Industrial-based Problem Solving
Dawn Beddard, Herriot Watt University
Project summary
The Industrial-based Problem Solving project aimed to address the requirement for students to have the skills
and experience essential for employability, and to provide an opportunity for engagement with the global
student community.
This was achieved successfully by 20 fourth year (penultimate year) Master of Physics (MPhys) students
through problem-based group activities in collaboration with industry. The problems were relevant to current
industrial research and technology and included aspects of project life-cycle methodology.
Six projects were completed with associated companies ranging in size from start-ups to an international
market leader.
The range of project sponsors were:
 A Scottish SME provided one project that was ideal for the computational and mathematical
physicists.
 A multinational defence contractor provided two projects based on diode lasers.
 A start-up company set up by a Heriot Watt Engineering Doctorate (EngD) student provided two
projects. One project was experimental and the other a combination of computational and
experimental.
The final project was interdisciplinary, working with the Mechanical Engineering Department to participate in
the ‘Formula Student’ competition whereby the Mechanical Engineering Formula Students were the
‘company’ that set the problem.
Students worked in groups of three or four and were responsible for how the workload was allocated.
Experimental work lasted for 10 weeks, spread over two semesters. The groups produced an interim report,
final summary report and poster. Each individual wrote up their own final report. The work was favourably
commented on by all members of our Undergraduate Industrial Advisory Board. Project results were
presented by the students at the International Conference of Physics Students, August 2013.
Aims and objectives
The principle aim of the Industrial-based Problem Solving Project was to provide students with group
working, investigative, project life cycle, and documentation skills which are key to employability. Using ‘real
life’ problems we aimed to build student interest and engagement in addition to increasing confidence in their
abilities as scientists and in relating conventionally taught material to unknown problems.
Approach
The above aim was successfully achieved through projects relevant to current industry and in collaboration
with high-technology companies. By incorporating projects into the academic year, larger student cohorts
benefitted from the advantages of industrial experiences than would normally be achievable by individual
students via summer placements.
The students also had the opportunity to gain invaluable experience of presentation and discussion of their
results to an audience of worldwide undergraduates and postgraduates at the International Conference of
Physics Students (ICPS), hosted by Heriot Watt University. Their poster session was also attended by the
conference’s industrial sponsors, providing another opportunity to showcase their work and pursue
employment opportunities.
Activities
The first activity in this project was to consult with the Physics Undergraduate Industry Advisory
Committee (UIAC) on the skills they were looking for in graduates and for any input into how the project
should be run.
The UIAC highlighted the following:
 Multi-disciplinary capabilities are important.
 The ability of a person to learn, to show they can apply what has been learned and carry through to
a job is extremely important.
 There is a particular need to be able to move quickly and be adaptable.
 Industry would not expect students to find a new solution.
 Feedback will be required from lecturers as to whether it was too easy or hard.
 Marking should be done solely by the academics, though feedback from companies could be taken
into account.
Following this consultation a webpage was created for submission of projects and details sent to the UIAC
members. Unfortunately, no projects were submitted from this source. An undergraduate was employed over
the summer months to secure projects and was successful in arranging a Geophysics project and two
hologram projects. One project was submitted from a defence supplier through a personal contact.
At the start of the academic year the number of students on the MPhys course increased from 12 to 20
through transfers from the BSc degree. Consequently two more projects were secured: one additional
project from the defence supplier and one from the Formula Student programme in the Mechanical
Engineering department.
In the first five weeks of semester one, all students completed individual experiments which could be tailored
to their project area. This also allowed extra time to secure the additional two projects, complete the
documentation and assign appropriate academic supervisors.
The students were grouped with degree speciality taken into account for each project. Information on the
projects was given in an introductory talk and in a course handbook. In addition, groups were allocated a
budget of approximately £500.
Students started experimental work in week six of semester one and were tasked with submitting an interim
report by week eleven. Most groups found that this first half of the allocated ten week experimental project
time was spent undertaking literature searches and ordering equipment with long lead times. This was a good
introduction into purchasing and budgeting and the frustrations and delays of procurement. Students met with
their academic supervisor weekly and, in most cases, visited the associated company.
