis and in particular its application to solving problems in structures. The module will further help in developing experimental skills and awareness of health and safety issues applicable to working in a supervised laboratory.

The module provides an understanding of the principles of operation of automated equipment with particular reference to industrial robots. It focuses on the knowledge needed to select and use such equipment effectively and safely. However, some design aspects will be presented. There is an emphasis on the use of sensors to make robots behave "intelligently".

By the end of the module students will be able to:

• Appraise the impact of automation, both economic and social, on modern industry and future applications in industry
• Contrast the benefits and disadvantages of automating a task.
• Evaluate the different mechanical configurations available for a modern industrial robot and argue if a task is appropriate for that configuration.
• Program an industrial robot off-line using kinematic simulation software to perform a specified task.
• Locate the sources of positional error and calculate the possible positional error in an application.
• Analyse safety hazards and formulate a safety system for a given automation application.
• Select appropriate sensors for a given automation application.
• Apply machine vision to a given application and set up a machine vision system.
• Analyse complex robot kinematic theory and devise kinematic calculations for a given case study.