Course Governance - Capstone Project

Introduction #

The purpose of this document is to explain governance processes and expectations relating to this course and the management of your Capstone project. It should be your first reference when you have questions about processes and procedures within Capstone.

Project Administration: Approval processes for project activities #

This section provides details on administrative processes, and policies that apply to projects within this course such as insurance, project agreements including intellectual property and confidential information, expenses and Work, travel, Health and Safety (WHS) considerations.

Capstone Program Student Agreements #

The Student Project Agreement sets out the responsibilites and expectations for all parties involved in a project.

The ANU Student Project Agreement is a formal recognition of the relationship between the project host, the ANU, and the student team or for internal projects, the ANU and the student team. It sets out key aspects of the relationship including the responsibilities and expectations of the different parties. Some examples of the responsibilities and expectations include confidential information, intellectual property, work health safety, insurances etc.

The agreement for project hosts external to the ANU contains two parts:

• ST00 P01 Industry Project Agreement - the agreement between the host and the ANU
• ST00 PG02 Student Group Project Agreement - the agreement between the students and the project host

For internal ANU projects (those undertaken internally with an ANU school or college) the ST00 PG05 Internal ANU Student Group Project Deed will be used. This is an agreement between the students and the ANU.

Information relating to the particulars of each project are indicated within the project descriptions available on the course Canvas site. Project agreements for proposed projects will also be made available on the Canvas site prior to project selection. Students should familiarise themselves with the agreements within the three documents and the specific terms of any projects of interest, particularly intellectual property and citizenship requirements prior to project selection.

Once students have accepted an offer to join a team, they will receive instructions on completing their required Student Project Agreement from the CSS Employability Team. Instructions will be sent to your university email address in week 2 of your initial semester. Agreements must be completed prior to census date in the first semester you are enrolled in the course or your enrolment in the course will cease.

It is important that you take the time to understand your rights and responsibilities with respect to any of the clauses within the Capstone Agreements. You should seek your own independent legal advice before signing. Free legal services are available from ANUSA. If you do NOT obtain independent legal advice, this is your choice; however, the delegate at ANU will not sign the Agreement without written acknowledgement that you have been advised to seek independent legal advice.

By default, students own their Intellectual Property, outlined in the Student intellectual property policy. The default position in the project agreement is consistent with the ANU Procedure.

Some hosts may wish students to assign the Project IP (that is any Intellectual Property that a Student creates in connection with their Project that is not required for examination or assessment) to the project host (section 5 in ST00 P01 and section 9 in ST PG02 - Option B, or section 2 in ST PG05 - Option B), and this will be identified within the project description on the course Canvas site. The project description will also specify any licencing conditions.

Students should follow the following process when considering a project for Capstone:

1. Before selecting a project, be aware of the clauses relating to the project specified within the agreement. A summary of these clauses is included with the project descriptions and the agreements will be available on Canvas.
2. Seek your own independent legal advice before signing.
3. Follow the instructions provided by the CSS Employability Team. These will be issued via email to your students address in week 2 of your initial semester.
4. You will receive an email notifying you when the agreement has been signed by the college delegate.

Work Health & Safety #

You must align with the WHS standards of the place that you are working, as well as the ANU’s own standards.

Hazards, small or large, exist in any work environment. Understanding these hazards is a key responsibility of your team. This is particularly relevant if you are undertaking work in a workshop. We do not support students working in ad-hoc spaces that are not appropriate for the task on or off campus, and students should seek advice if they are uncertain.

Teams should demonstrate proper risk management processes for all activities within their project repository including awareness of safe operating procedures (SOPs) and records of any inductions or training that may be required by the team.

Students are encouraged to become members of the Engineering technology Hub or ANU Makerspace and follow their inductions and SOPs.

Teams may apply to have access to project space in the Birch building for storage of projects and/or assembly and testing activities that do not require specialised equipment. Details of the application process can be found in the section on Project Space. Students should complete any fabrication activities within the Engineering Technology Hub or ANU MakerSpace.

Should students require use of the ANU Engineering Workshop or other laboratory facilities, they should consult with the course convener.

