This Course Guide has been taken from the most recent presentation of the course. It would be useful for reference purposes but please note that there may be updates for the following presentation.
TC S409
Safety and Reliability for Science and Technology
TC S409 Safety and Reliability for Science and Technology is a one-semester, five-credit higher-level undergraduate course. This course is a compulsory course for the BSc/BSc (Hons) in Product Design, Testing and Certification, BSc (Hons) in Applied Science (Biology and Chemistry) and BSc/BSc (Hons) in Product Design and Technology Programmes Safety and reliability are two important aspects of science and technology. They are highly related, and they complement each other, i.e. they provide each other with more information than could be obtained individually. When safety and reliability are performed in collaboration, better and more efficient products can be produced. TC S409 Safety and Reliability for Science and Technology explains both the theories and applications of these two areas in science and technology. There are five units in total in this course. The first two units focus on safety analysis, risk assessment, software safety analysis, safety practices and safety audits. The remaining three units are on principles of reliability, testing and prediction of reliability, and maintainability.
This course introduces you to the principles and practices of safety and reliability in sciences.
Aims
TC S409 aims to provide you with:
Course learning outcomes
On completion of this course, you should be able to:
The following table gives a general overview of the course structure. It suggests the amount of time you should allow for completing units and provides a broad schedule for you to plan your work. These times are intended as a guide only and should be adjusted to fit your personal needs more closely. You will need about 10-12 hours per week to work through the course. This estimation includes time for reading the units, completing activities, self-tests and assignments, attending tutorials and preparing for you final examination.
| Unit | Title | Study time (weeks) | Assignment |
| 1 | Safety analysis and risk assessment | 2 | Assignment 1 |
| 2 | Safety practices and audits | 2 | |
| 3 | Principles of reliability | 5 | Assignment 2 |
| 4 | Testing and prediction of reliability | 3 | Assignment 3 |
| 5 | Maintainability | 2 | |
| Revision | 1 | ||
| Total | 15 |
The course materials include a printed Course Guide, study units, online readings and an Assignment File. Students do not have to subscribe to other additional materials. However, we recommend you read updates on quality activities from the Internet.
Materials
In addition to this Course Guide, the course has the following important components. Please ensure that you have all of these materials available.
Study units
The five study units in this course are:
Unit 1 Safety analysis and risk assessment
Unit 2 Safety practices and audits
Unit 3 Principles of reliability
Unit 4 Testing and prediction of reliability
Unit 5 Maintainability
Set textbook
There are no compulsory textbooks for this course.
Audiovisual materials/software
You will need access to a computer with Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8 and an Internet browser.
Assignment File
The Assignment File (available from Online Learning Environment, OLE) provides you guidelines for working on your assignments. You can refer to the Course Guide section on 'Assessment' that follows, and to the Assignment File itself for more information.
Presentation Schedule
The Presentation Schedule is available on the OLE. It gives the dates for completing assignments, attending tutorials, surgeries and so on.
Supplementary readings
Selected websites
Online readings from selected websites are assigned in this course.
Assessment
This course is designed to assist you in moving easily from the subject material to the assignments and examination. You are expected to apply concepts and techniques introduced during the course in attempting the assignments. Some problems require qualitative and narrative responses.
There are informal and formal assessments in this course. The informal assessment includes self-assessed activities and self-tests stipulated in each unit. The formal assessment includes three assignments and one final examination. Assignments must be submitted to your tutor for formal assessment according to the stated deadlines. The non-assessed activities are not part of your formal assessment, but it is very important that you complete all these activities as you work through the units.
Assignments
There are three assignments for this course. They are distributed within the whole course. The first assignment will cover Units 1 and 2, the second assignment will cover Unit 3 and the last assignment will cover Units 4 and 5. You can find the assignments in your Assignment File (available for download from the OLE about four weeks before the due dates) along with detailed instructions on how to complete them. You must submit all assignments to your tutors for marking.
Your assignment schedule can be found in the 'Course overview' section of the Assignment File. These assignments will be marked by your tutor. Marks of the two best performed assignments will be selected and each counts for 25% of the final assessment contributing 50% in total for the course. The final examination also accounts for 50%. In order to pass TC S409 Safety and Reliability for Science and Technology, you must pass both the assignments and the examination.
