Syllabus
Explore the QCAA Engineering Syllabus to search for specific topics and find relevant questions and insights seamlessly
No results found
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, e.g. Egyptians, Greeks or Romans, including materials, including timber, stone, bronze and iron structures, e.g. bridges, dams, buildings and roads technologies, e.g. military engineering and power technologies
- Investigate the historic development of an engineering field, e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, telecommunication or transport
- 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, e.g. air and road transportation safety or environmental pollution.
Topic 2: The problem-solving process in Engineering
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 2: The problem-solving process in Engineering
- Recognize the problem-solving process in Engineering
- Solve basic problems using the problem-solving process in Engineering, e.g. create a paper crane to support a given load, create a paper bridge to self-support across a given span
- Explore the phases of the problem-solving process in Engineering
- Use collaboration and brainstorming strategies to develop ideas to solve a problem, e.g. an identified school community 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, including a basic understanding of the purpose of Technical Drawing: Part 101 — General principles (AS1100.101–1992), Technical Drawing: Part 201 — Mechanical engineering drawing (AS1100.201-1992) and Technical Drawing: Part 501 — Structural engineering drawing (AS/NZS1100.501:2002), which is to - provide technical conventions for all Australian engineers, architects, designers, surveyors and patternmakers to follow - provide a common technical and graphical language that simplifies communication and reduces the need for extensive annotations in drawings
- Investigate sketching and basic drawing standards using simple exercises and engineering problems, e.g. community seating, wheel chair locking device for use in public transport, including - line quality, including straight lines and curves - plane and solid shapes - orthographic - isometric and oblique views - joint detail, e.g. truss joints - assembly
- 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
Topic 4: Introduction to engineering mechanics
Unit 1: Engineering fundamentals and society > Topic 4: Introduction to engineering mechanics
- 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, e.g. results of materials analysis
- Classify datasets and use basic spreadsheet formulas, including performance index weight of project \( \left( \text{weight held} \over \text{weight of project} \right) \), 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.
- Define engineering mechanics, engineering statics, engineering dynamics, mass, force and matter
- Examine Newton's three laws
- Recognise common engineering quantities, SI units and symbols as outlined in the table below
- Define the characteristics of a force, including force = mass x acceleration push or pull exerted by one body on another characterised by magnitude, direction and point of application
- Comprehend components of a force, including differentiate and relate force, gravity, mass, density and weight
- Calculate unknown forces using Pythagoras' theorem
- Calculate horizontal and vertical components using trigonometry and graphical methods
- Define concurrent forces, non-concurrent forces, coplanar forces and collinear forces
- Define transmissibility of a force
- Represent simple problems graphically using free-body diagrams and force diagrams
- 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/equilibrium using graphical and mathematical methods - calculate addition of vectors - identify the conditions of equilibrium
- Comprehend moments, including - define a moment - explore the uses of moments to calculate unknowns - calculate a moment using the formula \( M = Fd \) - calculate addition of moments using the formula \( M_r = M_1 + M_2 + M_3 + \ldots \) - determine a moment of a couple - determine reactions at supports with only vertical loading considered
- 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 recognisability tests
- 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, e.g. health, sustainability, energy, food security or international aid
- Recognise how the problem-solving process in Engineering can be applied to future problems, e.g. - reduction in biodiversity - environmental degradation caused by human and industrial waste - climate change, i.e. increasing global temperatures
- Explore a future problem by identifying the scope, known and unknown variables, constraints and objectives, considering the social, economic and environmental issues. Examples of future problems include - lack of affordable space-saving housing - overpopulation and centralised rather than decentralised living conditions - reducing air travel costs and the environmental impacts of the increasing use of air travel - environmental health deterioration, e.g. water quality and availability
- 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, e.g. prosthetic limb
- 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, e.g. light-weighting and lean manufacturing
- Investigate the use of the rapid prototyping techniques of 3D printing and laser cutting to generate a prototype solution to a real-world problem, e.g. a component for a hand prosthesis that holds a kitchen utensil
- Calculate problems involving linear motion, displacement, velocity and acceleration, acceleration due to gravity using formulas
\[ a = \frac{v - u}{t} \]
Unit 2: Emerging technologies > Topic 2: Emerging processes and machinery > \[ a = \frac{v - u}{t} \]