Relevant Policies #

All students should understand where relevant:

• the ANU Health and Safety information main page
• the ANU WHS Management System Handbook
• the ANU Work Health and Safety Management (Procedure) policy
• the ANU Work Health and Safety procedure.
• the Australian Standards AS IEC 61882:2017 Hazard and Operability Studies - application guide

WHS Hazard and Risk Assessment #

Risk assessments for activities completed at the ANU

For activities on an ANU site (such as the Engineering Technology Hub, ANU MakerSpace or Engineering Workshop), teams are not required to seek approval for activities that have a current ANU risk assessment (for example, use of a 3D printer within the Technology Hub) for which they have been inducted.

If students are conducting a new activity, task or process, using new materials or operating equipment for which there is no risk assessment they should consult the course convener as approvals may be required.

Activities with a low residual risk can be approved by the Course Convener. Activities with a risk rating above low require consultation with your course convener and advice from the CSS WHS Team. Final approval will be conducted in line with the Risk Assessment (RA) “Approval required” sign-off process as outlined in the table below. Students should not complete any activities without approval.

Teams are expected to review and update any riak assessments at regular intervals throughout the project. If there are any changes to the project activities or the environment in which the students will be completing these activities, updated risk assessments should be resubmitted to the course convener for approval.

The following documents should be used when conducting a risk assessment: ANU Appendix B - WHS hazard and Risk Assessment Template using the ANU Risk Assessment Matrix

Risk assessments for activities completed off-site

You must have insurance before travelling off-site to visit a project host or complete project activities. As part of that process, you must identify the reason for your site visit and depending on the nature of activities the convenor may require you to provide information related to site inductions and risk assessments for activities. Risk assessments using a project host template may be accepted or students may be required to complete a WHS hazard and risk assessment for the activities using the ANU templates.

Project Space #

Project space is available for storing project artifacts, subject to conditions.

Limited storage space and workspace for teams is available on-campus in the Birch building. This space is shared with teams completing ENGN8170 Group Project, other courses and student teams such as ANU Solar Car. Storage space includes lockers within the Birch building and storage spaces located within the Engineering technology hub Project room. Limited space may be available in the Macro lab for projects with larger space requirements. This is limited to four teams at any point in time. Use of the Project room and Macro lab requires additional inductions listed below.

Use of all project space and storage is subject to the following conditions:

• Use of the locker storage, the Project Room or the Macro lab is a privilege, not a right.
• Teams that use the space(s) in an inappropriate manner will lose access.
• Students must comply with the opening hours for the Birch building.
• Students must vacate any room if it is booked for another class.
• Students must keep spaces clean and tidy.
• Project items belonging to the team must be clearly labelled with the team’s name and a team contact.
• The Locker space may be used for storage. Construction, testing activities (check with the course convener) or fabrication activities should be conducted in more suitable locations such as the Engineering Technology Hub or ANU Makerspace.
• At the end of a team’s enrolment in the course all items must be removed, or they will be disposed of.
• Teams must consult the course convenor and Engineering Assist team before bringing hazardous substances or materials including Lithium-Ion batteries on campus. Additional WHS assessments and storage requirements may be required.
• If artifacts being stored change from those originally described in your project space/storage application, you must inform the teaching team and Engineering Assist team as appropriate.

Use of the larger project spaces (Project room and Macro lab) is subject to the following conditions:

• All team members should be inducted for access to the Engineering Technology Hub before applying for access to the Project Room.
• All members must complete the following Pulse modules:
  • ANU WHS Risk Management Training
  • Figtree Workplace Safety Incident & Hazard Reporting Tool
• Students must undergo the following inductions with the Engineering Assist team before accessing these spaces:
  • University Induction Tier 1
  • Engineering Induction
• Electrical equipment including items such as power boards should be tested and tagged by the Engineering Assist team before use.

Applications to use the storage or project spaces begin by completing the Capstone Project Space Application Form.

Insurance #

Insurance is required if you travel off-site to meet with project hosts.

If you plan to visit or work on a host site, you must fill out the Student Activity Approval Form.

Submit your completed forms to the course convener via email. The convener will arrange for the form to be signed and sent to the insurance office. You will be contacted by email once the form has been signed.