Assignment submission extension policy
The assignment policy of the university as stated in the Student Handbook should be observed. You are required to submit assignments for this course in accordance with the dates communicated by your course coordinator. You may apply for a submission extension on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances.
Applications for extensions of up to seven days should be submitted to the tutor. The tutor shall consider valid and unexpected emergencies on an individual basis. Normally, documented proof of the extenuating circumstances is not required for extensions of up to seven days. The tutor shall decide and advise you of the revised date for submission.
For extensions of over seven days, you should note the following:
If you require an extension of more than seven days on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances, they are required to complete an 'Application Form for Assignment Extension over seven days' and submit it to the Course Coordinator through the OLE.
Supporting documents must be submitted along with the application for extension of over seven days to justify the claim.
Applications for extension should normally be lodged before or on the due date.
If the assignment is posted to the tutor, it is your responsibility to check that the assignment has successfully arrived (see Assignment File). Extension applications without supporting documents on the grounds of postal loss will not be accepted. The university cannot accept any responsibility for assignments that are not received by your tutor due to problems with the post. As a precaution, you are advised to keep a copy of each assignment you submit and obtain a certificate of posting from the post office when you post your assignment.
According to the university's policy, there is no extension of the due date for the final assignment.
Final examination and grading
The final written examination for this course will be a 2-hour closed book examination and will account for 50% of the total course grade. It covers all the units. You are suggested to use the time between finishing the last unit and the examination to review the entire course. You might find it useful to review your non-assessed activities, self-assessment exercises, assignments and your tutor's comments on them in preparing for the examination.
Course marking scheme
The structure of the course marking scheme is summarized in the following table. Assignments and final examination each account for 50% of the total course marks.
| Assessment | Marks |
| Assignments 1–3 | best 2 of 3 @ 25% each = 50% of course marks |
| Final examination | 50% of course marks |
| Total | 100% of course marks |
There are five units in this course. Each of the five units consists of two to six weeks of work and includes specific objectives, directions for study, commentaries on the activities, and summaries of key concepts and techniques. The units direct you to work on exercises and activities related to the material covered. They can both help you gauge your progress and reinforce your understanding of the material covered in the unit. More importantly, they give examples to help you fully understand the concepts presented in the text, and can assist you in applying these concepts and techniques in the working environment. Together with the assignments, these activities will assist you in achieving the learning objectives of the individual units of the course. Also, you can read quality journals and websites on related issues and events in quality management to keep pace with the latest developments.
Please note that the biggest temptation that students face, when they are short of time, is just to read the course materials. When they get to a learning activity or self-test, they flip straight to the back of the study unit to see the suggested answer. It saves time and students still know the correct answer, right? Wrong! Terribly wrong! Many contemporary educationists believe that learning is not a process that happens when people listen to lecture or read a book passively. They think that learning takes place as people actively construct the knowledge. Do not take a shortcut that compromises your learning. Attempt the learning activities and self-tests presented in the study units.
When done properly, working with fellow students on difficult learning activities or assignments can be beneficial. However doing so without acknowledging the contributions of other students in your own work is plagiarism. It has happened that after enough cosmetic changes had been made, the act of cheating may not be caught by the tutor who is marking the assignment. But in this case, the student's learning will suffer and it will show in the final examination. Be an honest and virtuous student.
Online learning support
The Online Learning Environment (OLE) is mandatory in this course. Useful course information, assignments, discussion board, and Presentation Schedule are available on the OLE.
Tutors and tutorials
Compared to the mega classes attended by hundreds of students in a typical university, the tutorials with 40 students or so at HKMU provide a good opportunity for you to meet your classmates and to get to know your tutor. You will find that support and encouragement from classmates and tutors are very helpful.
Attendance in tutorials is optional but you are urged to take advantage of them. You can get the most from tutorials by pre-studying the relevant materials, making comments and asking questions. Remember that learning does not happen passively. Your active participation in tutorials is crucial.