- 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 (e.g. a vehicle that can safely and effectively traverse the Moon or Mars surface, a mechanical arm that positions heavy equipment during space mission asset deployment, a lifting or movement device that assists a person with a specific functional or movement disability), including exploration of the problem research previous similar problem situations or solutions to understand the nature of the problem test and/or calculate to understand the engineering fundamentals of the problem analyse the problem and information to identify the elements, components and features, and their relationship to the structure of the problem, including project management milestones (i.e. resource and time constraints) determine and prioritise solution success criteria, considering the identified elements, components and features, and their relationship to the structure of the problem
- Development of ideas brainstorm and discuss ideas with colleagues sketch ideas evaluate idea development using solution success criteria determine solution parameters, e.g. weight, materials, manufacturing issues test materials integrate ideas prototype ideas for testing and refinement predict a solution
- Generation of the prototype solution demonstrate basic project management skills create engineering drawings to support production of the prototype solution decide, communicate, explain and justify the processes proposed to generate the prototype solution consider safety issues concerning the production of the prototype solution perform calculations to predict prototype solution performance and document results in relation to solution success criteria, for an audience resolve uncertainties to optimise prototype solution generation use processes to generate the prototype solution, e.g. 3D printing, laser cutting, hand and/or machine manufacture and virtual production
- Evaluation and refinement perform destructive, non-destructive and/or virtual testing of the prototype solution to provide performance data evaluate prototype solution performance data using solution success criteria reanalyse test results and failure parameters consider sustainability issues make and justify recommendations to improve prototype solution performance.
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
- Stress (\( \sigma \)) is \( \sigma = \frac{P}{A} \)
- Strain (\( \epsilon \)) is \( \epsilon = \frac{\Delta L}{L}\)
- 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, e.g. future developments in heart vascular repair and organ replacement drug delivery orthopaedics, e.g. bone and joint replacement
- Investigate the mechanical properties (tensile strength, weight, wear resistance) and the biomedical properties (biocompatibility and bio-intenss) of materials, in the context of one of the following examples prosthesis, e.g. hip implant and dental implant bio-ceramics, e.g. bone cements and bone grafting bio-scaffolding, e.g. tissue engineering
- Investigate and contrast emerging natural and synthetic polymers, including natural polymers, including protein, cellulose (wood), resins, starch, shellac, silk, wood, DNA and lignin synthetic polymers, including low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), nylon and Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene).
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 - AND/OR/NOT/NAND/NOR/XOR - standard symbols
- Create flow charts for a variety of situations using the symbols outlined in the table below; examples include
- Decision-making, e.g. to finish a school assignment or go with a friend to the cinema
- Support structure for school learning, e.g. school administration, teachers, support staff, students, parents, buildings and resources
- Simple machines, e.g. push bike or skate board.
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, examples include a crane/bridge structure required to support a given load a tower subjected to a variety of loads
- Explore the selected problem identify project management milestones (resource and time constraints) research previous similar problem situations or solutions to understand the nature of the problem identify significant issues related to the problem and classify their relative importance, including ethical, social, economic and environmental impacts analyse the problem and information to identify the elements, components and features, and their relationship to the structure of the problem determine and prioritise solution success criteria considering the identified elements, components and features, and their relationship to the structure of the problem
- Develop ideas brainstorm and discuss ideas with colleagues sketch ideas calculate to determine solution parameters test materials synthesise ideas and solutions evaluate idea development using solution success criteria prototype ideas for testing and refinement predict a solution
- Generate the prototype solution demonstrate basic project management skills using a Gantt chart or spreadsheet create structural engineering drawings to facilitate production of the prototype solution decide, communicate, explain and justify the processes proposed to generate the prototype solution consider safety issues concerning the production of the solution perform calculations to predict prototype solution performance and document results in relation to solution success criteria, for an audience resolve uncertainties to optimise prototype solution generation use processes to generate the prototype solution, e.g. 3D printing, laser cutting, hand and/or machine manufacture and virtual production
- Evaluate and refine perform destructive, non-destructive and/or virtual testing of the prototype solution to provide performance data evaluate the prototype solution performance data using solution success criteria reanalyse test results and failure parameters consider sustainability issues make and justify recommendations to improve prototype solution performance.
