ENGR7019 MSc Engineering Dissertation Semester 2 and 3  | OBU

Table of Contents

Contents
Module introduction    

• Module leader contact details    
• Seminar leader contact details    
• Academic Liaison Librarian    
• Changes made to the module (if any) in response to student and other feedback    

Module Study Plan    
Module syllabus    
Assessment information     

• Coursework    
• Presenting coursework for assessment    
• Assignment length    
• Turnitin    
• Submission date and instructions    
• Marking and moderation of your work    
• Feedback    

ENGR7019 Module Introduction

The project module is a significant component of your MSc programme. It is a 60-credit module, and the notional learning time for this module is 600 hours. This module will enable you to learn and demonstrate your ability to carry out independent research, design and development work on a relevant topic. It is a scholarly work culminating in the form of a final report, which is a substantial piece of work selected from a suitable subject area to reflect your chosen MSc programme, and must contain original material. It should incorporate knowledge from at least one of the modules you have already studied and preferably more. In general, the Project may take one of the following forms:

Investigative :    research into a system with practical experiments

Evaluative    :   an evaluation of a system

Constructive   :    the design and implementation of a system

Design: the design and analysis of a solution to a complex problem 

All of the above forms of Project will normally contain the following features:

• An analysis of a practical problem
• A review and critical analysis of the relevant literature
• Synthesis of a solution to the problem posed
• An evaluation of results

The project should ideally contain a balance between theoretical work and a practical application. Although there is no absolute necessity for the research to include application development, it should include a practical design exercise of some type. If there is no practical element, then the evaluation must clearly demonstrate that you have understood the subject, have critically analysed selected aspects of the subject and have formulated your own conclusions.

The Project work may be carried out as part of a larger research project, in cooperation with an industrial organisation or on an individual basis.

Full-time students should have an agreed Project title and supervisor by the end of week 3, Semester 2. In the first instance, it is your responsibility to define a programme of work using the resources available in the school.

NOTE: Supervisors will be allocated considering the following: the project, the expertise of the supervisor and the overall staff workload.

Supervision

With the guidance of your supervisor, you will set up a structure for your Project. The supervisor is there to help you and discuss the progress of your work but the ultimate responsibility for the Project rests with you. It is for you to make appointments with your supervisor and not for them to come chasing after you. Remember that you will be completing your Project over the summer period when academic staff often attend conferences and take their annual leave. It is your responsibility to make arrangements with your supervisor for contact over this period.

Supervisor contact                           15 hours

Lectures/Seminars/Workshops         20 hours

Module Study Plan

Project Calendar

ENGR7019 Assessment information

This module follows the principles of the University’s Assessment and feedback policy developed in conjunction with the Student Union, to ensure good practice and transparency in assessment and feedback processes. The Assessment and feedback policy can be found in your Programme Handbook or on your Programme’s Brookes Virtual site, as well as on the University webpage of A-Z of Policies.

Please note: the Institutional University Handbook, which will provide you with information that is central to your studies, including policies and regulations, student support and wellbeing and all the services available to you through Student Support. The core information is also available on Moodle via the drop-down menu under ‘Student Help’.

Guidelines on the Project Proposal Report

The project proposal should include the following:

1. Background: Why is the project being undertaken? Briefly describe your Project proposal. You should include the proposed title of the Project and an overview of what you intend to do.

2. Literature review: A literature review that informs the background, methodology and expected outcomes.

3. Engineering ethics review

4. Overall aim and objectives of the project: These are in the form of bullet points.
 
5. Methodology: Explain how you intend to meet the objectives, describing what phases of work will be undertaken. Briefly introduce potential methods you might use. Cite references where required.

6. Activities and time plan

a. It is in a tabular format. List the activities and allocate appropriate time to carry out the activity. The section should include a Gantt chart for your project. This should include a minimum of 10 major tasks and an appropriate number of subtasks to meet the stated objectives. Show your project deliverables clearly. Use Microsoft Project to draw this Gantt chart (available on university computers). Use the critical path feature in Microsoft Project to identify the critical path. Print out the Gantt chart on a single A4 page as described in the lecture notes. Presentation is important; all text should be a readable size. The choice of bar patterns should make the critical path clear to see.

7. Resources: It is in a tabular format. Identify Resources such as hardware, software and information source items that will need to be obtained for the successful completion of the project.

8. Management of Technical Risks

a. It is in a tabular format. Identify and list the risks associated with your project. These should be specific technical risks. Do not list general risks with no concrete meaning, for example, ‘risk of failure’. This risk is too general and does not indicate the nature of the failure mode (e.g. selecting a wrong model, a systematic error in the experimental data, a specific failure of a particular experiment, component, assembly or system, erroneous calculation, etc.)

b. It is in a tabular format. Briefly outline your risk-reduction strategy. The risk reduction strategy should be specific. For example, a stated risk-reduction strategy, ‘careful calculation to avoid errors’, is superficial and too general to be of any value.

Guidelines on the Progress Review: Progress Report

Submit a progress report by the deadline given in the project calendar. The report is used as evidence while assessing the presentation that you will give at a slightly later date. However, formative feedback will be given by your supervisor.

The progress report should include the following:

1. A title page
2. A page containing the aim and objectives
3. A brief literature review
4. Details of methods used
5. Interim results and their discussion
6. Discussion on progress against the plan

Use the template provided, which also shows the allowed word count.

Project Progress Oral Presentation and viva

All students will present their work to the panel of staff for assessment. The students should be prepared to be in Oxford at any time during the programme of study to go through the progress review.

You will be asked to present your work to date for 10 minutes, and then the staff may ask you questions for up to 10 minutes.

Guidelines for the final project report

The final report will have restrictions on number of words and a maximum number of illustrations that can be used. Please Look at the Template on Moodle for Guidelines.

This document will show you the sections that should be included in the report and explain why they should be there. It gives examples to help you lay out your report and defines some of the important formatting conventions. An example structure of the report will be posted on Moodle nearer the final report submission deadline. Please remember to always proofread your work to ensure that you have minimised spelling and grammatical errors, as these will only detract from your work and are easily avoided. Remember that a good project, presented as a professional report, will provide you with good marks and can be an excellent selling tool when you are aiming to impress prospective employers.