Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To provide students with a working knowledge of a selection of the key tools and techniques that will help them deploy their technical engineering skills to a maximum positive e:ect in diverse real-world contexts.
• To ensure students are aware of their own professional responsibilities, and consequences of their actions, when working as engineers in diverse real-world contexts, the formal and informal mechanisms of support available to them throughout their career.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Evaluate the environment and societal impact of solutions to complex problems (to include the entire lifecycle of a product or process) and minimise adverse impacts.
• Identify and analyse ethical concerns and make reasoned ethical choices informed by professional codes of conduct.
• Use a risk management process to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks (the e:ects of uncertainty) associated with a particular project or activity.
• Adopt an inclusive approach to engineering practice and recognise the responsibilities, benefits and importance of supporting equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Discuss the role of quality management systems and continuous improvement in the context of complex problems.
• Apply knowledge of engineering management principles, commercial context, project and change management, and relevant legal matters including intellectual property rights.

Content

The module content has four elements spanning 8*2-hour lectures and self-study:

1. Lectures (faculty and guest speakers) to deliver core assessable content (see illustrative timetable).
2. Small group discussions of examples.
3. Through-module case studies providing each student with weekly tasks for (i) reflecting upon and capturing key learning outcomes from each week’s content, and

(ii) providing material to support exam preparation.

Weekly short reading tasks to prepare for lectures and discussions.