Engineering Research Project
Module code: MEP55E01 · Semester: Full year · ECTS: 30
Themes: Theme 2: Bioengineering/Manufacturing; Theme 3: Mechanical/Manufacturing; Theme 4: Innovation in Product Design
Resources
How it's assessed
No end-of-semester exam. It's assessed through project work.
The MAI's major research project, done with a supervisor over the year at the technical level expected of a Level 9 accredited degree.
| Assessment | Weight |
|---|---|
| Project plan presentation (5 minutes plus questions) | 5% |
| Interim report: literature review, work to date and plan | 15% |
| Thesis (up to 60 pages) and viva / presentation | 80% |
- Expect weekly supervisor meetings and around 600 hours of independent work (30 ECTS).
Summarised from the TCD module descriptor, checked 2026-11-09. Details can change from year to year, so check this year's descriptor and Blackboard.
From students who've done it
Questions by Year
Topics
- Project proposal: background, goal and plan LO2, LO12
- Literature review LO2
- Methods: theory, experiments, software LO3–6
- Analysis and critical evaluation of results LO7–8
- Thesis writing and viva LO9–11
Learning outcomes
- Contribute individually to knowledge in your engineering field
- Review and synthesise literature on an unfamiliar problem
- Apply research tools to complex engineering problems
- Use theory and mathematics to solve the research problem
- Design and run experiments and analyse data
- Develop software to model engineering systems
- Critically evaluate findings and their limits
- Assess implications for practice, people and the environment
- Write a professional research dissertation
- Present complex material and handle questions
- Explain the project to a non-technical audience
- Plan and manage a substantial research project