Diploma of Engineering

This module develops a basic understanding of the fundamentals and principles of analog and digital circuits and electronic devices. This understanding is a critical step towards being able to design new electronic circuits or use them appropriately as part of a larger engineering system. The module is designed to be a broad introduction to electronic systems for students from diverse engineering disciplines.

This module teaches students how to apply Newtonian physics to analyse relatively simple physical mechanisms with some emphasis on commonly encountered engineering applications. It follows on from the Engineering Mechanics – Statics module, but considers systems that are not in equilibrium i.e. with velocity and acceleration. Some of the topics covered are pure kinematics (a mathematical description of motion only), while others are kinetic.

This module familiarises students with the principles of static equilibrium by applying Newton’s laws of motion to solve engineering problems. Emphasis is placed on drawing free body diagrams and self checking strategies. Topics include introduction to forces; 2D equilibrium of particles and rigid bodies; centre of gravity and centroids; distributed loading and hydrostatics; friction; analysis of truss structures; and shear force and bending moment diagrams.

This module provides development of the critical thinking skills necessary to analyse and evaluate academic texts, and the language skills to prepare and present findings. Class work and assignments are designed to develop students? communication skills appropriate to the study of engineering and do so through the use of materials that focus on issues related to engineering professional practice. Tasks relate to research and the preparation of evidence-based papers appropriate to academic and professional settings, as well as informal academic group discussion and formal seminar presentation.

This module explores the central role of infrastructure in society, both locally and globally. It examines the different elements of infrastructure and incorporates links with industry and real life experience from technical, social, environmental, economic and sustainability perspectives. Students work in small groups to create civil engineering analyses, designs and drawings. The group work will develop the key engineering attributes of working together in a team and professional communication skills.

Topics include: Calculus: functions of one variable, differentiation, the definite integral, and techniques of integration. Algebra: Linear equations, matrices, the real vector space determinants, optimisation, applications of linear algebra.

Topics include: Calculus: Differential equations, sequences and series, power series, calculus in two variables. Algebra: Subspaces, rank theorem, linear transformations, orthogonality, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, singular value decomposition, applications of linear algebra.

All modern engineering projects use programming for data analysis and problem solving. This module introduces the fundamental concepts of procedural programming using the MATLAB programming environment. This module also includes C, which introduces low-level programming concepts, and Excel, which consists of data analysis and algorithm development using industry-standard spreadsheet approaches.