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Students will be assigned to a supervisor and will work within their assigned group to identify, design, implement and iteratively develop and evaluate a multisensory sensor system for a specific application case.

This module is a hands-on module that draws together the insights gained from the other course modules to create useful sensor system solutions as part of an interdisciplinary group of students. There will be regular studio sessions (about 4 to 6 each term) where they will have the opportunity to discuss, demonstrate and iterate on their designs through input from the module director and academic supervisory team.

Students will work intensely during Term 1 to identify a suitable idea and test its technical feasibility. Formative assessments during Term 1 (e.g., oral/ pitch presentations) will allow them to develop and polish their own project ideas while gaining a critical understanding of managing a complex real-world sensor system deployment.

In Term 2, students will iterate on the technical feasibility by engaging with technical, human, contextual, socio-economic and geo-political aspects of their project. Through this process they will develop strategies to manage trade-offs in their design, deployment, and application of real-world sensor systems.

The module will end with an Annual Showcase event where the students will need to demonstrate their project to different visitors such as local school students, industry experts, venture capitalists etc. This showcase event is an important aspect of learning how to communicate the project to different user-groups. Ìý

Aims:

This module offers students an opportunity to demonstrate competence in designing and deploying a real-world sensor system. Through this the students will also learn important skills including in collaborative and critical thinking, making good arguments through continuous interaction within the group and with the other groups.

Specifically, the aims are:

• Starting from a project brief learn to define, design, and deploy a networked system of sensors and actuators to create real-world applications.
• Demonstrate the technical feasibility, desirability, and viability (Term 1).
• Apply system thinking that combines design thinking through an analysis of possible, plausible, probable, and preferable futures (Term 2).
• Learn to strategically manage trade-offs in complex deployments that cut across disciplinary and application boundaries.

Intended learning outcomes:

On successful completion of the module, a student will be able to:

1. Understand through Hands-on technical experience the process of deploying complex sensors in a real-world setting.
2. Apply design techniques (such as speculative design) to efficiently progress from idea to deployment by accounting for different perspectives, opinions, approaches.
3. Reflect on the iterative development of sensor systems that go beyond technical feasibility and account for its socio-economic and cultural requirements and implications.
4. Develop an action plan to efficiently work on the group project utilising a variety of time and project management methods, enabling them to obtain valuable insights into leadership and reflect upon professional development.

Indicative content:

The following is indicative of the topics the module will typically cover:

Students will be formed into groups and each group will be able to choose a project from a list or proposals put forward by supervisors. They will work with input from their supervisor to develop a proposal and then work intensely on these during Term 1 and 2 through continuously integrating new knowledge and skills gained in the other modules.

Students will closely collaborate within their assigned group members and will be supported by regular contact with both their assigned supervisor and the wider module assessment team (through walkabouts in the design studio). They will be further supported through a series of skill-based seminars to complement their skillsets.

Students will be provided with guidance on how to plan their project, what it means to work in a team with distributed responsibilities, and how to keep track of progress. Students will be asked to create a workplan, encouraged to keep track of activities (keep minutes in group meetings) to spot any problems/ delays early on, and to define milestones which will provide key targets along the project duration. Those milestones will also be a relevant basis to discuss the project with the supervisor in regular supervision meetings.

Requisites:

To be eligible to select this module as an optional or elective, a student must be registered on a programme and year of study for which it is formally available.