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EG2401 Engineering Professionalism

Guidelines for Group Projects - 2015-16: Semester 1
General:
These projects are challenging and demand in-depth and independent thinking. They require you to
search for resources in the library and on the internet. There are no correct solutions or model answers
for the questions posed in the projects. Mere reproduction of material from books, notes and other
sources is not sufficient. Your ability to identify and raise important issues, analyze them coherently and
come to reasoned conclusions is important. Identifying and analyzing conflicts and trade-offs are also
important.
The projects, in general, are open-ended in both problem definition and required solutions. They
challenge the initiative and creativity of the group and allow you scope for exploring those issues that
you consider relevant. It is essential that you define the scope of the project clearly. You must then source
references, perform analysis and suggest solutions that clearly meet the scope. The quality and depth of
the defined scope and subsequent analysis will both be evaluated.
Some projects may appear to you to have limited and defined scopes. Here, besides answering
the questions posed in the project description you are encouraged to identify other important and
relevant issues and discuss them also in your report.
Proper referencing is particularly important in these projects. Please make sure that your sources are
credible. This is particularly true for materials sourced from the internet. Use published peer-reviewed
material to the extent possible. Give due credit to the information and analysis as well as graphics from
other sources which you may be referring to. As pointed out earlier, it is important that you do not merely
present information / analysis from other sources but present your own discussion / further analysis also.
Group Formation and Project Allocation:
You can form your own project group of three students. In tutorial groups with 13 students, one
project group will have four students. All the three (or four) students must be from the same tutorial
group. The project choice is also left to individual project groups. However, please note that the same
project cannot be chosen by two project groups within the same tutorial group. If a clash of choice
occurs, then the project allocation may be decided by drawing lots or by any other fair means. The other
project group(s) will have to choose one of the remaining projects.
Please inform your tutor of the names of the group members and the project that your group has
chosen during Tutorial 0. If you require additional time to decide on group members and the project,
please discuss with your tutor during Tutorial-0.
Interim Report:
An interim report (not more than 2 A4 sized pages) outlining the scope of the project and the
progress made must be submitted by 5 pm on 23.9.15 to your tutor. Please check with your tutor whether
he/she prefers a hard or soft copy and the preferred format of the report. Your tutor will go through
your report and will provide you with feedback comments. The submission of a satisfactory interim
report is a requirement for the overall project to be graded.

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EG2401 Engineering Professionalism/Group Projects/2015-16 Sem_1/NUS

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Final Report:
The final report should be typed on A4 sheets using 12 pt Times New Roman font with 1.5 line
spacing. Margins of 1 on all sides are to be maintained. The total length of the report should not exceed
20 pages (except in groups with four students for whom the limit is 25 pages, and with two students, the
limit is 15 pages) including references and appendices but excluding the cover (with project title) page,
table of contents page and honour pledge.
A copy of the report should be submitted directly to your tutor by 5 pm on 28.10.15. Please check
with your tutor whether he/she prefers a hard or soft copy. A soft copy in the form of a Word document
must also be submitted by uploading the file into a specially provided IVLE workbin. This must be done
by 8 pm on 28.10.15. There will be a penalty for late submission of the hardcopy as well as late or nonsubmission of the softcopy of the final report on IVLE. Students are advised to check their tutorial group
number and upload their reports into the correct folder since reports uploaded into the wrong folder will
not be visible to their tutors, and will be considered a non-submission.
Presentation:
The group project presentations will be held on weeks starting 02.11.15 and 09.11.15 (Weeks 12 and
13), with the exception of Tuesday classes since Nov 10 (Tue) is Deepavali. For Tuesday classes, the
group project presentations will be held during Weeks 11 and 12 unless the tutors make alternative
arrangements. Each week, two project-groups make the presentations. The order of presentation by the
different project-groups will be decided by your tutor in the tutorial class a few weeks earlier. All the
members in a group must take part in the presentation and in the discussions following it.
The total marks for the project including the project execution, the report and the presentation will be
equal to 30 % of the final marks.
Note: When one group makes a presentation, other students are encouraged to take active part by raising
issues and questions at the end of the presentation. This will count towards the tutorial participation
marks (20 %) of the student.
Honour System:
You will be doing this project under an Honour system. As a group, you are required to carry out
the work and write the report without any unauthorized help from others including students in other
groups. You are also required not to give help to other groups. Where material from other sources such as
books, notes and websites are used in your analysis and report, they must be clearly referenced. This is
important. Please refer to the Faculty of Engineering warning on plagiarism:
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/ugrad/SI_plagiarism.html. Software check will also be carried out on the
reports to detect instances of copying and plagiarism.
An Honour Pledge has to be taken by all students doing the project. This is done by signing the
Honour Pledge sheet and enclosing it with your final report. Please note that the pledge also binds you
not to pass on your work to fellow students who may take the module in later semesters. Your cooperation in this regard is essential and very much appreciated. The inclusion of duly signed honour
pledge in the report is a requirement for the project to be graded.
Clarifications:

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EG2401 Engineering Professionalism/Group Projects/2015-16 Sem_1/NUS

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If you require any clarification on a specific project, please speak to your tutor first. If further
clarification is needed, please approach the lecturer who has set the particular project. This is indicated in
the project description itself.

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EG2401 Engineering Professionalism/Group Projects/2015-16 Sem_1/NUS