Engineering Research Techniques, Entrepreneurship and Quality Management

Module Summary

Engineering Research Techniques, Entrepreneurship and Quality Management is a core module for  engineering students on various master programmes. The module is designed to provide the student with the research skills and techniques necessary to select and justify a research topic, plan project execution, use various resources to carry out a literature search and successfully complete the project and other module assignments on the course. It also addresses issues related to presentation of technical reports at master level and for the purpose of wider publication in learned media.
The module further develops the students’ knowledge and skills in business and management, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. It supports students in producing proposals for enterprise ideas such as new products or services, or innovations in existing processes or organisations.

Concepts of Total Quality Management to enhance quality of products and processes in an industrial setting are presented and applications of supporting quality tools and techniques are discussed.

The module content is designed to enhance the students’ employability potential in a variety of national and international industrial organisations, or career development in research and development arena.

Aims

  • To provide the student with the skills to carry out a research project and to introduce various research methods for independent scientific research.
  • To introduce students to the British & international business environment and provide skills to analyse business and management issues related to engineering industries.
  • To develop students’ understanding of context-specific entrepreneurship drivers and provide knowledge and skills for identification and development of enterprise opportunities through idea generation, networking and engaging with the entrepreneurship community.
  • To provide the knowledge of total quality management process in support for quality improvement of products and systems, and application of the available tools and techniques in a variety of engineering industries.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

  • Formulate strategies for successful research within a variety of settings by selecting & utilising appropriate research methods.
  • Plan a research project and apply appropriate techniques for successful completion within time & funding limits, and communicate findings effectively.
  • demonstrate an understanding of international business environment and assess their context (international, local or organisational) for the support and constraints it provides for entrepreneurial activities, and reflect on the implications
  • Identify problems, needs or challenges in their environment and respond to these by generating, investigating and critically evaluating appropriate enterprise ideas.
  • Demonstrate understanding and engagement with an entrepreneurial community
  • Describe and critically analyse quality management systems, product liability prevention programmes and implementation of quality tools and techniques, in manufacturing industry.