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The paper starts by emphasising that final year engineering projects are regarded important in the training and education of professional engineers in Australia and Europe. The sources of projects available to students were also mentioned. Some Australian universities insist individual projects but some not, each with their own reasons. However, it can be argued that all European universities run individual projects. In most cases, whether it is in Australia or Europe, the total load for final year engineering project is about 6.25 % of the load of the engineering programs. Assessment methods were also described. They were all different whether it is in Australia or Europe but not very significant. It was discovered that literature review, oral presentation and written report or dissertations were important elements in the assessment schemes. Many university staff, in both continents, encouraged students to publish their work in international conferences and journals if the originality of the projects was high. It can be argued that individual project is most effective in learning outcome; however, the cost involved is also very high and its sustainability in smaller universities in Australia is in doubt.Keywords: Final year engineering projects, individual project, assessments, oral presentation, dissertation, conferences, journals, Europe and Australia. IntroductionAt most universities in Australia, Bachelor of Engineering degree programs follow a system of two semesters per year for four years. Students have to complete 4 courses per semester so they have to complete 32 courses in total over 4 years. These courses consist of three categories of core, major and elective subjects. Other universities may call them core subjects for specialised degree, elective subjects for specialised degree and elective subjects from outside the School/Faculty (Zayegh, 2007).In many engineering programs around the world, one of the key aspects required from the students is that they complete an independent research project in their final year of studies.Project work is now considered to be an important part of an engineer's training (Hurst, 1993; Blicblau, 2007) The objective of this study is to compare and contrast the delivery and management methods of final year engineering projects by different universities in Australia and Europe so that engineering educators can learn how each of the universities in the two continents delivers and manages their undergraduate final year engineering projects. Capstone projects in AustraliaThe final year engineering research projects of seven universities in Australia were selected for discussion; the seven universities were Swinburne University of Technology (Swinburne), University of South Australia (UniSA), Victoria University (VU), University of Newcastle (Newcastle), University of Adelaide (Adelaide), University of Western Australia (UWA) and University of Southern Queensland (USQ). The characteristics of their final year engineering research projects were summarised in Table ...

The development of a complex and dynamic system such as the energy sector requires a comprehensive understanding of its constituent components and their interactions, and thus requires approaches that can adapt to the dynamic complexity in systems. Previous efforts mainly used reductionist approaches, which examine the components of the system in isolation, neglecting their interdependent nature. Such approaches reduce our ability to understand the system and/or mitigate undesirable outcomes. We adopt a system dynamics approach to construct an integrated model for analysing the behaviour of the energy sector. Although the Australian energy sector is used as a case study, the model can be applied in other context elsewhere around the world The results indicate that the current trajectory of the Australian energy sector is unsustainable and growth is not being controlled. Limits to growth are fast approaching due to excessive fossil fuel extraction, high emissions and high energy dependency. With the current growth, Australia’s global CO2 emissions footprint will increase to unprecedented levels reaching 12% by 2030 (9.5% for exports and 2.5% for domestic). Oil dependency will account for 43% and 47% of total consumption by 2030 and 2050. By 2032, coal will be the only fossil fuel resource available in Australia. Expansion of investment in coal and gas production is a large risk.