KB7063 - Technology Entrepreneurship and Product Development

Active learning sessions will allow you to engage with and appraise specialist material and assist you in exploring and critiquing key concepts and topics within the module. Sessions will involve a combination of content delivery and practical learning exercises to enable you to apply your learning to complex and authentic engineering problems. A problem-solving focused curriculum will allow you to explore and analyse solutions to complex challenges where wide-ranging and conflicting constraints require innovative discovery and enterprise. Learning activities will enable students to work collaboratively and practice and reflect upon the effectiveness of teamwork and communication skills, and the facilitation of creative thinking approaches to solve open-ended engineering problems.

During your active learning sessions, academic support will be available to facilitate your exploration of the problem-solving activities. Formative feedback will be provided by the module team, including answering student queries and providing guidance concerning the module such as assessments and your academic progress. The electronic learning platform (eLP) provides a comprehensive resource for integrated learning incorporating learning materials and reading lists that will facilitate directed and self-directed learning. Contact with academic tutors and your peers outside formal teaching hours is encouraged through dedicated ‘office hours’, discussion boards and messaging systems within the eLP. Professional support staff, such as Ask4Help, provide the first point of contact for a range of queries, including, for example, those concerning assessment submission, late submission/extensions, and other administrative issues.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:

MLO1. Apply knowledge of engineering management principles, commercial context, project and change management, and relevant legal matters including intellectual property rights associated with new technologies and product development.



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

MLO2. Use a risk management process to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks (the effects of uncertainty) associated with a particular product development project or activity.

MLO3. Design technology and/or product development solutions for complex problems that evidence some originality and meet business and customer needs.



Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

MLO4. Function effectively as an individual, and as a member or leader of a team. Evaluate effectiveness of own and team performance.

MLO5. Communicate technology or product development content effectively on complex engineering matters with technical and nontechnical audiences, evaluating the effectiveness of the methods used.

Formative Assessment

Academic staff on the module will assess you in a formative manner to help build your confidence and highlight any misunderstandings you may have of the theoretical and professional concepts presented in the module. Your formative feedback will be given to you either verbally by academic staff on the module during formally scheduled teaching sessions or using the eLP. Your formative feedback aims to help you learn and prepare for the submission of your summative assessment.



Summative Assessment

Academic staff on the module will assess you in a summative manner by two pieces of assessment:

Component 1 to assess your knowledge and understanding through the application of project, change and risk management within product development (MLOs 1 and 2) through completing a written initial product development plan.

Component 2, completing an individual validation of the product design and business process and outcomes, is used to evaluate your ability to satisfy MLOs 3, 4 and 5 through a design process outcomes report.



Feedback will be provided electronically through the eLP or student email within 20 working days of the date of submission. 

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This module relates the world of business and management to engineering design. You will develop a business model that exploits an open-ended concept for the start of a small business based around product development. You will learn the importance of creative collaboration with your peers to develop these concepts and apply knowledge of engineering management principles within the context of commercial enterprise. You will be expected to explore and interpret information and undertake critical thinking through the application of appropriate knowledge and methodologies to tackle complex problems. Active learning sessions will allow you to engage with and appraise specialist material and assist you in exploring and critiquing key concepts and topics within the module. Sessions will involve practical exercises to enable you to apply your learning to complex and authentic engineering problems. The module utilises the electronic learning platform (eLP) to provide a comprehensive resource for integrated learning incorporating learning materials and reading lists that will facilitate directed and self-directed learning.