EGD101 Engineering Design and Professional Practice


To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.


Unit Outline: College 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Unit code:EGD101
Credit points:12
Equivalent:EGB101
Coordinator:Wahyu Hasan | w.hasan@qut.edu.au
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.

Overview

As a professional engineer you will be competent to practise as outlined in the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer. One of the main activities that professional engineers undertake is design, which involves using knowledge and skill bases to apply engineering methods to create systems that meet stakeholders' needs, while maintaining professional and personal attributes. This unit introduces engineering design and begins your development as a trusted and ethical professional. To develop your capability in design, you will learn about strength of materials and load bearing mechanisms so that you can undertake introductory analysis, building and testing of engineering systems, and develop your engineering ethics, professional communication skills, engineering teamwork, research, cultural awareness and sustainable development practices. Future units in the Bachelor course, particularly those focused on design, will build from this introduction.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

  1. Experiment with engineering materials and components and identify their strengths and performance at an introduced level.
  2. Compose an engineering report of a design project including processes, calculations and engineering drawings at an introduced level.
  3. Collaborate in a group to create and deliver engineering outcomes and to communicate those outcomes to engineers and peers at an introduced level.
  4. Critically reflect on engineering design process and professional practice, project management, cultural diversity and ethics with regard to professional engineering practice at an introduced level.

Content

  1. Introduction to engineering and being a Professional Engineer
  2. How engineers locate information, evaluate its relevance to their engineering work, and use it
  3. Analysis of physical systems to predict their behaviour and application in practice
  4. Application of Engineering design methods, tools and techniques to simple engineering systems
  5. Introduction to professional and personal attributes required of a professional engineer
  6. Introduction to professional engineering communication including writing, presenting and engineering drawing

This unit will include content, case studies and examples of the ways in which the work of professional engineers connects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s status as First Nations owners of land and seas. This may include:

  • Connection with regulatory requirements such as the Cultural Heritage duty of care required under the Queensland Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2005; or
  • Engineering industry partners who have an organisational commitment through Reconciliation Actions Plans which bring responsibilities to engineers working with them.

Learning Approaches

This unit takes a blended approach to learning and teaching. You will be provided with both eContent and timetabled activities. eContent will be clearly identified on your course site for you to engage with on a weekly basis before attending classes. eContent includes a combination of videos, readings, and/or exercises designed to enhance your learning experience.

During timetabled activities (for example: workshops, tutorials, practicals), the unit coordinator and/or your tutor will further explore content and you will be provided with opportunities to develop your understanding in a collaborative learning environment.

After your weekly classes, you should continue to engage with unit resources to ensure you consolidate your understanding of unit content. Teaching team members will also be available for consultations to assist you with your learning journey (further details provided on your course site).

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

During tutorials you will share your formative ideas for your engineering design project and receive feedback from tutors and demonstrators. You are encouraged to view your group as a learning community and to share and discuss emergent ideas in the design process and your understandings of professional engineering practice. Each assessment submission will be marked against criteria and standards which will be shared with you at the beginning of semester through Assessment Task Descriptions and Marking Rubrics. Marked assessment will include feedback from markers against the criteria.

Assessment

Overview

Assessment in this unit has been designed to give you the opportunity to show your learning against the unit learning outcomes. You will work in a group to undertake an engineering design project across the teaching period, deploying work practices that align to professional engineering practice (such as project management, ethical work practices and sustainable design principles). You will submit three pieces of assessment related to that design process. You will be expected to work together with your group members and independently to make individual contributions to the design project. Laboratory experiments will allow your group to investigate the behaviour of components that will be used to create your engineering system. You will both build and report on the engineering system and critically reflect on the way you worked throughout the teaching period as compared to how professional engineers work.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Project Specification & Plan

You will work in a team of Student Engineers to provide specifications for a bridge that will be designed and build later in the teaching period.

individually you will research and report on the impact of the bridge on stakeholders (community and end users) and existing infrastructure applying the Engineering Systems Architecture provided.

