ENGP5101 Engineering Business Environment & Research Methods Assignment

Tasks to be undertaken

This assignment is intended to result in a clear research proposal for either your end-of-course individual project or research dissertation

The structure of your research proposal should include

• Title page with assignment name, P number, date, your name, and module code.
• Indicate at the top your MSc Subject Group, i.e., Mechanical, Aeronautical and Energy Engineering (MAE), Electrical, Electronics. Mechatronics Engineering (EEM) or Energy & Sustainable Development (ESD).
• An introduction to the research topic and problem context (i.e., research gap).
• A single overall research aim, and a set of objectives to achieve that aim (suggest between 4 and 8). These should relate only to the proposed research.
• A concise indicative literature survey which demonstrates the rationale for your research and any gaps. Only literature which you have used personally should be included. No more than 1.5 pages.
• A detailed explanation, with justification, of the methodology chosen for your research study. This should contain what data you are going to use and why; how you will acquire these data; how you are going to work with (i.e., model, analyse, simulate, etc.) these data and how doing so helps you address your research aim.
• A summary of any ethical issues that you anticipate and how these will be addressed – or explain why there are no ethical issues.
• Consideration of any risks involved with the chosen methodology, and how these will be managed (these must relate only to the proposed research, not the real-world context such as climate change).
• A brief list of references in either IEEE or Harvard format. It is strongly recommended that you use bibliographic software for citation and references (such as Refworks, Mendeley, Zotero etc.).

learning outcomes

1. To identify a research topic, its context and research gap.
2. To collect relevant literature and reference using appropriate tools.
3. To select and justify the use of research methodologies according to the task.
4. To plan and structure a meaningful and original research project report, and timeline.
5. Identify risks and potential ethical issues and way of managing them.