Module ENGI45930: Multidisciplinary Engineering

Department: Engineering

ENGI45930: Multidisciplinary Engineering

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module is designed solely for students studying Department of Engineering degree programmes.
• To collaboratively manage the design of a complex multidisciplinary project using engineering management principles.
• To introduce the principles, challenges, and opportunities associated with working in multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• To provide the knowledge and skills to collaborate and manage effectively across engineering disciplines.
• To enable awareness of the importance of diverse perspectives in addressing complex engineering projects.

Content

• Multidisciplinary engineering: The relevance of multidisciplinary engineering to addressing contemporary and future engineering challenges, led by research into products, technologies, and approaches across disciplines.
• Team dynamics and communication: Effective cross-discipline dynamics and communication; collaboration strategies, leadership, including supervised role-splitting among students.
• Systems thinking: Systems approaches to engineering and design; managing inter-discipline relationships and competing priorities among stakeholders while identifying requirements.
• Project planning in multidisciplinary contexts: Techniques for planning engineering projects that involve multiple disciplines; defining objectives and deliverables, leading to solution generation and selection of the optimal solution.
• Collaborative decision-making: Integrating diverse perspectives and stakeholder interests, with analysis by individuals feeding into team choices.
• Leadership: Contemporary leadership theories and approaches; Inclusive, strategic, and innovative methods to effectively manage teams and drive organisational change.
• Case studies: Key factors contributing to success or failure of multidisciplinary projects, linked to team presentations and reflection.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and critical understanding of the role of multidisciplinary engineering as appropriate to the management of complex engineering projects and organizations to address global challenges.
• An understanding of the stages in the design of an engineering system, as appropriate for engineering management.
• An ability to manage team dynamics and foster effective cross-discipline communication and collaboration demonstrating equality, diversity and inclusion as a foundation of effective leadership.
• An understanding how theoretical knowledge supports management of multidisciplinary projects that involve diverse teams, perspectives and stakeholder interests.
• An ability to reflect critically on best and worst practice in management of multidisciplinary projects and to engage in ongoing professional development.

• A comprehensive knowledge of engineering approaches to the solution of complex projects.
• An ability to design and manage solutions to complex problems that evidence some originality and meet a combination of societal, user, business and customer needs as appropriate.
• An understanding of the benefits and complexities of working in multidisciplinary teams.
• An ability to communicate effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

• An ability to evaluate the environmental and societal impact of solutions to complex problems.
• An ability to function effectively within a team and evaluate own and team performance.
• An ability to communicate effectively across disciplinary boundaries with technical and non-technical audiences to achieve shared project outcomes.
• A capacity for independent self-learning within the bounds of professional practice.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is delivered in a workshop format that incorporates lectures, seminars, and practical activities, interspersed with group review meetings. This approach balances theoretical input with hands‑on reinforcement and provides structured opportunities for project guidance and feedback, equipping students with the necessary knowledge and critical‑thinking skills.
• Students can access staff Office Hours' to discuss any aspect of the module with teaching staff on a one-to-one or group basis. These are weekly sign-up sessions available to all students.
• Assessment will consist of three components: the submission of a feasibility report, the delivery of a group presentation, and the submission of a detailed multidisciplinary project report. Together, these elements assess the quality of the final project, individual contributions, and the group’s effectiveness in teamwork. The written work must also demonstrate the ability to operate within the expectations and standards of professional practice.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.