Syllabus
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Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society
Topic 1: Engineering history
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 1: Engineering history
- Explore the implications of an engineered solution developed by an ancient civilisation
- Investigate the historic development of an engineering field
- Recognise engineering career pathways in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering
- Identify current and future opportunities in three engineering professions selected from micro nano, chemical, aerospace, environmental, biomedical, space, processing, software and mechatronics engineering
- Recognise the role played by engineering in supporting communities and improving peoples' lives
- Recognise and describe ethical engineering practice as defined by the Engineers Australia Code of Ethics (2017) for engineering practice
- Explore the social, economic and environmental contributions of an engineered solution to a global or local problem
Topic 2: The problem-solving process in Engineering
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 2: The problem-solving process in Engineering
- Recognise the problem-solving process in Engineering
- Solve basic problems using the problem-solving process in Engineering
- Explore the phases of the problem-solving process in Engineering
- Use collaboration and brainstorming strategies to develop ideas to solve a problem
- Use sketching techniques to represent ideas
Topic 3: Engineering communication
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 3: Engineering communication
- Identify and describe different types of engineering communication, including annotations and callouts in sketches and engineering drawings, folio structure and format, and summary report for a specified client
- Explore fundamental concepts of engineering communication, including scale, units, layout, title, orientation, parts list and the level of drawing detail required to support production
- Recognise Australian Standards for engineering drawings
- Investigate sketching and basic drawing standards using simple exercises and engineering problems
- Recognise and interpret drawings, including orthographic, pictorial, electrical and control circuits
- Investigate the use of force diagrams (also referred to as free-body diagrams) used in the calculation of force vectors for bodies in equilibrium
- Recognise CAD and identify a number of software programs used to communicate various engineering information in 2D and 3D platforms
- Contrast CAD with other methods of engineering communication, including sketching and drawing
- Generate rudimentary engineering objects/products using basic drawing standards, including: dimensioning, orthographic, pictorial (isometric)
- Create a basic spreadsheet using provided data
- Classify datasets and use basic spreadsheet formulas, including performance index weight of project, weight and strength of materials
- Represent data in tabular form
- Generate a graph from multiple datasets
- Explore the documentation required in a folio, including how to explore problems and generate ideas using brainstorming and sketching communication strategies
Topic 4: Introduction to engineering mechanics
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 4: Introduction to engineering mechanics
- Define engineering mechanics, engineering statics, engineering dynamics, mass, force and matter
- Examine Newton's three laws
- Recognise common engineering quantities, SI units and symbols
- Define the characteristics of a force, including: force = mass × acceleration, push or pull exerted by one body on another, characterised by magnitude, direction and point of application
- Comprehend components of a force
- Comprehend scalar and vector quantities, including: define a scalar quantity, define a vector quantity, communicate scalar and vector quantities in graphical form, determine the resultant/equilibrant using graphical and mathematical methods, calculate addition of vectors, identify the conditions of equilibrium
- Comprehend moments
- Comprehend the resultant of non-concurrent forces, including: determine the resultant of simple forces on beams, determine the resultant of multiple forces on beams (point of application and angle of force to the beam)
- Conduct experiments on simple truss frame forms to identify tensile and compressive forces
- Determine how structures transfer forces
Topic 5: Introduction to engineering materials
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 5: Introduction to engineering materials
- Classify materials, including: recognise and describe how engineers classify materials into metals and alloys, composite materials, ceramics and natural materials
- Comprehend structure of the solid state of materials, including: recognise, describe and compare solids, liquids and gases
- Investigate primary bonding, i.e. ionic, covalent, metallic
- Recognise the properties of engineering materials, including those outlined below comprehend the effects of materials processing and manufacturing techniques on grain structure in the context of two of the following (cold and hot working, annealing, casting and forging, welding, rolling and extrusion)
- Identify features of a stress vs. strain graph, including stress, strain, stiffness, ultimate tensile strength, toughness, proportional limit, yield stress, Young's modulus, elastic and plastic limit
- Recognise types of tests, including routine tests, exploratory tests, destructive tests, non-destructive or proving tests, virtual tests, tests on specially prepared samples or scaled models, full-scale tests or tests on the completed article or structure, and inspection techniques
- Conduct mechanical testing and inspections of materials using two of the previous test examples
- Comprehend types of loading, including tensile, compressive, bending, shear and torsion
Unit 2: Emerging technologies
Topic 1: Emerging needs
Unit 2: Emerging technologies > Topic 1: Emerging needs
- Identify and investigate a problem in an area of growing demand
- Recognise how the problem-solving process in Engineering can be applied to future problems
- Explore a future problem by identifying the scope, known and unknown variables, constraints and objectives, considering the social, economic and environmental issues
