• Semester 2 (Day)
• Semester 2 (External)

Synopsis

Most  engineering products form part of a system which can  be  broken
down  into  sub  systems,  assemblies and components.  A  considerable
amount  of design synthesis and analysis has to be done on the  system
as  a  whole before a product or process design specification  can  be
drawn  up.  It  is therefore important that the engineer  is  able  to
recognise  what forms a system, a subsystem and a component,  and  how
the performance of the whole system is affected by the performance  of
its  constituent parts. In systems design, the engineer considers  the
widest  implications of a product, project or process  at  the  design
stage,  including not only the technical interactions of  the  various
subsystems,  but  also the political, sociological and  socio-economic
implications.

This unit leads the student to an understanding of the philosophy  and
methodology  of  the design process in the context  of  systems  which
embrace  political,  sociological, economic, technical  and  ergonomic
aspects.  It then provides practice through assignments and  workshops
in  developing  the student's ability to discern the relevant  factors
and  design  accordingly, to interact within a  design  team,  and  to
communicate ideas and concepts through oral and written presentation.

An  essential  skill for the design engineer is to  be  able  to  work
across  disciplines  and  therefore they often  have  to  "learn"  new
specialisations. In this unit the student is introduced to a number of
specialist topics not covered elsewhere in their course of study.

This  is  a  senior unit and it is assumed that the  student  has  the
maturity, knowledge and skills base commensurate with having completed
the first two years of their undergraduate course.