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 that cool, warm and reduce power consumption composite building materials that reduce weight while maintaining strength simplified and safer building techniques that save time, expense and social and environmental impacts of lengthy construction periods
- 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, e.g. rock, sand, loams demolition, including recycling and disposal
- 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, such as cold and heat, tropical storms, drought or flood, examples include 3D-printed buildings micro-modular housing prefabrication and assembly on site smart structures intelligent structural systems automation.
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, fiberglass polymers concrete steel
- Compare and contrast stress–strain diagrams for timber (soft and hardwood) and mild steel, including shear, compressive and tensile stresses 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 using the formulas - \( MA = \frac{\text{load}}{\text{effort force}} = \frac{F_L}{F_E} \) - \( VR = \frac{\text{distance moved by effort}}{\text{distance moved by load}} = \frac{d_E}{d_L} \)
- 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) \( W = \text{force} \times \text{distance} = Fd \) power (rate of doing work) \( P = \frac{\text{work done}}{\text{time taken}} = \frac{W}{t} \)
- Calculate energy sources and conversions (i.e. total mechanical energy is the sum of kinetic energy and potential energy), using formulas \( KE = \frac{1}{2}mv^2 \) \( PE = mgh \)
- Calculate energy efficiency, using formula \( \eta = \frac{MA}{VR} = \frac{\text{useful output}}{\text{input}} \)
- Solve problems involving the equations of uniformly accelerated motion in one dimension (including vertical and horizontal movement), using formulas \( v = u + at \) \( v^2 = u^2 + 2as \) \( s = ut + \frac{1}{2}at^2 \)
- Recognise that friction is a force opposing motion
- Define coefficient of friction (\( \mu \)), normal force (\( F_N \)) and angle of repose (\( \theta \))
- Solve problems using coefficient of friction, normal force and angle of repose, using formulas \( \mu_s = \tan\theta \) \( F_f = \mu F_N \)
- Distinguish between and solve integrated linear motion problems involving static and kinetic friction, using formulas \( F_f = \mu_sF_N \) \( F_f = \mu_kF_N \)
- 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) - automobile body parts and wire products - mild carbon steel (0.15% to 0.30% carbon) - structural plates and sections, stampings, forgings, seamless tubes and boiler plate - medium carbon steel (0.30% to 0.60% carbon) - forgings and automotive components, including shafts, axles, gears and crankshafts - medium carbon steels in the 0.40% to 0.60% carbon range are used for train rails, wheels and axles - high carbon steel (0.60% to 1.25% carbon) - high-strength spring materials and wires, cutting tools, punches, dies and industrial knives - ultra-high carbon steel (1.25% to 2.00% carbon) - highly tempered non-industrial-purpose knives, punches and axles
- 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: plastic containers, water pipes and cable insulation - polypropylene: laboratory equipment, electronics and automobile products - acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), e.g. automotive body parts, household electronics and electrical appliances and business equipment - polylactic acid (PLA), e.g. automobile interiors and medical implants, e.g. screws, plates, pins, rods, mesh - polyvinyl chloride (PVC), e.g. automobile parts, electronic and electrical equipment, water/waste drainage pipe and furniture - nylon, e.g. gears, rollers, guides, bearings and wear pads.
Topic 3: Machine control
view_agenda query_statsUnit 4: Machines and mechanisms > Topic 3: Machine control
- Apply logic control, including logic gates AND/OR/NOT/NAND/NOR/XOR
- 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, including traffic light function boom gates at a railway crossing thermostatically controlled incubator or cooking system or barbecue sun-tracking systems for solar panels solar-powered devices, e.g. battery chargers, model vehicles, lighting systems.