- Investigate the ethical, legal, social and economic impacts associated with current and future engineering contexts, including biomedical advances, space colonisation, nanotechnology, robotics and biomimicry
- Critically examine the role of technology and its impact on society and the environment
- Brainstorm possible future problem situations in an emerging need area, determine the success criteria required and consider the implications for idea and prototype solution development
Topic 2: Emerging processes and machinery
Unit 2: Emerging technologies > Topic 2: Emerging processes and machinery
- Demonstrate sketching and drawing techniques to communicate the development of ideas and prototype solutions, including: pictorials, orthographic views, detail of components and joints
- Perform calculations to validate ideas using solution success criteria, constraints and relevant mathematical and engineering concepts and principles
- Define additive and subtractive manufacturing processes
- Explain how additive manufacturing facilitates the creation of new designs with internal structures or porosities in medical and industrial applications
- Investigate the use of the rapid prototyping techniques of 3D printing and laser cutting to generate a prototype solution to a real-world problem
- Calculate problems involving linear motion, displacement, velocity and acceleration, acceleration due to gravity using formulas
- Describe the importance of unmanned vehicles, drones, supersonic flight and hypersonic flight in future applications, including: dangerous occupations, repetitive processes, global enterprises
- Comprehend and describe the benefits and the ethical, legal, social, economic and/or environmental risks of controversial technologies (such as drones and self-driven vehicles), including: employment, transportation costs, vehicular and road safety
- Comprehend the ethical and social implications of emerging technologies, including: intelligent robotics, intelligent computers and sensors
- Comprehend the concept of built-in or planned obsolescence and identify the issues for sustainability, reliability and the environment
- Communicate the problem-solving process in Engineering to solve an identified problem
Topic 3: Emerging materials
Unit 2: Emerging technologies > Topic 3: Emerging materials
- Conduct materials testing (physically or virtually) — include a minimum of three of tensile testing and the elastic limit, the proportional limit, stiffness, yield stress, proof stress, ultimate strength, ductility, rupture, hardness, transverse, shear, impact, fatigue, torsion and non-destructive testing
- Generate a stress–strain diagram and identify yield stress, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), Young's modulus, elastic limit, plastic deformation and fracture failure
- Comprehend factor of safety
- Explore hardness, impact and ultrasonic tests
- Calculate using formulas for; E = Young's modulus in pascals (Pa), P = applied load (force) in newtons (N), L = gauge length (original length) in metres (m), A = cross sectional area in square metres (m2), ∆L = change in length in metres (m)
- Recognise Young's modulus, stress–strain diagrams for steel, aluminium and aluminium alloys, copper and copper alloys, polymers, ceramics and composite materials
- Investigate general uses of biodegradable polymers in medical applications in two of the following examples: tissue engineering and organ replacement, drug delivery, orthopaedics
- Investigate the mechanical properties (tensile strength, weight, wear resistance) and the biomedical properties (biocompatibility and bio-inertness) of materials, in the context of one of the following examples: prosthesis, bio-ceramics, bio-scaffolding
- Investigate and contrast emerging natural and synthetic polymers
Topic 4: Exploring autonomy
Unit 2: Emerging technologies > Topic 4: Exploring autonomy
- Compare and contrast alternative energy sources, including solar, geothermal, hydro, wind, tidal and biomass
- Describe emerging automation, including intelligent robotics, intelligent sensors, computer vision and industrial control systems
- Explore unmanned vehicles, including drones, cars, trucks and space
- Recognise thermal and electrical conductors and insulators, including: valence electrons, ionic and covalent compounds, materials that conduct (most metals) or resist (most non-metals) electron flow
- Distinguish between alternating and direct current
- Describe the characteristics of electricity in a domestic housing context, including power, energy, charge, current, resistance and voltage
- Comprehend the relationships between power, energy, charge, current, resistance and voltage, and solve problems using formulas V = IR, P = VI, E = Pt
- Identify and comprehend the function of the symbols that represent components of electric circuits, including resistors (variable and fixed), voltage source, wires, alternating current and direct current, fuse, earth, switch and light bulb
- Create circuit diagrams using physical circuits
- Create physical circuits using circuit diagrams
- Problem-solve circuits that are non-functional
- Recognise between icon-, text- and symbol-based control language
- Recognise logic control, including: logic gates, truth tables
- Create flow charts for a variety of situations using the symbols outlined in the table below; examples include: decision-making,¬ support structure for school learning, simple machines
Unit 3: Statics of structures and environmental considerations
Topic 1: Application of the problem-solving process in Engineering
Unit 3: Statics of structures and environmental considerations > Topic 1: Application of the problem-solving process in Engineering
- Use and document the problem-solving process in Engineering to solve a complex open-ended problem
- Explore the selected problem
- Develop ideas
- Generate the prototype solution
- Evaluate and refine
Topic 2: Civil structures and the environment
Unit 3: Statics of structures and environmental considerations > Topic 2: Civil structures and the environment
- Investigate the scope of civil engineering in two of the following sub-disciplines: coastal engineering, construction engineering, earthquake engineering, environmental engineering, water resource engineering, structural engineering
