Course Catalogue

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The course will introduce students to some of the inventions that rely on historical, and more recent, work originally developed in Scotland. Technological concepts associated with inventions in fields such as broadcasting, telephony, radio communication, audio and computing and their application will be described through a series of lectures, laboratory experiences, and industrial visits.  The integration of a philosophy of innovation and invention within Scottish society both through visiting some of the sights and places where this work had been undertaken and with discussions with leading Scottish engineers.

Intensively taught over a period of two weeks.

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Assessment

50% Report

40% Oral Assessment & Presentation

10% Set Exercise

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

As the course grade is determined by a student's performance on the laboratories and project, it is not possible to reassess this course.

The aims of this course are to:

■ introduce students to the concepts in fields such as broadcasting, telephony, radio communication, audio and computing;

■ explore the application of these concepts by studying historical and modern inventions in these fields;

■ demonstrate the integration of a philosophy of innovation and invention in Scotland.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ describe concepts that have been applied in one or more inventions and innovations in fields such as broadcasting, telephony, radio communication, audio and computing;

■ discuss the differences between invention and innovation and how the two are integrated in the creation of technological advancements;

■ contribute substantially to an engineering design that incorporates concepts from broadcasting, telephony, radio communication, audio and/or computing as part of a team;

■ summarise the state-of-the-art in one of these fields after conducting a literature review.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components of the course's summative assessment.

Students must attend the timetabled laboratory classes.