To enable the student to develop their ability to work on their own. To familiarise the student with the process of research, development and design. To develop the student's ability in terms of verbal and written communication.

The project should be on an advanced topic of current or potential future relevance to the field of digital mechatronic engineering. It should demonstrate the student's ability to perform independent research and self-directed learning on an unfamiliar problem, while utilising some of the major concepts and ideas encountered in earlier taught modules and project work. While original and publishable work is not a requirement, a major aim of the project is to provide students with experience in producing work aimed at publication in a public forum (journal, conference, academic or industrial seminar, trade show etc). The project will normally commence with a literature review. The main part of the project may require the use of advanced computer analysis, theoretical calculations and/or advanced experimental analysis. The final outputs will be an extended journal/conference style paper (minimum 6,000 words) and a substantive presentation to a specially convened symposium.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: 1. Assimilate and integrate information from literature or from experiments, on an unfamiliar problem (oral presentation and written paper) 2. Demonstrate the ability to develop creative solutions to problems of an advanced nature in digital mechatronic engineering (oral presentation and written paper) 3. Determine deficiencies in knowledge needed for realisation of an advanced project in the field of digital mechatronic engineering, and plan and execute self-directed continuing professional development needed to address such deficiencies (oral presentation and written paper) 4. Demonstrate understanding of the theoretical bases, limitations and range of applicability of the mathematical methods and engineering science underpinning certain aspects of digital mechatronic engineering (oral presentation and written paper) 5. Handle complexity and formulate judgements with incomplete or conflicting information (oral presentation and written paper) 6. Create mathematical models, where needed, with appropriate assumptions and level of detail to enable analysis of new and ill-defined problems, using numerical solution techniques as needed (oral presentation and written paper) 7. Incorporate codes of practice and industry standards where available for problem addressed in the project (oral presentation and written paper) 8. Design and conduct experiments, where relevant, to contribute to the development of scientific/technical knowledge for the problem addressed (oral presentation and written paper) 9. Interact with experts and incorporate knowledge, as needed, from fields both within and outside the discipline of digital mechatronic engineering (oral presentation and written paper)

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: 10. Interact with technicians, technologists and engineers and to understand how they together constitute an engineering team (oral presentation and written paper) 11. Identify and assess problem constraints related to environmental, sustainability, ethical, health and safety issues (oral presentation and written paper) 12. Identify the contributions of research in the field of digital mechatronic engineering to the wellbeing of society at large. (oral presentation and written paper).

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: 13. Select and apply appropriate communication tools to facilitate a deeper understanding of the problem addressed and create maximum impact on a given audience. (oral presentation) 14. Summarise key information related to advantages and disadvantages of developed techniques or approaches in terms that will be understandable to a lay audience. (oral presentation) 15. Write a technical paper in a format suitable for publication with an abstract that provides a clear executive summary of the work performed. (written paper).

This module will be taught through regular meetings with the project supervisor and additional self study. The supervisor's on going research will be linked with the individual projects hence allowing recent developments and research findings to be integrated. This module addresses the following graduate attributes: knowledgeable: This module will develop a student's level of competence in their own area of expertise by applying their knowledge to real world problems. Proactive/Creative: Students will have to actively apply relevant data and research to their project and also create novel/innovative solutions to engineering problems. Responsible/Collaborative: Students will engage with faculty and technical staff throughout their project. Ethical and sustainable solutions for their projects will have to be proposed. Articulate: Through both written submissions, oral presentations and weekly meetings with their supervisors, students will gain competence in written, verbal and digital communication.