The scenario for the assessment is that you are expected to function as a professional engineer, working within a fictitious consultancy firm: Student Engineers Inc. The team is expected to apply project and team management principles to enable successful delivery of your Project Specification & Plan.

Weight: 30
Individual/Group: Individual and group
Due (indicative): Ongoing until mid teaching teaching period
Related Unit learning outcomes: 2, 3, 4

Assessment: Engineering Project Outcomes

You will work in a group to design, manufacture and performance test an engineering system. As well as building the system, you will communicate your design in a written report that presents key elements of the design process, calculations, final designed system and performance. 

The final report is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

 

Weight: 50
Individual/Group: Individual and group
Due (indicative): Late in the teaching period
Related Unit learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3

Assessment: Critical Reflection on Professional Engineering Practice

You will be introduced to the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer. As you work through the teaching period, you will be asked to critically reflect on your current capability and future career development, with a focus on the following elements:

  • Knowledge of engineering design practice and contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline (1.5)
  • Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes (2.3)
  • Application of systematic approaches to the conduct and management of engineering projects (2.4)
  • Ethical conduct and professional accountability (3.1)
  • Effective team membership and team leadership (3.6)

You will keep a journal throughout the teaching period to inform your final submission. This submission will be the starting contribution to your Engineering Professional Practice Portfolio that you will continue should you progress to EN01 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours).

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Weight: 20
Individual/Group: Individual
Due (indicative): Early and late in the teaching period
Related Unit learning outcomes: 3, 4

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Relevant reading and other resources will be available on the unit course site.

Resource Materials

Prescribed text(s)

Dowling, D., Hadgraft, R., Carew, A., McCarthy, T. & Hargreaves, D. (2019). Engineering your future: An Australasian guide (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Karsnitz, J. R., O'Brien, S., & Hutchinson, J. P. (2012). Engineering design: An introduction (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning.

Risk Assessment Statement

Should you be required to undertake practical sessions in the laboratory under the supervision of members in the teaching team and technical staff, prior to entry to a laboratory space you must complete the Undergraduate Health, Safety and Environment Induction (annual completion requirement). You will be advised of requirements of safe and responsible behaviour and will be required to wear appropriate protective items (e.g. closed shoes or steel capped shoes, lab coat, and safety glasses). The unit’s course site will provide you with a copy of the risk assessment and will provide you with details on how to perform the laboratory tasks safely.

If you do not follow legitimate instructions or endanger the safety of others or do not act in accordance with the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety Act, you will be required to leave the session.

You will be provided with information in relation to a safe workplace. Information will include location of fire exits and meeting points in case of fire.

Course Learning Outcomes

This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.

EN02 Diploma in Engineering

  1. Make decisions ethically within the social, cultural, and organisational contexts of professional engineering practice.
    Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, ULO4, Project Specification & Plan, Critical Reflection on Professional Engineering Practice
  2. Engage stakeholders professionally and communicate the outcomes of your work effectively to expert and non-expert audiences using appropriate modes.
    Relates to: ULO2, ULO3, Engineering Project Outcomes
  3. Manage projects to solve complex engineering problems, using appropriate information, engineering methods, and technologies.
    Relates to: ULO3, Project Specification & Plan, Engineering Project Outcomes
  4. Engage with and apply regulatory requirements relating to safety, risk management, and sustainability in professional engineering practice.
    Relates to: Engineering Project Outcomes
  5. Demonstrate foundational knowledge and skills of physical, mathematical, statistical, computer, and information sciences that are fundamental to professional engineering practice.
    Relates to: Project Specification & Plan
  6. Demonstrate an introductory understanding of the engineering discipline, its research directions, and potential application in contemporary professional engineering practice.
    Relates to: Project Specification & Plan, Critical Reflection on Professional Engineering Practice