- Recognise engineering innovation in civil structures and their impact on people's lives in one of the following: smart structures, composite building materials, simplified and safer building techniques
- Identify the construction and processing materials used in civil structures (including timber, rock, earth, brick, concrete and steel)
- Examine the environmental implications from the use of materials in civil structures, including: loss of habitat, erosion, extractive industries/mining
- Comprehend the concept of built-in or planned obsolescence as applied to structures and identify the ethical issues for sustainability, reliability and the environment
- Investigate the historical development of a bridge, road, aqueduct, bridge, dam, skyscraper, church or sports stadium
- Investigate a technological development that has had, or may have, an impact on the sustainability of structures in communities that experience environmental extremes
Topic 3: Civil structures, materials and forces
Unit 3: Statics of structures and environmental considerations > Topic 3: Civil structures, materials and forces
- Solve beam reactions at different types of supports (pin and roller) for vertical, horizontal and angled forces
- Investigate and perform calculations on simple truss frame forms, including: actions (loads), reactions at supports with horizontal, vertical and angled loading considered, method of joints and method of sections (graphical and analytical methods)
- Examine bending stress induced by point loads, including: concept of shear force and bending moment, shear force and bending moment diagrams for vertical point loads only (at the end or the middle)
- Contrast the material properties, including, toughness, hardness, brittleness, ductility, tensile and compressive strength of: glass, bricks, wood vs. timber, laminates, including laminated veneer lumber (LVL), plywood, fibreglass, polymers, concrete, steel
- Compare and contrast stress–strain diagrams for timber (soft and hardwood) and mild steel, including: shear, compressive and tensile stress yield stress, proof stress, toughness, stiffness and elasticity (Young's modulus), proportional limit (Hooke's law), engineering applications
- Investigate engineering materials as used to construct various civil structures, including: concrete composition, concrete reinforcement, pre- and post-tensioning
- Examine corrosion, including: corrosive environments, dry corrosion, wet corrosion, stress corrosion, corrosion protection methods (galvanising, sacrificial anode, coatings)
- Conduct a material life cycle assessment, including sustainability, of one of timber, concrete, composite materials, glass, bricks or plastics
Unit 4: Machines and mechanisms
view_agenda query_statsTopic 1: Machines in society
view_agenda query_statsUnit 4: Machines and mechanisms > Topic 1: Machines in society
- Explore engineering careers that involve machines and/or mechanisms, including mechanical, mechatronic and biomechanical engineering
- Comprehend how engineers use their expertise to benefit communities
- Analyse community problems involving machines as solutions, i.e. engineers without borders, human interface, disaster response and safety
- Recognise and describe basic machines and their purpose, including: bicycle, car jack, crow bar
- Identify four types of motion, including linear, rotary, oscillatory and reciprocal
- Define mechanical advantage (MA) and velocity ratio (VR)
- Calculate MA and VR
- Explore and calculate the function and operation of mechanical components, using mechanical advantage and velocity ratio, including: inclined planes and screws, levers (first, second and third order), gears and gear ratio, including spur, worm, and rack and pinion, first order pulleys and belts
- Investigate and solve problems involving mechanical engineering concepts and principles, including: work (done), power (rate of doing work)
- Calculate for energy sources and conversions (i.e. total mechanical energy is the sum of kinetic energy and potential energy)
- Calculate energy efficiency
- Solve problems involving the equations of uniformly accelerated motion in one dimension (including vertical and horizontal movement)
- Recognise that friction is a force opposing motion
- Define coefficient of friction, normal force and angle of repose
- Solve problems using coefficient of friction, normal force and angle of repose
- Distinguish between and solve integrated linear motion problems involving static and kinetic friction
- Solve problems involving one-body systems in motion on an inclined plane, including uniform velocity and uniform acceleration
Topic 2: Materials
view_agenda query_statsUnit 4: Machines and mechanisms > Topic 2: Materials
- Identify key features on a basic stress–strain diagram
- Recognise and interpret stress–strain diagrams for mild steel, ceramics and polymers and identify, where applicable, stress, strain, stiffness, ultimate tensile strength, toughness, proportional limit, yield stress, Young's modulus, elastic and plastic limit
- Interpret a lead–tin thermal-equilibrium phase diagram; identify key features, components and phases
- Calculate percentages solid and liquid, along with composition solid and liquid, using the inverse lever rule
- Identify microstructures of the steel and cast-iron portions of an iron–carbon phase diagram, including austenite, cementite, ferrite, pearlite and sketch the mild-, medium- and high-carbon steel areas at room temperature
- Recognise the industrial/mechanical applications for: low carbon steel (0.07% to 0.15% carbon), mild carbon steel (0.15% to 0.30% carbon), medium carbon steel (0.30% to 0.60% carbon), high carbon steel (0.60% to 1.25% carbon), ultra-high carbon steel (1.25% to 2.00% carbon)
- Comprehend that the chemical composition of materials contributes to physical properties and therefore to usability for mild-, medium- and high-carbon steel at room temperature
- Investigate the current uses of plastics in a contemporary engineering context, including: polyethylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon
Topic 3: Machine control
view_agenda query_statsUnit 4: Machines and mechanisms > Topic 3: Machine control
- Apply logic control, including: logic gates, standard symbols, including: truth tables — logical true, logical false, logical identity and logical negation
- Create logic gate circuits and corresponding truth tables based on specified conditions