Module overview
Conventional laboratory experiments are useful mainly to assist understanding or analysis: because they are of necessity stereotyped, they are of limited usefulness when a circuit or system must be designed to meet a given specification. The majority of engineering tasks fall into this latter category, and therefore require design or synthesis skills that are distinct from the understanding of underlying engineering principles. This is additional to the analysis skills emphasised in the course so far.
This module includes design assignments that have been devised to provide a bridge between 'conventional' experiments and the project work in the third and fourth years, (which in turn provide a bridge to 'real' projects in industry). The exercises have real deadlines and concrete deliverables and students are encouraged to be creative, develop imaginative solutions and to make mistakes.
All three assignments have a common format:
- Customer orientated rather than proscriptive specifications are given
- Design work carried out, bringing academic knowledge to bear on practical problems
- Laboratory sessions are used for construction and verification of designs
- Allow students to demonstrate their communication skills in writing individual and group reports.
The differences between the assignments are in:
- Complexity
- Size of team
- Assessment credit
Linked modules
Pre-requisites: ELEC1200 AND ELEC1207