This course is designed to offer students an opportunity to collaborate with peers in a small-group setting and tackle a real-world engineering problem under the direction of an external project client. Project teams receive a client-drafted problem statement, which calls for engineering expertise. From this problem statement, the students are responsible for developing a full set of requirements and key performance indicators to guide their proposed solution. Using a systems engineering framework and working with a high degree of autonomy, the students then proceed through a systems design process including conceptual design, sub-system requirements, and trade-off analyses. Finally, they develop and implement their engineered solution, and evaluate it against the agreed performance indicators. At the end of the project, clients take delivery—and participate in the evaluation—of their team's output. The course emphasises value-driven work, as evaluated in terms of: effective teamwork and peer support; impactful communication (formal and informal, written and oral); insightful personal and professional development; and elegance of engineered solutions.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Synthesise advanced engineering knowledge and approaches to produce elegant solutions to technical problems.
2. Develop, analyse, and critically evaluate alternative options in order to justify and generate solutions in a real-world project.
3. Apply project management and organisational skills to produce time-sensitive deliverables in a multi-disciplinary team.
4. Effectively communicate decisions and solutions using appropriate media to professional and lay audiences.
5. Demonstrate and reflect on leadership, creativity, and professional attributes as an individual and as member of a multi-disciplinary team.

Research-Led Teaching

Authentic engineering projects can be drawn from a wide range of sources including industry, government and community groups, research groups across the ANU and student-generated projects.

Field Trips

Travel off-site to meet with clients may be required. Approval must be sought from the course convenor and travel forms completed where required.

Additional Course Costs

We do not expect students to bare any significant costs associated with the course. In general, any significant project costs should be covered by the project client. However, there may be times when teams choose to cover minor costs for project items such as materials or consumables. To offset these costs, a number of Microgrants will be available to teams that comply with financial reporting requirements. Approval must be sort from the course convenor.

Required Resources

Depending on the project, appropriate clothing and safety equipment, such as enclosed shoes and safety glasses, will be required for prototyping, manufacturing and testing.

Recommended Resources

Whether you are on campus or studying remotely, there are a variety of online platforms you will use to participate in your study program. These could include videos for lectures and other instruction, two-way video conferencing for interactive learning, email and other messaging tools for communication, interactive web apps for formative and collaborative activities, print and/or photo/scan for handwritten work and drawings, and home-based assessment.

ANU outlines recommended student system requirements to ensure you are able to participate fully in your learning. Other information is also available about the various Learning Platforms you may use.

It is recommended that you attend an induction for the ANU/Engineering MakerSpace to access these facilities if required for your project work.

The following resources are recommended for managing professional engineering projects:

• The Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK)
• The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK)

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• written comments
• verbal comments
• feedback to whole class, groups, individuals, focus group etc

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). Feedback can also be provided to Course Conveners and teachers via the Student Experience of Learning & Teaching (SELT) feedback program. SELT surveys are confidential and also provide the Colleges and ANU Executive with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Introductory lecture Project selection event	Project selection event attendance is highly recommended to avoid disappointment with project choice!
2	Weekly tutorials start
3	Project audit 1	Assessable activity
6	Project audit 2	Assessable activity
11	Showcase	A public presentation of student projects to ANU and industry audiences. Not a graded activity but important for feedback.
12	Final team review	Assessable activity
13	Professional reflection due (individual assessment)
14	Technical report due	Submission of technical report for technical assessor review Submission of team member contribution survey in relation to the technical report task.

Tutorial Registration

Tutorial registration will be available through Wattle.

Please note that tutorial times are allocated on a project group basis: all members of a project group will need to attend the same tutorial session.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Learning Outcomes
Project work	65 %	1,2,3,5
Technical Report	20 %	4
Professional reflection	15 %	6

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines , which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Integrity Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Guideline and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure
• Code of practice for teaching and learning

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the Academic Skills website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Assessment Task 1

Project work

Project work in this course is evaluated through 3 audits and a Final Review.

Project Audits are designed to provide formative feedback to guide groups towards their project goals whilst ensuring high-quality systems-level project

governance.

At each audit, project progress is reviewed by tutors, student peers and the team itself. This multi-input approach to review is called a "Many Eyes Process". Three Project Audits are conducted during the project:

• Audit 1 - week 3 (Lightweight, Concept of Operations) - to set the agenda and scope of the project

• Audit 2 - week 6 (Mid-term Project Audit) - to guide and evaluate progress, based on project scope

• Audit 3 - week 11 (Final Project Audit) - to finalise the project for client handover and technical report writing

An Audit contains three activities:

1. Repository, work product and activities - the work done and governance of your project

2. Project review - a peer support activities where students engage in reflection and critique of some aspects of their project and another team's project

3. Team member contribution (TMC) survey - an evaluation of individual team member's contribution to the project

At the end of each audit, individual students will be assigned a "grade modifier" based on their TMC and the quality of the peer feedback offered throughout the audit process.

