Topic outline

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    Welcome to the home page of the Computational Engineering Project course. The course in 2022 is in a hybrid mode. The kick-off lecture on Monday September 5 is physically held in Room U411. While the seminars are online via link https://aalto.zoom.us/j/4752330133. 

    After two years of hard learning and exercising, The “Computational Engineering Project” course is to help you get in touch with current and ongoing research projects that the professors and researchers working on at the moment in groups and evenly prepare you for the Bachelor thesis. You will work in a group of 2-3 persons on a research topic. There is a supervisor/daily advisor for each group, who will offer the topic and supervision during the entire course. The topics will feature a broad spectrum covering many aspects that you have been learning and training for, including mainly computational, but also hybrid experimental-computational work in all possible fields in mechanical, material, and civil engineering.

    Learning Outcomes

    The course enables the students to prepare a given topic independently. This includes literature research as well as the confident presentation of the topic. The contents are prepared together with other students to such an extent that a joint final report is prepared.

    Thus, the course serves the following goals: 

    • to use computational tools to tackle a real-life engineering problem.
    • to develop their computational skills and gain deeper theoretical knowledge in a specific field.
    • to work effectively as a team.
    • to report and discuss their team's progress with colleagues and supervisors.

    Details on the course structure

    The course consists of the project work, a mid-term workshop, two computer seminars, a final workshop, and a final report. In the context of the project work, the students work on a subarea of the entire complex of topics. The results of this work are to be summarized in a written final report. In the seminar, students present the results of their work and answer questions from the audience. The preparation of the presentation includes independent research of current research.

    1 Project work

    This is the main activity that lasts through the entire course. In the project work, the topic is to be worked on by every member of the group in a team under the supervision of the supervisor/advisor. The students organize themselves independently and coordinate their work to an extent with equal contributions, leading to the final quantifiable deliverables, i.e., seminar presentations, reports, codes, etc.

    2 Computational Engineering Seminar I

    A get-together seminar lecture is given by some relevant researchers at the early stage of the project work. There will be 1-2 researchers invited to do a presentation and introduce their study topic. In this process, each member of the group can learn the background of the relevant topic and learn some presentation skills.

    3 Mid-term review workshop 

    A get-together workshop in the last week of the period I to check the project progress. Each group will have the chance to present their progress in a team on their topic in 15-20 minutes (depending on the number of groups). Vivid and detailed discussion is encouraged among the groups. Within a group, giving feedback to each other is also enabled.

    4 Computational Engineering Seminar II

    Another similar seminar lecture is given at the late stage of the project work.

    5 Final workshop

    A get-together workshop given by the students. All presentations of all groups shall be held on the same day. The presentation time is 20-30 minutes (depending on the number of groups) per group including discussion. The discussion serves to check whether the student has understood the content of the topic. Supervisors and advisors will give the grade after the presentation. The students can receive feedback after the workshop.

    6 Final report

    The final report summarizes the results of the project work in writing. At the same time, the report to be written serves other students as an introductory work in the respective field. Students must prepare a joint final report. The length of the final report should be min. 20 pages per group member. Template, structure, and outcomes are decided by individual supervisors/advisors. An example format is suggested (Formatting Guideline_final report.docx). The draft version of the final paper shall be submitted onto MyCourse and the deadline for the final version is within a week after the final workshop. The report will be published on MyCourses with an intention to be included in the libraries of the School of Engineering at Aalto University.

    Workload
    The following workload is estimated for completion of the project course. It is noted that the hours are based on individuals, not groups, i.e., the group workload will be the multiplication of the individual workload (270 hours) with the number of students in the group.
      • Kick-off lectures: 2 h
      • Group project work: 200 h  
      • Group project report: 58 h
      • Group mid-term workshop: 4 h
      • Group final workshop: 4 h
      • Computational Engineering Seminar I&II: 2h
      Total: 270 h
    Assessment Methods and Criteria

    Four mandatory grades are required to evaluate the project. In addition, optional deliverables such as scripts, programs, etc., can be defined by each supervisor/advisor in their projects, which will also serve as an optional grade.  

      • Daily performance (15%). The grade shall be suggested by the supervisor/advisor.
      • Mid-term review meeting (10%). Teacher-in-charge will give this grade.
      • Attend the seminar (5%). Attendance records are required for both seminars.
      • Final publishable report (50%). The grade shall be suggested by the supervisor/advisor.
      • Public presentation (20%). The evaluation will be based on the quality of the presentation in both content and style. The grade will be given by the supervisor/advisors.
      • Optional deliverables (15%). This is a bonus for the groups that make outstanding deliverables and performance. The supervisor/advisor could give these additional points to award to the group or individuals.

    In principle, the grade will be given to the group with equal contribution to group members. However, the supervisor/advisor could also suggest individual grades once unequal contributions from the group members are noticed.

    Resources 
    Learning material will be delivered by supervisors/advisors depending on each specific topic.

    Schedule

    • Kick-off lecture: Sep 5, 13:00 - 15:00
    • Computational Engineering Seminar I: Oct 12, 11:00 - 12:00
    • Mid-term workshop: Oct 28, 10:00 - 14:00
    • Computational Engineering Seminar II: Nov 23, 11:00 - 12:00
    • Final workshop: Dec 13, 10:00 - 14:00

    Teaching language

    English. Languages of study attainment: English

    Contact persons

    Teacher in Charge: Junhe Lian, junhe.lian@aalto.fi, Adv. Manufact. and Materials, DME 
    TA (main): Rongfei Juan, rongfei.juan@aalto.fi, Adv. Manufact. and Materials, DME