COMPSYS 770 : Capstone Project
Engineering
2025 Semester One (1253) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
This course involves the application of the skills and knowledge you have learnt over your first three years in engineering. You will work with Electrical, Computer, and Software Engineering colleagues in small teams to build a real-world project. This will include project coordination and technical considerations. You must consider the cultural, economic and environmental impacts with the associated safety and health issues.
Each team will undertake a preliminary investigation before building a prototype. At the end of the course, your team will deliver a professional business case justifying your final solution and support this with a demonstration. Individuals in each team will undertake complementary roles to complete the work. Your final solution will span all three disciplines, from electronics to software.
As computer systems engineers, you will focus on building the bridge between hardware and software components. You will be responsible for receiving data from an electronic circuit and ensuring the data is successfully transmitted to and from an application.
Course Requirements
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 5: | Solution Seeking |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
| Capability 7: | Collaboration |
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate the ability to apply the knowledge and skills learnt in previous courses to a concrete, real-world problem. (Capability 3.1, 3.2 and 5.1)
- Design and implement a project based on a real-world scenario. (Capability 3.1, 3.2 and 5.1)
- Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively through oral, written, and visual presentations. (Capability 6.1 and 7.1)
- Evaluate the legal and ethical issues in developing a real-world solution, including sustainability, data sovereignty, health and safety, and social. Incorporate diverse viewpoints, especially respecting Te Tiriti o Waitangi. (Capability 1.1)
- Further develop the ability to collaborate and work successfully in a diverse team. (Capability 7.1)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Project | 40% | Group & Individual Coursework |
| Coursework | 45% | Individual Coursework |
| Demonstration | 15% | Group Coursework |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Project | ||||||||||
| Coursework | ||||||||||
| Demonstration | ||||||||||
Teaching & Learning Methods
This course is project-based. You are expected to apply the skills and knowledge that you have learnt over the first three parts of the BE(Hons.) degree. Students will work together in small teams under the guidance of a mentor.
There will be some lectures in the first half of the course. These lectures are designed to either refresh your knowledge in an area or to augment it. We will not be teaching any new content.
Workload Expectations
This course is a standard 15-point course, and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15-point course that they are enrolled in.
During a typical teaching week, there will be 2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of labs. For the 12 teaching weeks, this totals 48 hours. Since the course represents approximately 150 hours of study, 102 hours across the entire semester are spent on independent study, e.g., designing and implementing the project, teamwork, and completing assessments.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Attendance is required at scheduled activities including labs to receive credit for components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including labs will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Health & Safety
Students must ensure they are familiar with their Health and Safety responsibilities, as described in the university's Health and Safety policy.
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
Based on the 2024 student feedback, students liked the following aspects of the course:
- Weekly mentor meetings and scheduled labs for the project,
- The multidisciplinary nature of the projects,
- And the freedom to extend their projects in different directions.
We will be marking the following changes to the course:
- Increasing the mark weighting to include more on the actual project implementation,
- Restructuring the assignments, including removing the test at the end of the course and adding a log book component,
- And improving the course information to help students understand what is required of them.
Other Information
Attendance is required at ten lab sessions, as these involve meeting with your team's mentor. If you must miss any meetings then you will need to inform the course coordinator as soon as possible.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.