MEC8080 : Core Skills
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Francis Franklin
- Owning School: Engineering
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
Modern mechanical engineers find employment across a wide range of industries, using a wide range of skills and specialties. This module sets out to provide a set of core skills and experience that all mechanical engineers should find useful:
• Understanding of how forces lead to stresses in materials and how this can lead to failure through plastic damage, wear and crack growth.
• Confidence in being able to use mathematical and scientific computer programs to analyse and plot data.
• Experience with using modern CAD software for 3D modelling of components and assemblies.
• Experience with working in a small group on a research project and presenting the findings.
Outline Of Syllabus
The syllabus is structured into four main areas:
1. Lectures on core mechanics theory
Engineering properties of materials, such as Young’s modulus and the yield point, are typically found from rods loaded axially, giving a very one-dimensional understanding of material response. These lectures look at the three-dimensional and interrelated nature of stress and strain and how to reduce this complexity to the von Mises stress that is useful for structural design work. Other topics covered include contact mechanics, wear and crack growth.
2. 3D Solid Modelling
CAD software has become a powerful tool for engineering design and an essential tool for building models of components and assemblies for stress analysis. The students are given an intensive introduction to Autodesk Inventor and work through, for example, an engine assembly exercise.
3. Scientific Computing
The students will be guided through a varied sequence of mathematical tasks in Matlab or Python, designed to give confidence in techniques of data analysis and visualization.
4. Research Group Project
Students will work in small groups on a speculative research project at the frontier of engineering science, and create video and poster presentations of their findings.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | End of block examination |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 30:00 | 30:00 | Student led activity - Group based coursework |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 31:00 | 31:00 | Revision for and completion of Examination |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 12 | 1:00 | 12:00 | Lectures |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 16:00 | 16:00 | Formative online assessment preparation and completion |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 24 | 2:00 | 48:00 | Computer cluster sessions |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 12 | 1:00 | 12:00 | Tutorial sessions |
| Guided Independent Study | Reflective learning activity | 1 | 49:00 | 49:00 | Independent study time to reflect on teaching and practise computing skills. |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures will provide a solid, common core of engineering fundamentals; tutorial sessions to allow students to work through specific problems; cluster sessions to provide teaching support to engineering programming exercises.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 20 | 1 | M | 40 | Group video and individual poster presentation on an engineering topic. |
| Digital Examination | 100 | 1 | M | 60 | Computer-based assessment with a mixture of mechanics theory and programming tasks. |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Examination | 1 | M | Computer based assessment with feedback |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The exam will assess the students’ grasp and application of theory and scientific programming skills.
The coursework is a group activity designed to give students experience of doing library and internet searches, and experience of creating poster and video presentations; the coursework theme is chosen to allow the students to explore new and emerging science and engineering.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- MEC8080's Timetable