The experimental/theoretical work continued in semester 2 with an initial end date proposed as the end of
week five. However, students were keen to carry on and complete some outstanding tasks after this cut-off
and most continued working.
Group presentations of results were given to academic members of staff mid-March and found to be of a high
standard. Posters were created for the ICPS and presented to the 2013 Industrial Advisory Board meeting,
who gave positive feedback and were very impressed by the standard of the work.
The groups submitted concise, executive summaries and individual reports by the end of week 12. The quality
of the reports was high with all students receiving an overall mark greater than 60 % (2:1 standard).
In summary, the project was successful and went to plan with only a few date changes. There are plans to
continue running this type of project in future academic years.
After the start of the project an Institute of Physics (IOP) initiative on Group Industrial Projects was
discovered.
http://www.iop.org/education/higher_education/stem/industrial/page_47362.html [Accessed December 2013]
As this project was funded by HEFCE, Heriot Watt would not have been eligible. The funding from the Higher
Education Academy made it possible to join the IOP group. The resources put together by the IOP and
Durham University have been made use of with participation in the online discussion board and forum where
documents on industrial projects are shared.
Lessons learned
The main challenges were securing commitment from companies and coping with the increase in the MPhys
student numbers.
Lessons for next year are to start contacting companies earlier, not make assumptions about projects until a
title is committed and to expect continuing increased numbers of MPhys students due to the decrease in
funding for MSc programmes. It would be better for the students to have their project title earlier so that
they can start planning the work and ordering any long-lead time items.
An undergraduate student was employed for a period over the summer to source companies and discuss
projects. This was not as successful as hoped, through no fault of the student. In future, a research assistant
would be employed for fewer hours and over a longer timescale.
Some groups used the iPads effectively but this was mainly if the supervisor used the same programs, for
example, Evernote or Dropbox. An advantage of the iPads is that they could all be set up on the same
account enabling the software to be shared. Some groups made good use of the project management apps to
create Gantt charts. Overall there was uncertainty about the usefulness of the iPads and in future years they
will be made available if needed but not automatically.
Outputs
A student handbook was created detailing the expected outcomes of the projects and containing information
on timetabling and marking schemes. The handbook and summaries of non-confidential project outcomes can
be obtained by contacting Dr Dawn Beddard, d.beddard@hw.ac.uk.
Impacts
Benefits to students
The project has changed the way the 4th year MPhys experimental lab is organised with students positive
about the change. They recognise the benefits these industrial projects will have to their employability and
used their experience in preparing applications for summer or placement year jobs. Some students arranged
to continue the projects with their associated company over the 2013 summer vacation period. It was also
noticed that students looked for more career relevant summer employment.
The industrial members of The Undergraduate Industry Advisory Committee were impressed with the poster
presentations given by the students on their projects. They commented that the standard of work was very
high and that the students had gained invaluable project management experience. One member of the
committee has offered to assist next year by running a risk management session before the experimental
work commences.
An expected immediate impact is that the students will relate the coursework to real life situations and realise
the benefit of the previous years’ lab work. There was considerable improvement in students’ record keeping
in lab books as the projects progressed. It is anticipated that the final year individual projects undertaken by
the students next academic year will greatly benefit from the experiences of the group projects.
Benefits to others
Directly resulting from this project an IOP network on group projects was joined benefitting both Herriot
Watt’s and other Physics Departments.
A project was secured with a company that the Physics Department had not worked with before and also
contacts have been made in a range of new companies for following years. Thus the awareness of students
and various industries of each other is being built up.
Implications for the student learning experience
The projects aimed to give students skills which prepare them for technical projects in industry and enhance
their overall employability. Any improvements in employment prospects will be investigated over the coming
years.
The success of the Industrial-based Problem Solving project has led to the University committing to
continuing this project albeit at a reduced level of funding. Thus the MPhys projects will continue in the next
academic year, with some existing projects being carried on and extended and some coming from new
companies. This will build on existing relationships and generate new links with industry, serving to make
Heriot Watt graduates more visible and also making students better aware of employment opportunities.
In the academic year 2013-14, the four group projects include a new astronomy-focussed sponsoring
company, thus expanding the areas of research. In addition, one of the projects has acquired a Heriot Watt
University Energy Grant.