Your assignments will be marked and commented on by your tutor, who will keep an eye on your progress and assist you if you encounter problems during the course. Marked assignments will be returned to you as soon as possible.
It is good practice to keep a copy of each assignment submitted for marking, so that you can always refer to queries with the tutor during discussion. Please contact you tutor should the following arise:
Apart from self-study, tutorials will also be organized to assist you in your learning process. Details of the dates, times and location of the tutorials as well as the name, email address and phone number of your tutor will be sent to you in due course.
It is strongly recommended that you attend all these tutorials, which will provide considerable assistance in your study of this course. Moreover, you will have the chance to meet fellow students and be with other distance learners who are studying at HKMU.
While you may think you are studying on your own, it doesn't need to be that way. You can be in regular contact with your tutor and, once you've met for the first tutorial, you can be in contact with your fellow students. Make a point, when you meet fellow students, to exchange phone numbers or email addresses. In this way, you will be well on the way to developing a learning network of your own.
Tutorials and regular surgeries will be held throughout the course. Tutorials will be based on the major course units and tutors may also introduce further explanation, examples and readings. Full details are given in the Presentation Schedule. All TC S409 tutorials and surgeries will be video recorded and are available for playback on the OLE.
TC S409 Safety and Reliability for Science and Technology is designed to develop your understanding, knowledge and analytical skills of safety and reliability for science and technology. To understand the content of this course you will need to analyse the course materials and apply the concepts and techniques you are learning. We hope you will find Safety and Reliability for Science and Technology interesting, and more importantly, you will be able to use the knowledge and skills acquired from this course throughout your career or even your daily life. We wish you every success in your study and hope you enjoy the course.
Dr H K Lau (Units 1 and 2)
Dr H K Lau received a BEng (Hons) Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in 1990, an MPhil Degree in Electronic Engineering from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1993, and a PhD Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1998. Dr Lau joined Hong Kong Metropolitan University in July 1998, and is currently Associate Professor and Programme Leader (Testing and Certification) in the School of Science and Technology. He is now responsible for the development of programmes and courses in the areas of testing and certification. Prior to joining Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Dr Lau was a lecturer at the Hong Kong Technical College (Tsing Yi) from September 1995 to July 1998. As a faculty member at the Hong Kong Technical College, he was responsible for teaching telecommunications subjects and participated in a number of industrial consultancy projects in the field of wireless communications. Before specializing in the field of mobile communications, he was a QA engineer at ASTEC for one year and was responsible for R&D activities related to switched-mode power supply. Dr Lau is the first-named author of more than 30 technical papers in the field of mobile communications and satellite communications. His paper entitled 'Performances of Fade-Compensated Digital Signals in Mobile Radio Channels' was awarded 'Centres Premium' (Champion) for the best paper presented at the 1996 IEE Hong Kong (Younger Members' Section) Paper Contest. His current research interests include high-speed personal area networks and multipath-fading compensation techniques. Dr Lau is a member of the IET, the IEEE Communications Society and the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society.
Mr Alfred Wong (Units 3 to 5)
Mr Alfred Wong has over 20 years experience in both manufacturing and service sectors at managerial level. He has wide and in-depth experience in quality, environmental, health and safety, and operations management. During his career in the manufacturing area, he has successfully implemented statistical process control and total quality management in different companies. During his career in the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, he was responsible for the development and operation of the integrated management system -- quality, environmental, and health and safety management systems -- of the Rolling Stock Department. He was also involved in the regimes on asset management, reliability and maintenance. He served as the facilitator of the Corporate Quality Control Circles Steering Committee for driving quality improvement initiatives in the Corporation, and for coordinating quality improvement activities with major organizations in Hong Kong. During his career in the other service areas, he has involved in factory and quality audits providing a good opportunity to explore quality practices in vast variety of industries. In addition, he has been teaching in local tertiary institutions for over 20 years, from certificate level to Master's Degree level in disciplines such as quality management, reliability, statistics, operations management and marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Strathclyde. He is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality, a Chartered Engineer of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK) and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and a Quality Management System Lead Auditor of the International Register of Certified Auditors.
