MEC5882 Instrumentation, sensing and monitoring
Faculty of Engineering
MEC5882 Instrumentation, sensing and monitoring is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Engineering, offered in 2025 in Semester 1 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Semester 1
- Clayton
- Assessment
- Exam 30%
- and 4 other tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before MEC5882
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After MEC5882
No unit lists MEC5882 as a prerequisite in the 2025 handbook.
Enrolment rules
You must be currently enrolled in a master’s course in engineering or related STEM and in a related discipline. The unit assumes that you have the necessary foundational knowledge.
Equivalent units
The same content under another code. Only one of them counts.
Overview
Advanced instrumentation and sensing necessitate a multi-disciplinary approach in order to monitor engineering systems as diverse as renewable energy, aerospace, buildings, transportation, telecommunications and biomedical devices.
The monitoring and assessment techniques are founded on the fundamentals of mechanical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering and information technology.
The unit covers the exploration of strategies for efficient instrumentation of engineering assets. You will use a range of sensing technologies to gather real-time information and use industry-standard approaches to data analyses, characterisation, fault assessment and reporting methodologies at various stages of product design and product development.
Data visualisation will also be discussed. The unit will explore frequency of monitoring in relation to the volume of data collected and strategies for data reduction.
Offerings in 2025
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Moodle quizzesQuiz / TestThreshold hurdle10%
- Class testQuiz / TestThreshold hurdle12%
- Laboratory experimentsWrittenThreshold hurdle18%
- Group projectProjectThreshold hurdle30%
- Final assessmentExaminationThreshold hurdle30%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Identify and recognise the role of instrumentation and monitoring in the product design cycle.
- 2
Analyse examples and case studies including those from high-reliability industries.
- 3
Synthesise data from a range of instruments and sensors to report on performance against standards.
- 4
Appraise errors in the context of system monitoring.
- 5
Generate simulations of representative systems and analyse system performance.
- 6
Apply problem-solving techniques and analyse faults in terms of root cause analysis.
- 7
Conduct regular self-assessment and peer-assessment of individual and team performance as a primary means of tracking continuing professional development.
Workload and teaching
- Laboratories4 hours
- Workshops24 hours
- Practical activities24 hours
- Teaching approachPeer assisted learning
- Teaching approachEnquiry-based learning
- Teaching approachProblem-based learning
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachOnline learning
- Teaching approachResearch activities
The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 3-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-9 hours of independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.
You will work collaboratively on your laboratory experiments and group projects as a team where you can learn from your peers, and develop skills for organising and planning learning activities.
You will participate in enquiry-based learning where you will define research questions for your group project that will be answered over the semester by completing the project.
To promote the learning of concepts and principles, you will work with other students and the instructor to solve related real-world problems.
The unit includes interactive online sessions during workshops and practical classes where you work either individually or in small groups to solve related real-world problems and past exam questions.
Recorded lectures and online live workshops.
You will work on a group project during the semester where you will need to research the most recent developments in sensing and instrumentation techniques and propose solutions to improve existing instrumentation systems.
Contacts
- Unit Coordinators
- Associate Professor Tuck Ng
- Dr Hoam Chung
- Chief Examiners
- Dr Hoam Chung
- Associate Professor Tuck Ng
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for MEC5882?
MEC5882 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is MEC5882 offered?
In 2025, MEC5882 runs in Semester 1 at Clayton.
How much work is MEC5882?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does MEC5882 have an exam?
Yes. The exam is worth 30% of the final mark, alongside 4 other tasks.