Individual Research Projects

Students entering their 4th and 5th years select individual research projects for the upcoming academic year.

These are projects which they carry out as individuals, and most will choose to work on something of personal interest.

A few prefer to work on something with clear business or industrial relevance, which may be of interest to some of you.

They are keen to demonstrate that they can put theory into practice and apply their problem-solving skills.

Depending on the course they are undertaking, the projects need to meet the following criteria (examples of previous year’s projects in brackets): 

  • technically challenging and functionally biased (design of energy reclamation system) focusing on the user, the aesthetic, branding etc (eg inclusive kitchen appliance)
  • technically challenging and functionally biased in relation to the design and innovation of new sports products and/or the improvement and measurement of sporting performance (eg new design of golf putter)
  • in-depth investigation (either a manufacturing technology assessment or a systems design) in the area of manufacturing (eg passive solar power heating system)
  • in-depth investigation (either a management tool or techniques, or a particular business or market opportunity) in the area of management (implementation of 5S)
  • in-depth investigation (either a management tool or techniques, or a particular business or market opportunity). It should involve problem solving and use of analytical skills (eg uUse of RFID in Product Lifecycle Management)
  • in-depth investigation focusing on the software, information technology and computational techniques to support the creation and development of engineering product designs (e.g. wet weather lawn-mower)

We’d like to hear from companies that have a project which one of our students can tackle. We can help refine your idea to ensure it meets our criteria. These projects form a significant component of the course, requiring a minimum of 200 or 400 hours (depending on the course and stage) over the period October to May – in practice most students exceed that.