A broader aim of this course is to inculcate the thought process of innovation into students.

This course is one of the Deeper Experiential Engagement Projects (DEEP) series with an emphasis on the aspects related to Materials Science and Engineering. This course provides a platform for the students to inquire, develop, and delve deep into their innovative skills by utilizing the fundamental understanding of Materials Sciences, Design thinking principles, sustainability, or other Engineering and computational aspects.

Though it is recommended for the students to go through courses like MS3082 Design Lab and MS3015 Industrial Design, this is NOT a must as the basis of this course is to encourage students to embark on an experiential journey. Through hands-on team-based projects, the students will further learn how to creatively and experimentally approach a challenge of designing a product or tackling a challenging problem statement. MakerSpace@MSE will host this Experiential Learning project and students may utilize the facilities in MSE laboratories, or any appropriate spaces provisioned by the School for such work. There are funds available for the student groups to tap on.

While executing this experiential course, students may also consider taking the Intellectual Property related courses offered within the School to understand more about IP rights and how to protect their IP (ideation, design or process or product). They include:

MS4660: Fundamental of Intellectual Property in Materials Science and Engineering

MS4661: Application of Patents & Designs in Engineering Related Industry

MS4662: Appreciating IP in Research & Development

Other criteria:

• The course is open to students from other Schools/Colleges within NTU. This is important to promote cross-disciplinary projects and networks. However, 50% of students in a group must be from MSE.

• There are also no limitations on the group sizes. Any above 2 is acceptable as long as properly justified.

• Guidance: Mentors will be assigned to each group who will closely watch and provide advice on the projects.

Weekly meetings between them (group and mentor) are mandatory. MSE Academic office will also assist the groups in getting in touch with relevant faculty for a greater in-depth discussion on their projects. Two faculty with will act as judges/examiners/assessors during the mid-term and final assessments.

Students can register for the course multiple times during their candidature if they meet the course criteria. MS5001 for the first take, MS5002 for the second take, and MS5003 for the third take. Additionally, students can only take the course as MPE once. For any subsequent attempts, they must register for the course as BDE.

This course is not offered for exchange students.

Upon the successful completion of this course, you (student) would be able to:

1. Carry out a series of hands-on procedures related to your project, e.g. designing a wearable sensor to monitor heart rate, design and development of a key part of a bicycle, design of a catapult launcher, design and development of a toy car powered by clean energy, assessing the carbon footprint and providing solutions, etc.
2. Articulate the principles of Materials Sciences and Engineering, and other disciplines that are relevant to the subject
3. Develop ideas as an individual and then synthesize these ideas into a coherent proposal as a team
4. Construct plans and devise approaches/methods to bring about the outcome of the proposal
5. Execute experiments and describe the scientific basis that bring about positive or negative outcomes in their experimentation
6. Document the rationale and progress of the project systematically and comprehensively
7. Manage limited resources with minimal wastage to achieve the desired outcome
8. Schematize your project journey with outcomes and present this to faculty-in-charge and peers
9. Link newly applied knowledge to applications that may be shared with others, e.g. skill sharing, constructing knowledge base for designing menu

Depending on the topic, the course could rely on the principles and knowledge provided by other MSE courses like MS2083 Laboratory on Structure Property Relations in Polymeric Materials, MS3082 Design Lab, MS3014 Analysis of Materials, MS3015 Industrial Design, and other fundamental Year 1 and Year 2 courses. Some of these and other courses like the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Core (ICC) courses have already introduced theoretical knowledge in terms of principles of innovating, ethics, communication, and their social impact.

Students are also expected to consult relevant MSE or other schools’ faculty or experts to understand their views on the idea/process/product during this process.

As students are exposed to innovation through team projects while testing their resilience and ability to handle uncertainties, upon successfully completing this course, students will know:

1. Concept of innovation and the impact it could have on a social setting
2. Spirit of teamwork and professional ethics
3. The types of information that need to be documented during experimentation in order to
4. Reproduce the outcomes or recall the rationale of decision making
5. The methods of executing a particular process and the troubleshooting approaches they can
6. Adopt and develop
7. The resources that can be drawn upon to address the tasks in the project
8. The differences between handling of information for systematic documentation versus for targeted and effective presentation

Upon successfully completing this course, students will also possess the following attitudes, views or attributes:

1. Gain confidence in relying on their own ideas and logical thinking
2. Appreciate the diversity in ideas, thought processes and approaches exhibited by other team
3. members and the synergy drawn from such diversity
4. Be comfortable with unknowns and failures
5. Realize their own blind spots in observation
6. Become more curious and active in satisfying their curiosity

As the references and reading materials are project dependent, students are expected to seek their own references that are relevant to their projects. Advisors will also guide the students on this aspect.