Course content

In this course, students will solve a practical, real engineering problem within industrial operations and maintenance.

Students will organize themselves into project groups and establish collaboration with an industry or public sector partner to solve a problem for the partner.

The work is carried out as a project where the students themselves are the driving force. Each group submits a final report that forms the basis for the grade in the course.

Students will receive introductory lectures on project work. They will then receive regular guidance from NTNU and the collaborating partner.

All lectures and guidance will be conducted in Norwegian.

Learning outcome

After completing the course, the candidate should have the following overall learning outcomes:

Knowledge:

Candidates will develop practical knowledge on how issues within the field of Industrial Operations and Maintenance are identified, defined, and solved.

Skills:

Through project work, the candidate will develop practical ability to:

• Identify and define issues
• Provide clear proposals for solutions to identified issues
• Systematically use suitable analysis methods and tools in their proposed solutions
• Systematically organize and carry out a project with the preparation of:
  • Problem statement
  • Objectives
  • Implementation plan
  • Measures to ensure the quality of their own work
  • Project report that:
    • Answers the objectives
    • Presents the theory applied in the response
    • Discusses the analysis basis used to answer the objective
    • Has clear suggestions for solutions to the issue.

General Competence:

The course aims to develop the candidate’s ability to practically:

• Use already acquired knowledge
• Acquire and apply new knowledge from various sources
• Organize their own workday
• Work in teams
• Present their results clearly and effectively to different target groups:
• Critically evaluate their own work
• Place their own work in a broader context, focusing on:
  • Sustainability
  • Digitalization
  • Ethics

Learning methods and activities

In this course, students will work in groups to solve a practical engineering problem within the field of Industrial Operations and Maintenance. The problem should resemble those identified and solved in industry or public administration. Therefore, it is required that the problem be identified with a partner in industry or public administration. Subsequently, the problem should be analyzed and the solution described in a report, which will then be submitted for evaluation.

Students will take the initiative to:

• Form project groups
• Identify the topic the group wants to work on
• Find and establish contact with a collaborating partner
• Establish a preliminary problem statement for the project work

Students, in groups of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4, in collaboration with a selected partner and under supervision, shall establish a project with:

• A real problem statement for the project
• Result goals and effect goals for the project
• An implementation plan for the project
• Quality assurance routines for the project’s execution

The project group will then present a preliminary project report to the internal supervisor for evaluation. An approved preliminary project report is considered the assignment text that forms the basis for grading the project group’s final project report.

The course coordinator will initiate the process for students to start forming project groups, selecting project topics, collaborating with companies, and establishing preliminary problem statements during the fall semester before MAST2004 is conducted.

At the beginning of the semester, students will receive an introduction to project work and the use of digital tools.

Emphasis is placed on students developing their ability to:

• Recognize their need for information
• Locate and evaluate the quality of information
• Store and retrieve information
• Use information effectively and ethically
• Use information to create and communicate knowledge

It is expected that students will actively use their own knowledge and seek new knowledge necessary to solve the given problem in the project work.

Mandatory work requirements:

To be eligible for assessment, the candidate must have submitted and received approval for the following:

• Registered in a semester project group (individual registration)
• Submitted a collaboration agreement for the semester project group (group submission)
• Submitted collaboration agreement with the company (group submission)
• Submitted an A3 poster presenting the semester project (group submission)
• Submitted a monthly status report (group submission)
• Submitted a preliminary project (group submission)

The mandatory work requirements must be submitted on NTNU’s digital learning platform.

Compulsory assignments

• Group registration semester assignment
• Agreement of cooperation semester assignment
• A3 poster of semester assignment
• Agreement of cooperation with a company
• Pre-project report
• Monthly status report

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

Course MAST2003.

Required previous knowledge

Restricted access to this course. Access to this subject require access to Bachelor studies, mechanical engineering, NTNU.

Course materials

• https://i.ntnu.no/oppgaveskriving
• Course material used in MAST2006/MAST2003/MAST2012
• Book - Den gode oppgaven - håndbok i oppgaveskriving på universitet og høyskole by Rienecker / Jørgensen.

Credit reductions