Project Question Semester 2 1718

COEB 422: Engineers in Society

SEMESTER 2 2017/2018
COEB422 - ENGINEERS IN SOCIETY
GROUP PROJECT
A. INTRODUCTION

The main purpose of the group project is to manifest professionalism of the students as a future
engineer in Malaysia. The group project assignment in this course will be based on questions
1- 6 as listed in this document. These cases are meant to expose students on issues related in
the work-environment as well as decisions engineers will face. Working in groups also lends a
'real-world' flavor to the project, since most engineering decisions are made as part of a team.

Question 1

Research and Development (R&D) plays an important role in the innovation process. It
is a fundamental of technology and future capabilities which is transformed into new
products, processes, and services. R&D is long term investment and probably require
high cost to sustain the on going work. This may not affordable by most of the small and
medium industries.

Find out the small and medium company which involve in R&D successfully. Conduct an
interview to the company to know how they get involve in R&D initially, how to conduct R&D
actives with the limited resources and what is the benefits can be obtained. The important of
R&D is obviously. As an engineer, discuss on how to encourage the small and medium
industries to get involve in R&D.

Question 2

Engineer is a person who has the capacities to conduct research, development, design and
construction. According to the report in NST, Malaysia needs at least 200,000 engineers
by year 2020 in order to attain the status of a developed nation. To date, there are only
70,000 registered engineers in the country.

Based on the statement, Identify the root cause of this problem happened. Conduct a survey
among BEM/IEM/engineering industry owner/lecturers to get their feedback on how they play
an important role in overcome this issue.
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COEB 422: Engineers in Society
Question 3

The construction industry accident fatality rate stands at more than double that of the all
sector average more minor accidents are almost incalculably more. Put simply,
construction sites are a health and safety nightmare almost every conceivable hazard
exists within this constantly changing working environment. But the hazards associated
with construction sites are well known most responsible employers are aware of their
duty of care to employees, visitors, and those that may be affected by their activities, and
will manage the site effectively, implementing appropriate accident prevention measures.
Risk assessments are carried out by management to identify hazards and risks posed.

Discuss the main hazards that encountered on a typical construction site by supporting with
accident statistic in Malaysia and give/propose mitigation measures to avoid from accident
happen.

Question 4

Were now facing a workplace where in theory, many employers could have employees
ranging from 18 to 80 in the workplace. This has huge implications for employers in terms
of managing the needs and expectations of Millennials, Generation X, the Baby Boomers
and Veterans /traditionalist. You have fresh-faced graduate working alongside a 75-year-
old work colleague on the same project. These two employees work for the same employer
but have very different expectations and views of the workplace. Many workplaces are
facing the challenge of employing a range of generations that encompass Veterans (1939-
1947), Baby Boomers (1948-1963), Generation X (1964-1978) and Millennials(1979-1991).
There is also a new generation which will soon enter the workforce, labelled as Generation
Z, who are under 25 years old.

First time in human history, five generations will have been working side by side. As an
engineer and you are working in multi-generational workplace, discuss on how should you
relate to employees of different age groups and how do you handle them to work as a team in
your workplace.

Question 5

Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Graduate engineers and Professional engineers are expected to work within the
boundaries of high integrity in their role and often face moral and ethics challenges to
play their role in sustainable development, overcoming global challenges, such as
depletion of resources, environmental pollution, rapid population growth and damage to
ecosystems.

Perform an assessment of the current situation on challenges faced by engineering profession

in Malaysia in making choices to uphold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards by
providing relevant statistics, legislation, and behavioral aspects, and discuss how professional
bodies such IEM/BEM, the government and the public could play a more effective role in
achieving a high standard of integrity among the engineers.
 Project Question Semester 2 1718
COEB 422: Engineers in Society
Question 6

IP infringement is any breach of intellectual property rights when a work protected by

IP laws is used, copied or otherwise exploited without having the proper permission from
a person who owns those rights.

A patent for an invention is the grant of a intellectual property (IP) right to the inventor/owner.
In Malaysia a patent involves rights over an invention that may relate to a product and it is
defined in the Patents Act 1983 as the idea that offers a solution to a specific problem in the
field of technology. Basically, to be patentable, the invention must be new, inventive and
useful in an industry. Perform a case study on infringement of Intellectual Property with
respect to a patent granted in Malaysia.

REQUIREMENTS

1. A group project that involves case studies based on the questions above shall be
performed by groups of 3 to 5 students. Each group will be responsible for planning
and leading a final oral presentation and report. Each group shall elect one project
leader.
2. Each group needs to register their group to the class lecturer by end of week 2 of the
semester by email your group members name to lecturer based on own section.
3. For each question, the group must relate to case studies (at least two (2) case studies).
Case studies must be original i.e. not case studies that have been done before by your
seniors in UNITEN. Students can research for case studies from the newspapers,
magazine, books, Internet, interviews, etc. Anonymous names of persons, place,
companies, etc. must be used to respect and maintain confidentiality where required.
4. The groups should demonstrate the following in their work:
(a) That he has thought sufficiently about the role of the engineer in the society vis--
vis his professional Code of Ethics/Code of Professional Conducts.
(b) That he can relate real case study in Malaysia/World to the question
(c) Able to communicate and able to develop management skills especially in human
relations, decision making, to lead and be a team advisor or coordinator
(d) Able to advocate and to champion the conclusions reached by his/her professional
competence through writing and to show by examples that ethics and high integrity
are fundamental in professional service.
(e) Address the relevant safety, sustainability, intellectual rights issues that arises in
the scope of the project.
5. Surveys should be conducted (compulsory to all question) through questionnaires in
getting views on the related issues.
6. The assignment shall be concluded based on the analysis made.
7. Recommendations that correspond to the conclusions shall also be made. These shall
be in the form of actions that must be taken to rectify the problem(s), further
investigations into the case, etc.
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COEB 422: Engineers in Society
8. Students are responsible for developing a group project report and group oral
presentation which engages the case, but are free to do so in creative ways. Students
are encouraged to be creative in their approach.
9. Groups are to include a minimum of three (3) minutes of meeting in the project report.
The minutes of meeting should be verified and signed by the group leader and should
illustrate the conduct of the leader and team in assigning and delivering the project. The
last minute of meeting should close all outstanding matters.
10. Submission date: Week 10 (22 December 2017 (Friday)) before 5pm at your
lecturer based on own section. In addition, please use cover page format that
provide in a moodle.

B. GROUP PROJECT MARKS

i. Report: 20%

Item Marks
Content of professional engineers, flow and references and Team 40
management (Minutes of Meeting) (PO8-CO1)
Exploring sustainability topic in report (PO7-CO2) 30
Public Interest and Societal Impact (PO6a-CO3) 15
Exploring Health & Safety issues in report (PO6b-CO4) 15
TOTAL 100

ii. Presentation: 20%

Item Marks
Visual Appeal and Comprehension, 40
Preparedness/Participation/Group Dynamics (PO8-CO1)
Sustainable development relate with topic (PO7-CO2) 30
Presentation Skills - societal, legal and cultural issues (PO6a- 15
CO3)
Presentation Skills Health and safety issues (PO6b-CO4) 15
TOTAL 100

IMPORTANT!!!

Group Project requires the involvement of every member of the group. Any member that is
deemed to be non-participating can be dropped from the group. Anyone whose name have been
deleted from the final project report list or and during presentation is deemed to have dropped
from the group and no mark will be allocated to him/her.