Melbourne School of Engineering

Engineering Systems Design 1 and Engineering Systems Design 2 are new first-year engineering subjects that introduce students to the world of engineering through a mix of design projects, interactive workshops and lectures.

What is engineering?

Engineers make life work the way we know it – and in ways we can't yet imagine. They are responsible for innovative solutions to the challenges facing the world, such as how we can find better ways to diagnose illnesses and give treatments and how we can use energy but still protect our environment.

To engineer literally means 'to make things happen'. Engineering is about making real and useful things. Engineering is creative and involves judgement, scientific understanding, teamwork and exciting challenges.

Engineering leads to a diverse range of career paths. Engineering teaches problem solving, management skills, lateral thinking and communication. Engineers need strong project management and people skills and are also in great demand in the corporate world. Many top executives began with a qualification in engineering. 

As our society faces a number of significant challenges in the future – including water and energy – the world will look to engineers to develop technical solutions for these problems. This will be achieved through creativity and ingenuity in engineering.

What is ESD1 & ESD2?

The aim of Engineering Systems Design 1 (ESD1) and Engineering Systems Design 2 (ESD2) is to get students excited about engineering and show how creativity has led to amazing developments by engineers. Students will use lectures, workshops and work in teams to discover what engineers do and how they solve problems.

These subjects will show how the engineering disciplines work together to solve a problem or create a product. For example – At least four types of engineers help make an MP3 player. Who are they?

ESD2 builds directly on ESD1 by further developing knowledge of the engineering method and the importance of engineering in society.

At the end of these subjects, students will start to have an idea of what the different engineering disciplines are and most importantly, how engineering can be exciting and fun.

Group Projects

Here are some examples of projects in ESD1 and ESD2 that will teach you about the amazing things that engineers do and why engineering is fun!

The Giant Slingshot

The aim of this project is to work in small teams to create a giant slingshot. You will perform force-displacement measurements on the sling, solve the equations of motion for the projectile and then use all of this to determine how to set the slingshot to hit a distant target.

Water and Fluid Mechanics

Many engineers work with pumping, moving, treating or cleaning water and other fluids. In this project, you will be exposed to simple concepts in moving and pumping water (fluid mechanics) and their impact on how engineering problems are solved – for dams and drainage systems to chemical plants and microfluidics. You will conduct simple lab experiments in teams to develop data and correlations to help model and design larger pumping systems. You will also look at a real example in detail to see how these models apply to real world problems.

Robotics

In this project you will find out about engineering concepts with hands on activities and look at real world examples of mathematical modelling and programming in action. The aim is to learn about programming in a fun context. You will work in small groups and use Lego MINDSTORMS products to create a real robot and program it to follow specific instructions, trails and move around obstacles. You will focus on controlling input devices, developing solutions, building, testing and evaluating your models.

Design Structures

In this project, you will look at the structural principles and material properties that underpin the built environment. In small groups, you will first use the analytical and modelling skills introduced in lectures to develop some conceptual designs. One of these designs will be selected  for detailed design and construction. The constructed design will be tested and evaluated based on strength, aesthetics and construction quality.

 

Course outcomes

• To discover how much fun engineering can be
• To create things by working in teams
• To learn about engineering problem solving
• To find out what the different engineering disciplines do

Subject Codes

• 800-001 Engineering Systems Design 1
• 800-002 Engineering Systems Design 2

Contact hours

• up to 36 hours of lectures & 36 hours of workshops (three lectures & a three-hour workshop per week)

More information

Engineering Systems Design 1 and Engineering Systems Design 2 are available to Engineering students and can be taken as breadth subjects for Arts, Commerce and Music students.

Further course details are available in the online Handbook at handbook.unimelb.edu.au.