module specification

The module provides students with the experience of planning and bringing to fruition a major piece of individual work. Also, the module aims to encourage and reward individual inventiveness and application of effort through working on research or company/local government projects. The project is an exercise that may take a variety of forms depending on the nature of the project and the subject area. Particular students will be encouraged to carry out their projects for local companies or government departments.

The objectives of the module are:
• To develop the ability to produce detailed specification relevant to the problem of investigation.
• To manage the project by confining the problem within the constraints of time and available resources.
• To effectively research the background material on the topic using a variety of sources and to develop ability to conduct critical analysis and draw conclusions.
• To apply and/or extend the knowledge acquired in the taught core modules to a new area of application or investigation.
• To use relevant tools and techniques for designing, testing, analysing, and critical evaluation.
• To demonstrate the originality in the application of new knowledge and skills.
• To effectively communicate the work to others by verbal and documentation media.
• To raise awareness in potential business development opportunities in an area pertinent to the topic.

Completed all core modules

The project topic will be mainly associated with the specific pathway of the MSc programme. Although the project is not expected to be a wholly original piece of research, the research element should be of a good contribution to knowledge of its kind. It is an exercise that may take a variety of forms and it will involve the specification, design, implementation, validation, and documentation of a substantial piece of individual work. The fields covered may fall in areas such as robotics & AI, control & mechatronic systems, computer networking & communication systems, electronics & IoT, infrastructure & cybersecurity, numerical and statistical approaches, operations & technology management, and digital media solutions. Some projects may involve working on client briefs. Project may also involve empirical field studies, evaluation of one or more techniques, methods or tools. However, projects that are wholly or mainly literature surveys without substantial and critically evaluated contribution to the discipline will be discouraged.

The project should be sufficiently challenging that it cannot be dismissed as mere implementation of a standard solution. Although the project is not expected to be a wholly original piece of work, students are expected to show that they have exercised initiative and worked independently. The scope of the project is not only to complete a well-defined piece of work in a professional manner, but also to place the work into the context of the current state of the art.

Staff will be invited to formally propose project titles in their respective area of research. Students can either choose one of the proposed titles or identify a problem themselves; a list of research topics in various areas will be made available to all students prior to the start of the project. Students will be given an opportunity to choose any topic of interest to them and they will be able to discuss this with potential supervisors who will provide advice and guidance. Students will then be asked to write and submit a short project proposal describing the nature of the problem, aims, objectives, rationale, methodology and project plan. They will also need to demonstrate that the idea is of a scientific relevance. Prior to starting their project, students may need to complete an ethics checklist form and submit it to project leader for approval.

Once students start their projects they are expected to:

1. Conduct an in-depth background reading that is pertinent to project topic.

2. If applicable, identify area requiring further knowledge/training and plan self-learning that is essential to the project (e.g., a new programming language, a new development platform etc.)

3. Demonstrate confidence in applying original and innovative ideas.

4. Select, justify and apply a suitable methodology and investigative techniques.

5. Carry out an independent research, to collect and analyse the results by using appropriate analysis tools considering uncertainties or incomplete data.

6. Investigate an innovative design and realize the solution. 

7. Critically discuss and evaluate the work by reflecting on its limitations.

8. Write a good quality and well-structured report.

9. Investigate relevant regulatory requirements governing professional practices in the context of their project.

10. Be aware of and be able to make general evaluations in the context of project, including health & safety, environmental and commercial risk(s).

11. Carry out relevant studies in considering his/her work in the context of Economic, Legal, Social, Ethical and Environmental concerns.

12. Present and effectively communicate the project outcomes to the supervisors in accordance with a high level of professional and ethical conduct.

Supervisors will provide advice, guidance and support for the duration of the project. Developing a solution may involve innovation in the application of techniques taught in the course or in the discovery of relevant material from sources such as libraries and databases. The student is also expected to manage the work by confining the problem within limits, which will allow useful work to be done despite the constraining effects of time and other limited resources, and to effectively communicate the work to others. Students will be strongly encouraged to undertake project work for an outside body to gain first-hand experience in tackling a real-world problem.

The duration of the dissertation is assumed to be 15 weeks after the completion of the taught part of the course and it will be the same for both full time and part time students. 

The supervisor is expected to guide, advice and support students through regular meetings. Students are expected to make use of the supervision period to discuss academic problems, current progress and future development. This supervision will take a total of 7-9 hours for the whole semester for the proper conduct of the project. Whilst  the supervisor will act as a mentor, it is expected that these sessions will be student led, with the supervisor offering direction during the session. This might involve cultivating student's ability to summarise and defend effectively choices made and decisions taken, or initiating stimulating discussions that might lead to further reading or which will deepen students' understanding, self improvement and time management. In addition, meetings will be held by the Module Leader with the cohort to discuss the issues that are of general interest.

Projects involving collaboration with industry will be encouraged and, where appropriate, supervision may be carried out by the collaboration partner in addition to the academic supervisor. Throughout the project students are expected to glean texts and relevant materials from different sources such as conference and journal papers, magazine articles, books and the Internet.

Students should spend 10 hrs on module briefing session and arranged meetings with supervisors, 150 hrs for documentation and assessment related activities and 440 hrs for background research and directed independent learning. Students are expected to invest a total of 600 hours for the project.

In case students cannot attend workshops and supervisory sessions due to work commitments, they should arrange remote meeting with their supvervisor using online platform such as Skype/Zoom/MSTeams.

On completing the module, the student will be able to:

LO1. Produce a detailed project proposal that includes a clear set of specifications with methodology and risk assessed project plan. The proposal should include a critical evaluation of background literature, relevant theory and/or applications.

LO2. Apply project management techniques to plan, schedule, organise and prioritise the various project tasks involved in producing the solution and the associated documentations.

LO3. Formulate a complex analytical or innovative design problem and test by applying state of the art techniques, technologies, and tools where applicable.

LO4. Critically analyse and evaluate the results by applying appropriate tools & techniques to reach substantiated conclusions bearing in mind any limitations and uncertainties associated with tools & techniques or methodology.

LO5. Consider LSEPI and health & safety issues including sustainable business practices bearing in mind societal impact of solutions and minimise adverse environmental impacts related to the project.
  LO6.  Demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity. Act safely, respectfully and
            with professional integrity. Adopt an inclusive approach to professional practice and
            recognise the responsibilities, benefits and importance of supporting equality, diversity
            and inclusion.

The assessment consists of three elements;
1. Project proposal and project process that assesses the LO1
2. A Dissertation assessing learning outcomes LO2-LO6
3. A Viva assessing learning outcomes LO2-LO6

Assessments 2 and 3 must be passed individually.
In order to pass the project a mark of 50% or higher must be achieved.

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