The following information will be required to complete the form:

Travel #

If teams are travelling domestically (i.e., outside of the ACT) or internationally and need to be covered under ANU insurance, they must compete an ANU travel form. Please discuss any travel plans with the course convenor.

Expenses #

How to deal with expenses you may incur

We do not expect students to pay for any costs associated with the course. In general, any significant project costs should be covered by the project host. However, there may be times when teams choose to cover minor costs for project items such as materials or consumables. To offset these costs, a limited number of Microgrants will be available to teams that comply with financial reporting requirements.

The Microgrant operates out of a limited pool. We will do our best to balance the circumstances of your project with the considerations of other teams.

The grant can be used for activities relating to:

• hardware for prototyping or producing an artefact,
• consumables directly relating to producing a product.

Microgrants will not be approved for materials and services not otherwise accessible on campus. If it is not clear how the expenses add directly value to the project, the team will not be eligible for a Microgrant.

Purchases of materials that may be considered hazardous must be discussed with the course convener.

Approval #

Pre-approval is required. To obtain approval for a Microgrant, send an email to the course convenor (and CC your tutor for endorsement) outlining:

1. A short summary of the project needs for expenditure (in the email).
2. An itemised list of proposed or incurred expenses (as an attachment for our records).
3. A link to full financial records for your project (e.g., records from your repository).
4. A link to materials demonstrating research into purchase options and justifying the decision (a link to your repository).

The convener will confirm funding approval (or otherwise) via return email.

Disbursements #

After approval of a Microgrant, funds can be accessed the following ways:

Purchase (Preferred)

For situations where the team is unable to cover the costs of the purchase in advance, the School can organise purchase.

1. To initiate the purchase, please contact the convener to obtain instructions.
2. Purchase order or online order information will be required for the purchase to be processed by the School administration team.

Reimbursement

For situations where the team has purchased items using their own funds

1. To be reimbursed, one team member will need to submit a claim via the Finance Self-Service Portal. Please click “Reimbursement” > ‘Create Reimbursement”.
2. When required to select the supervisor, select either Lucia Lu, U4726473 or May Than Kyaw, U5609033.
3. Click on “Add Lines” and fill out the line details using format the MgrantENGN4300_First Name initial and Last NameUniID (e.g.: MgrantENGN43000_Msmith4625479).
4. Combine all receipts (including email approval) into one PDF and click on “Add Tax Invoice/Receipt” to upload.
5. Read and agree to the declaration.
6. Click on “Submit”.
7. Once confirmed, your reimbursement will be forwarded to the relevant School Admin to process the reimbursement.

A reimbursement takes 7-10 business days to complete. Please submit one application by each team with one of your team member’s Uni ID. The School Admin will require student’s current bank details held on ANUHub.

Considerations #

If, for any reason, you are in a situation where your project and learning will be at risk because of funding limitations, please talk to the convener. We are also happy to talk to hosts directly about funding issues.

Confidential Information #

You are required to keep personal and confidential information including any intellectual property relating to your own project and any other project within Capstone confidential.

Your team should carefully consider how you store information within your repository and who has access to that information, whilst making sure that all reviewers have access rights to read your repository.

It is a requirement of the course that students present their work to the student cohort in the mid-project presentation and the public at the final semester showcase via the display of a poster describing their work and potentially presenting a project pitch. Summaries of successful projects may also be used by ANU Marketing to advertise our engineering courses to the public via the web or other media. This may present challenges for students subject to IP and/or confidentiality agreements. However, it is usually possible to present work in such a way as to not violate any such agreements. If you are concerned, please discuss this with the course convenor.

In all cases, whether subject to IP agreements or not, students should seek approval from their project host and other relevant stakeholders before any public presentation of their work.

Ethics approval #

All projects that intend to conduct research involving the collection of data from human participants (e.g., observations, surveys, interviews or focus groups) need to apply for ANU Human Ethics approval prior to starting their research. Obtaining ethics clearance may be a time-consuming process, so make allowances in your project planning and begin early. Approval can take 8 weeks or more.

