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Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

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Module Title
Module Code (ITS: MM544)
Faculty School
NFQ level Credit Rating
Description

The purpose of this module is to give the students the opportunity to use and demonstrate their theoretical knowledge and practical experience to carry out a substantial research project at Masters level. In this module students will plan and manage the project, critically review literature in the public domain (principally from journals), undertake the work required to apply engineering solutions to the problem, analyse the effectiveness of the solution and report progress and findings in written, presentation, poster and meeting forms. In addition, the impact of the project on society will be evaluated through health & safety, risk and environmental impact assessments. Students will participate in the following learning activities: Project Planning and Management; Running project meetings; Sourcing, reading and critically reviewing literature; Analysing an engineering problem and developing a solution; Risk assessment, Health & Safety, Social and Ethical, reviews implementing the solution; Critical Evaluaion of the implementation and effectiveness of the solution; Presentation of project work in final report, poster presentation, oral presentation and meetings. This module may also be taken by distance learning students

Learning Outcomes

1. Plan and undertake a research project at Level 9
2. Critically review and extract relevant information from literature in the public domain
3. Critically review the project and technology with respect to society. Health & Safety, Risk Assessments, Personal Ethics
4. Apply knowledge from other modules to complete the project
5. Design experiments, undertake them and analyse the results to evaluate the effectiveness of the work undertaken in the project
6. Report the findings in both verbal and written form to level 9 standard
7. Manage schedules and meetings with interested parties
8. Record activity on and on-going basis
9. Present findings visually and orally in a critical forum


WorkloadFull time hours per semester
TypeHoursDescription
Directed learning150Project planning & Development
Independent Study450Project implementation
Directed learning150Testing, Analysis and Reporting
Total Workload: 750
Assessment Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Report(s)Research Review, Proposed Solution & Plan for Completion15%Week 24
Research PaperSubmission and presentation of a research paper detailing the achievements of the project to a panel of academics in a conference style setting.70%Other
Report(s)Submission of a detailed set of appendices as per guidelines provided in the Masters Project Guide in the Loop course.15%Other
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories;
RC1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module.
RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element.

* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Compatibles None
Incompatibles None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Mid-Point Progress Review Report
Students must provide reports on the following: A critical review of their research area wherein they describe the relevant scientific materials (research papers, technology platforms), that should put the project work in context and describe the state-of-the-art research materials and technologies within their research domain; A Proposed Solution Report – This report should describe an initial proposed solution, which has yet to be implemented but should be scientifically well-grounded, based on the theory derived from the research review and should also examine any ethical and responsibility issues towards people and the environment surrounding the proposed solution and the problem domain; A Plan for Completion – This short report should capture, through the use of a Gantt chart, the implementation plan and resource allocation for the completion of the project and should include major milestones, deliverables, resource requirements and personal time scheduling plans.

Conference paper preparation and presentation
Each student must prepare and submit for review, a paper of conference standard on the work - It should clearly and succinctly describe the: problem domain, research background, contributions of the work, results and conclusions. The paper will presented to a panel of DCU academics in a conference styled environment followed by questions from the panel.

Detailed set of appendices
A set of appendices that contains: the research review report, a report on project outputs against the project plan, a packaged appendix that contains source code/derivations as required, a detailed appendix on testing, which should discuss testing methodologies and results, and a other documentation relevant to the specific project.

Indicative Reading List

Books:
  • Adedeji B. Badiru: 0, Project management for research, 0412588900
  • Thomas Mann: 2005, The Oxford guide to library research, Oxford University Press, New York, 0195189981
  • Hoang Pham, ed: 2006, Springer Handbook of Engineering Statistics, Springer, London, 1852338067
  • Mike W. Martin, Roland Schinzinger: 2005, Ethics in engineering, McGraw-Hill, Boston, 0072831154
  • Charles Lessard,: 0, Project Management for Engineering Design, 1598291742


Articles:
None
Other Resources

  • 1: Loop course, Masters Project Loop course,

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