48230 Introduction to Engineering Projects
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksAnti-requisite(s): 31265 Communication for IT Professionals
Description
This subject develops students' professional engineering practice skills within the context of a real-life engineering project, through the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge. Students work in teams to create an appropriate design solution for a given problem as set out in the EWB Challenge Design Brief. While applying the central role of effective communication and teamwork in engineering practice, students develop an understanding of the social, cultural, economic and environmental responsibilities of a professional engineer. This subject is a starting point for students' ongoing professional development that they undertake throughout their studies and as a professional engineer in their career.
The skills introduced include understanding and applying principles of effective communication; researching the various discipline areas that inform the development of an engineering design solution; applying the engineering design process to identify, formulate and design a solution to solve a problem while considering socio-technical issues; written and oral communication for engineering contexts; expressing engineering concepts through visual communication; and, leading and participating in team processes.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Demonstrate an awareness of Indigenous Australian cultural, historic, and contemporary contexts in order to inform work in a complex project. (A.1) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Identify stakeholder needs through the empathise design stage. (B.1) |
| 3. | Apply a design thinking approach to develop solutions that meet stakeholder needs. (C.1) |
| 4. | Communicate an evidence-based design solution for an engineering project. (E.1) |
| 5. | Explain how different experiences of a diverse team work together to achieve a design solution. (E.1) |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
- Indigenous Professional Capability: FEIT graduates are culturally and historically well informed, able to co-design projects as respectful professionals when working in and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. (A.1)
- Socially Responsible: FEIT graduates identify, engage, interpret and analyse stakeholder needs and cultural perspectives, establish priorities and goals, and identify constraints, uncertainties and risks (social, ethical, cultural, legislative, environmental, economics etc.) to define the system requirements. (B.1)
- Design Oriented: FEIT graduates apply problem solving, design and decision-making methodologies to develop components, systems and processes to meet specified requirements. (C.1)
- Collaborative and Communicative: FEIT graduates work as an effective member or leader of diverse teams, communicating effectively and operating within cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural contexts in the workplace. (E.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies
This subject contributes to the development of the following Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies:
- 1.5. Knowledge of engineering design practice and contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline.
- 2.3. Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes.
- 3.2. Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains.
- 3.6. Effective team membership and team leadership.
Teaching and learning strategies
Each week students are required to prepare for tutorial classes by completing a set of online pre-class tasks provided on Canvas. The tasks involve such activities as reading from key resources, watching a video, completing a quiz, and other online exercises. Responses to the pre-class tasks are used in tutorial classes to add depth to discussion and are an essential component to the concepts covered throughout the subject.
During tutorial classes, students will build on the pre-class tasks to learn and apply new skills. These skills will be practiced in class and are designed to be relevant to the tasks involved in the EWB Challenge team project. Areas of learning in tutorial classes include problem solving, team building, exploring scenarios, design and build activities, project management, reflection and group discussion. Activities support acquisition of professional engineering skills in a small group setting under the supervision of a tutor.
OPELA: An aim of this subject is to help students develop academic and professional language and communication skills in order to succeed at university and in the workplace. To determine each students’ current academic language proficiency, students are required to complete an online language screening task, OPELA Students who receive a Basic grade for OPELA, must attend additional Language Development Tutorials (each week from weeks 3 to 12) in order to pass the subject. The development of these tutorials is a new university-wide initiative designed to provide personalised support and enhance students’ English language skills. They will focus on developing communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) and independent learning skills, which will help students to prepare for the subject assessment tasks and for professional workplace communication tasks.
Content (topics)
- Engineering design process
- Finding, evaluating and referencing information
- Academic integrity
- Consideration of Indigenous stakeholders' knowledge, culture and needs
- Professional engineering documentation
- Effective written, visual and oral communication
- Teamwork processes and participation
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Individual Background Research Report
| Intent: | To develop report writing skills based on finding, evaluating and referencing information relevant to the team project and to develop understanding of the Indigenous Australian context of the project. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2, 3 and 4 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1, B.1, C.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
| Length: | 750 words (10% tolerance), excluding references |
Assessment task 2: EWB Challenge Team Report
| Intent: | To investigate a complex problem in an Indigenous Australian context and communicate an evidence-based design solution in a professional engineering report. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1, B.1, C.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Project |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 45% |
| Length: | Final Report 5000 words (excluding title page, executive summary, table of contents, reference list and appendices) |
Assessment task 3: EWB Challenge Team Presentation
| Intent: | To investigate a complex problem in an Indigenous Australian context and present an evidence-based design solution |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1, B.1, C.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | Final Presentation 20-minutes with at least 3-minutes per speaker. |
Minimum requirements
In order to pass the subject, a student must achieve an overall mark of 50% or more.
Students are required to participate in the team forming activities in the Week 2 tutorial and self-allocate to a team by the end of Week 4. As per UTS Student Rule 3.8, Students who are not in a team by the end of Week 4 may be refused permission to attempt Assessment Tasks 2 and 3 and a fail will be recorded for the subject.
Assessment Tasks 2 and 3 are based on the same project work and thus present the same project in alternate ways, therefore, students are expected to significantly contribute to BOTH tasks. As it is unreasonable to present work that you did not contribute to, students who do not meet the minimum standard for individual contribution to the project and/or Assessment Task 2 will be refused permission to attempt Assessment Task 3. As per UTS Student Rule 3.8 a fail will be recorded for both tasks and the subject.
It is a requirement of this subject that all students complete OPELA. Students who received a Basic grade in the OPELA test are required to attend 80% of the Language Development Tutorials in order to pass the subject. Please see the UTS Student Rules Section 3.8. Students who do not complete these requirements will have their grade withheld until such time as they complete them.
References
Recommended readings for this subject, websites and learning resources will be listed on Canvas.
An important objective of this subject is to ensure that you are capable of finding and sharing relevant information on a variety of topics, so we will expect you to be resourceful (and ethical) in searching and retrieving information for your work.
Other resources
Canvas is a web-based tool used by all UTS subjects. Students are expected to use Canvas to access:
- Subject announcements
- Weekly pre-class tasks
- Learning resources for in-class activities, group project, and self-study
- Assessment task information including marking guides (rubrics)
- Submission of assessment tasks
- Self and peer evaluation software
Students will need to login using their UTS email address and password. Most subjects publish their Canvas course one week before semester starts, However, on occasion this may be delayed. If you are having trouble finding a course, check the All Courses page in the Courses menu before contacting IT.
Students should review the Welcome module for our subject by navigating to the 48230 Introduction to Engineering Projects course then to Modules.
Engineers Without Borders Challenge
The EWB Challenge website hosts the design brief students will tackle in this subject as well as additional supporting resources. Students will need to create an account on the website using their UTS student email address. The EWB Challenge website hosts several design briefs at a time, refer to our Canvas site for the brief we will tackle this semester.