The Capstone Teaching Team are unable to act as sponsors for Ethics approvals unless they are also the project host.

For information about situations where ethics approval is required and information on how to apply please see https://services.anu.edu.au/research-support/research-ethics-integrity-compliance/human-ethics/new-projects and the ANU Human Research Ethics SharePoint.

Coursework expectations, policies, and processes #

This section provides details on administrative processes, and policies that apply to this course that relate to ANU policies and procedures such as late submissions, academic integrity and referencing requirements.

Expected workload #

Capstone emphasizes independent group work, supported by tutorials in a professional development framework. At the ANU, students are generally expected to dedicate 10 hours per week to each course. Tutorials will require about 2 hours of commitment per week, along with a small amount of preparation, which can be efficiently distrusted among team members. The remainder of the time is allocated to independent group work, with your team determining how best to manage your time to achieve project outcomes. You should aim to commit approximately 120 hours per semester, totalling 240 hours over two semesters. If you find yourself spending significantly more or less time, speak with your tutor to better manage your workload.

We expect each team to determine the most effective use of their time in consultation with their project host. This should consider the commitments of team members beyond this course including other courses and assessment, employment, internships, and timelines within the project. Where possible, your teams should complete their hours within the teaching semesters. We do not provide teaching support during teaching breaks and between semesters. We advise you not to expect the teaching team or project hosts to be available during December or January.

Individual Contributions in Team Projects #

Capstone projects rely on consistent contribution, professional communication, and shared responsibility. When issues arise within a team, students are expected to address them through Team Member Contribution (TMC) feedback processes (see the Assessment Guide). If problems persist, the teaching team may initiate a formal performance management process.

This process provides a structured, supportive way to clarify expectations, document concerns, and give students a fair opportunity to improve. It reflects professional engineering practice and ensures that teams are not disadvantaged by a member’s lack of engagement. In line with the ANU Code of Practice for Teaching and Learning, students are expected to contribute appropriately to collaborative work and may be excluded from activities if they have not prepared to the required standard.

If a student does not meet the expectations set out in a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), they may receive a Not Completed/Fail (NCN) outcome for the course. The rest of the team will not be penalised for another member’s lack of contribution.

Full details of the performance management process, including triggers, expectations, and possible outcomes, are provided in the ENGN4300 Performance Management Process document.

Absences & misadventure #

It is expected that you will attend all classes, but as senior students at ANU the responsibility is on you. You should address any absences for worthy reasons in a professional way; for example, notifying your team and tutor of absence so that your team can record this in the meeting minutes.

Late submissions and extensions #

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure.

Reasonable requests for extensions, special consideration and accessibility will be considered with courteous regard to the due dates. Students must use the ANU Assessment Extension Request application to apply for extensions. If you have any concerns, please talk to your team members, tutors, and convener (very) early. No leeway will be offered after due dates. Due dates are listed in the Assessment Guide.

Late submissions will not be accepted for the Audit processes; these must be submitted on time.

Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item.

Word count limits #

A word count limit applies to your two reflection assignments. Students will receive no penalty if exceeding the word count by up to 5%. For submissions that exceed this threshold, a penalty equal to the % excess words will be applied, e.g., a submission that is 110% of the prescribed word count will receive a 10% penalty.

Submissions, feedback, and improvement #

Links to digital repositories and other submissions will be submitted through Canvas. Feedback on your submissions will be available through the Canvas or via email to your student account.

Feedback is often misunderstood in education. In systems theory, feedback is a process that drives behaviour to align with a specific objective (e.g., negative feedback in an electronic circuit), rather than simply being the result of a process.

In this course, numerous formal and informal opportunities are available to gather formative feedback, helping you refine and improve your work. These include regular sessions with your tutor for targeted feedback ahead of Project Reviews, as well as input from your peers within your team and beyond.

Summative feedback, provided after assessments, will be minimal. Therefore, take full advantage of the extensive opportunities to seek formative feedback before submitting your work.

Marking and assessment #

This course aims to provide more than standard assessment - it offers valuable experience, mentoring, and practical application of systems engineering to help launch your career. However, as grades are still required, the assessment process evaluates your project work, helping you plan, design, review, and improve based on constructive feedback to support both your project and professional growth.

