MTE3544 - Management and practice in materials engineering - 2017

This unit exposes the student to some core capabilities required of all engineers in the workforce. A successful engineer needs to understand the fundamentals of business and enterprise management practices. Such skills include use of basic systems engineering and/or project management tools and processes in the planning and execution of project work, the management and assessment of competing demands to achieve project objectives, financial, quality and risk analysis within projects, effective team membership and team leadership as well as the impact of various communication methods (including non-verbal) within project teams. This unit will examine various production systems and the social, environmental and economic principles of sustainable engineering practice. The interrelationship between innovation and invention and the generation and exploitation of intellectual property with a business context will also be covered.

At the successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Describe the principles of project management.
2. Identify how project risk is assessed.
3. Describe quality management and quality control.
4. Describe interrelationship between innovation and invention.
5. Identify the nature and uses of intellectual property.
6. Describe the principles of financial management.
7. Identify the major forces governing workplace relations and workplace conditions in Australia.
8. Debate aids to decision making, including the identification of likely critical processes.
9. Address the complexities of team dynamics.

Four written assignments: 65%

Examination (2 hours): 35%

2 hours of lectures, 1 hour of tutorials/guest lectures and 9 hours of private study per week.

See also Unit timetable information

Professor Nick Birbilis