The Final Review will involve submission of an application prepared by the team. This will detail the team’s performance against several benchmark criteria and provide relevant supporting evidence claims. Student teams will be asked to provide a sensible argue for their team's grade. The convener will assign a team grade on the basis of the evidence supplied by the students, the tutors' review of the team's project repository, and any feedback from the project client/stakeholders.

A combination of the Final Review team grade and individual grade modifiers will deliver an individualised "Project work" grade for each student.

Assessment Task 2

Technical Report

The technical report will comprise of a 4-6 page document to be formatted as per the template of IEEE technical conferences. This will be evaluate by a technical expert

Since projects may vary in nature, students are welcome to develop their preferred document structure to present their work. As a general indication, a typical technical report should cover the following:

•   An introduction, giving a high-level view of the problem at hand, its relevance and context, any relevant affine problems and known solutions as applicable.

•   A summary of essential technical background, introducing the main knowledge sources which the students used to develop their analytical approach and/or solution.

•   A more formal and detailed problem definition, essentially outlining the engineering analysis underpinning the team’s work, as well as the desired, benchmarkable outcomes. 

•   A description of the technical solution developed, with due reference to any techniques used and a justification of their suitability in relation to the problem.

•   As appropriate, some commentary on engineering elegance of the proposed solution.

•   If applicable, a description of any work conducted to test, validate, or otherwise evaluate the performance of the solution.

•   A discussion of the final project output results, any benchmarking against relevant performance criteria

•   Informed commentary on limitations and future work

If made necessary by the nature of the project (e.g., bulky figures, tables), groups may extend their report with up to 4 pages of appendix. In the interest of conciseness, we encourage students to use space effectively and refrain from including non-essential material.

The content of the technical report will be examined by a technical discipline expert nominated by the course convenor. This person may be chosen among CECS academic staff or further afield as required. The expert may not have had any visibility of the project before seeing the report. As such, the document should be adequately self-contained and make effective use of references. The expert will be asked to evaluate the work against the three key metrics: clarity, technical proficiency and engineering elegance. Further information on expectations against these metrics will be provided in one of the course tutorials.

The technical expert will assign a band score to the project report for each metric: A (outstanding - HD grade) through to E (inadequate - fail grade).

A team member participation survey is also conducted in combination with the technical report submission to monitor fair participation by all team members to the report writing process.

Assessment Task 3

Professional reflection

The Professional Re?ection is an additional independent activity that supports students' ongoing professional engineering development. Students are asked to explore their experience throughout the project and “look back” on it from their personal perspective, reflecting on events that have changed their way of thinking or working and describing their experience in terms of: what they did, what they learned and how this learning will affect their future behaviour.

Professional reflection submissions are expected to present four (4) written reflections.

Each reflection will focus on one of the Engineers Australia (EA) Stage 1 Competencies, identify one or more relevant learning events encountered during the course of your project and provide meaningful insightful discussion, e.g., on experiences encountered, successes and challenges, and professional lessons learned. More guidance on the development of this submission will be provided during the course tutorials.

Professional Reflections will be assessed for insight against the following areas

•   Professional approach and attitude [ ad-hoc <-> conscientious ]

•   Evidence of learning [ surface <-> deep ]

•   Maturity of re?ection [ not re?ective <-> transformational ]

and for the student's ability to articulate their reflection using verbs that demonstrate achievement of high-order learning objectives (see Bloom’s Taxonomy).

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. The University’s students are an integral part of that community. The academic integrity principle commits all students to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support, academic integrity, and to uphold this commitment by behaving honestly, responsibly and ethically, and with respect and fairness, in scholarly practice.

The University expects all staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle, the Academic Integrity Rule 2021, the Policy: Student Academic Integrity and Procedure: Student Academic Integrity, and to uphold high standards of academic integrity to ensure the quality and value of our qualifications.

The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 is a legal document that the University uses to promote academic integrity, and manage breaches of the academic integrity principle. The Policy and Procedure support the Rule by outlining overarching principles, responsibilities and processes. The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 commences on 1 December 2021 and applies to courses commencing on or after that date, as well as to research conduct occurring on or after that date. Prior to this, the Academic Misconduct Rule 2015 applies.

 

The University commits to assisting all students to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. All coursework students must complete the online Academic Integrity Module (Epigeum), and Higher Degree Research (HDR) students are required to complete research integrity training. The Academic Integrity website provides information about services available to assist students with their assignments, examinations and other learning activities, as well as understanding and upholding academic integrity.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Individual assessment tasks may or may not allow for late submission. Policy regarding late submission is detailed below:

• Late submission not permitted. If submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date is not permitted, a mark of 0 will be awarded.
• Late submission permitted. Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

The Academic Skills website has information to assist you with your writing and assessments. The website includes information about Academic Integrity including referencing requirements for different disciplines. There is also information on Plagiarism and different ways to use source material.

Returning Assignments

Feedback on your submissions will be available through Wattle.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

Groups may be required to resubmit work where a team submission is deemed below acceptable quality, or requires major revision. The course convener will notify groups within one week of submission and negotiate a plan for resubmission.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Access and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students