Innovation, enterprise and technological advance
Unit summary
This unit provides students with opportunities to learn about the development of new ideas and the methods to ensure that innovative ideas are protected. Students will explore the ways in which engineering businesses benefit and profit from new innovations. Students will also develop an understanding of new technologies and the effects of technological change on the home, businesses, the economy and society.
Unit details
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04 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies
Task-based controlled assessment
| Learning Outcome |
Assessment Criteria |
| 1 know about innovation and the impact of technology |
a describe the benefits that innovation and creativity bring to engineering through enterprise and inventions
b appreciate the advantages that any of the following bring to the process of innovation:
i new developments in materials and processes on products
ii research and product development
ii modernisation and competitive advantage
iii outsourcing
iv entrepreneurs
v managers
c explain the environmental and social impacts of engineering, and the sustainability of resources, such as:
i increases and shift in global demand
ii the depletion of fossil fuels and natural resources
iii energy-and resource-efficient technologies
iv renewable energy technologies
d describe the effects of engineering technologies in the home, workplace and built environment
e carry out research and investigation into the environmental and social impacts of engineering. |
| 2 understand design, research and development |
a describe the role that research and development plays when designing and developing products, considering the need for
i conceptual modelling using expert systems and software tools
ii establishing design principles and dealing with design problems
iii ensuring reliability and trial testing
b explain how engineering design resolves the problems posed by conflicting requirements such as
i accommodating economic, material and manufacturing process constraints
ii the relationship between function and appeal
iii legal and moral considerations
iv planned development and accidental breakthrough
c apply simple research and development techniques in the design and development of products. |
| 3 understand enterprise in the world of engineering. |
a explain how innovation and enterprise are influenced by
i profiting from ideas
ii competition
iii supply and demand
b describe the methods used to protect new ideas, including patents, copyright and trademarks
c evaluate the role of market forces in innovation and enterprise
d carry out research into ways of protecting ideas and raising finance through loans, grants and flotation’s. |