Overview
This capstone course requires students to complete a substantial supervised mechanical engineering project individually or in a multidisciplinary team. Students define an open-ended engineering problem, consult stakeholders, establish technical requirements and constraints, and develop a defensible project plan addressing schedule, budget, risk, ethics, sustainability, intellectual property, and professional practice.
Projects integrate relevant knowledge from mechanics, materials, manufacturing, thermofluids, control, design, and engineering computation. Students progress through proposal development, literature or market review, concept generation, feasibility analysis, preliminary and detailed design, analytical modelling, simulation, procurement or fabrication, assembly, verification, validation, testing, iteration, and final evaluation.
Emphasis is placed on disciplined engineering records, collaborative workflows, safe and sustainable practice, interpretation of experimental or simulated data, constructive response to review feedback, and production of professional drawings, code, test plans, technical reports, presentations, and validated engineering solutions.
Learning Outcomes
- Formulate an open-ended mechanical engineering problem in consultation with stakeholders and relevant professional requirements.
- Establish defensible technical requirements, constraints, acceptance criteria, and verification strategies for an engineering project.
- Evaluate literature, market information, standards, and existing solutions to define an appropriate project context.
- Generate and compare engineering concepts using feasibility, performance, cost, safety, sustainability, and lifecycle criteria.
- Select and justify analytical, computational, experimental, manufacturing, and design methods appropriate to the project.
- Develop and manage an integrated project plan incorporating resources, scheduling, budgeting, procurement, risk, quality, and collaborative workflows.
- Apply mechanics, materials, manufacturing, thermofluids, control, design, and engineering computation knowledge to a project-specific solution.
- Construct, simulate, fabricate, or assemble a project solution in accordance with documented technical and safety requirements.
- Interpret experimental or simulated data to verify performance, validate models, identify limitations, and guide design iteration.
- Assess the ethical, environmental, health and safety, intellectual property, and professional implications of engineering decisions.
- Maintain complete and auditable engineering records, including drawings, code, calculations, decisions, test plans, and change documentation.
- Defend project methods, results, limitations, and recommendations through professional technical reports, presentations, and review discussions.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 1 hour | Weekly | First term |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Practicum | 3 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Seminar | 1 hour | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Project proposal | 10.00% |
| Assignment | Literature or market review | 10.00% |
| Deliverable | Requirements and preliminary design dossier | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Project plan, risk, ethics, and sustainability documentation | 10.00% |
| Test | Progress review and presentation | 10.00% |
| Capstone | Final engineering artifact or validated solution | 20.00% |
| Assignment | Final technical report and engineering records | 20.00% |
| Exam | Individual oral defence | 5.00% |
Prerequisites
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