Project Audits are the main assessment activity in this course. Audits are undertaken in the stages of Audit, Review and Feedback. These are described in the relevant assessment item within the assessment guide.

Resubmission of assessable works #

Groups may be required to resubmit work where the submission is deemed below acceptable quality or requires major revision. The course convener shall notify groups within one week of submission and negotiate a plan for resubmission. Work falling into ‘Unsalvageable’ and ‘Unacceptable’ will likely fall into this category.

Referencing requirements #

There are no specific referencing requirements. You should consult with your project host where referencing is required, and align with norms in the discipline you are working in.

Appropriate use of Generative AI tools #

Gen AI Tools are ALLOWED for some of the assessments in this course, but should be used with caution.

We encourage the use of AI as a tool. However, students should note that ANU systems engineering core courses, particularly the Capstone project, are designed to assess critical thinking skills and therefore students will not achieve a pass grade if they only rely only on the material that AI tools can generate. In other words, you must critically evaluate and carefully edit all your work.

The use of Generative AI Tools (e.g., ChatGPT) is permitted for assessments in Captone. For individual assessment (reflections), submissions must include a description of how the use of Generative AI tools were used (or not) in completing the assessment and the tools must be cited where appropriate as outlined in the assignment specification. General guidelines regarding appropriate citation and use can be found on the ANU library website (https://libguides.anu.edu.au/generative-ai).

When using Generative AI tools students should considering the following factors:

• Privacy - in particular the possible misuse of personal or confidential information. No names, student ID’s or contact information. Do not upload any copyrighted materials such as images, text, code, designs, trademarks, patents etc unless you have consent. You should consult your project host before considering using AI tools.
• Bias - AI models are trained on large text sets to create human-like responses however, these tools do not evaluate the correctness of the training materials and can be influenced by the bias of those that created the algorithms. This means that the responses incorporate the bias we see in society such as gender and racial bias.
• Critical thinking - have you appropriately evaluated the responses generated by the AI tool? Have you verified the information provided? Have you synthesised this output with other research and your own knowledge and critical thinking? Do the responses make sense in the context of your project?
• Professional and ethical responsibility - Are you demonstrating ethical conduct in your use of AI? Are you acknowledging the sources of your information and critically assessing the accuracy, reliability and authenticity of your work?

Grievances, issues, and complaints #

If you have a problem with the marks you receive, there is a process that you can follow to come to a resolution on the issue. It is worth remembering that the teaching team has a wealth of experience in professional practice and mentoring junior engineers, and their perspective on your work can be a shock to students who have not been challenged outside of the sandbox of academic practice.

If you would like to appeal your grade, this process must be initiated within two weeks of receiving your mark:

1. Discuss the issue with your tutor.
2. Your tutor will provide further comments, clarification and sage advice if needed.
3. If the issue remains unresolved, you can:
   • ask the course convener to re-mark the assessment - this requires you to first submit in writing exactly what your concerns are and how the marking has missed some significant aspect of your work against the criteria. Not including this information will lead to the convener denying this request.
   • ask the course convener if you can resubmit (typically reserved for failed work) - this requires negotiation with the course convener.
4. If you are unhappy with the course convener’s response, you can appeal to the Associate Director (Education), in consultation with the course convener as described by the appropriate policy.

Final Grades #

Final grades are subject to deliberations at School and College examiners meetings. We try hard to align the course grade expectations with the expectations of the examiners meetings to avoid scaling or grade shifting to meet University expectations.

Academic integrity #

All students must read and understand the ANU guidelines on Academic honesty & plagiarism.

Any sign of academic misconduct in any assessment task will be fully investigated in accordance with the ANU Academic Misconduct Rule 2021.

Version Control #

Document Information #

Change log #

2025.S1.01: 16-12-2024

• Creation of initial version of the document

2025.S2.01: 04-07-2025

• Update to college name and requirements to access project spaces

2026.S1.01: 08-12-2025

• Update to ethics details, licencing conditions and updates for Canvas.

2026.S1.02: 16-01-2026

• Add Individual Contributions in Team Projects section