MEng Electronic & Electrical Engineering

To provide an overview of industry and give you some understanding of the industry environment that you would enter as well as the types of roles you would/could undertake. To explain role and responsibility of the engineering profession and individual engineer.

The class is delivered to first-year undergraduate students in the specific context of electronic and electrical engineering together with relationship to mechanical engineering and computer systems.

This module aims to:

1. introduce you to the practical and professional skills required of an engineer
2. underpin theoretical concepts introduced elsewhere in Year 1 modules
3. introduce you to individual and group project work
4. expose you to problems requiring system integration and design
5. encourage innovation in the context of project work
6. facilitate the development of a range of transferable skills

This class will teach elementary computer programming for the absolute beginner. We begin with an introduction of how a computer process instructions then move on to the basic of programming.

Foundation level programming constructs are addressed early in the class and include decision making (conditional flow control) and iteration (loops). The class focuses largely on procedural programming in the first semester and leaves details of functionalisation and object-oriented programming to the second semester.

Throughout the class, the emphasis is strongly on problem solving such that the skills developed can be cross transferred to other languages.

The teaching language used will be Python - a language that permits the programmer to concentrate on the problem solving aspects of programming rather than being distracted by the syntax of the language.

To provide you with a foundational understanding of the analysis and design of both analogue and digital electronic circuits.

To give a basic understanding of the concepts and applications of mathematical functions, differentiation, integration and complex numbers.  The class also provides an introductory experience of using mathematical tools to apply these concepts to practical engineering examples.

To give a basic understanding of the concepts and applications of calculus, geometry, vectors, matrices and numerical methods.

By the end of the class you'll be able to:

• calculate the linear or rotational motion of objects under simple forces or torques
• apply a basic understanding of atomic and solid state physics to explain conduction in semiconductors and semiconductor devices
• calculate the motion of charges in simple electric and magnetic fields
• calculate the electric and magnetic fields around static charge or current configurations using the laws of Coulomb, Gauss and Ampere
• calculate properties of electromagnetic devices such as motors and dynamos

This class aims to introduce you to concepts and methodology required to undertake effective design and development of engineering systems. The product development process will be introduced and through practice, a working knowledge of appropriate engineering design processes, tools and techniques will be gained.

An overview of manufacturing and the manufacturing industry will provide a general appreciation of the range of processes employed in manufacturing together with an understanding of how components can be manufactured economically and reliably.

Following completion of this class you'll be able to demonstrate knowledge of following topics:

You'll gain an understanding of the application of electromagnetic effects in practical devices and develop the mathematical skills necessary to analyse these effects in simple geometries.

To introduce you to the analysis and design of analogue circuits and systems as used in electronics, energy & power systems, communications, control and analogue signal processing applications.

To introduce you to the use of digital electronics and the rudiments of digital signal processing systems.

To develop a broad understanding of many aspects of engineering (general electrical and electronic, power engineering, mechanical engineering, computing and software) and to enhance generic skills required of a professional engineer (research, practical, team working, communications, reporting writing, oral presentation). 

To give:

• an understanding of programming concepts and object orientation
• familiarity with the syntax and facilities available in C++
• an ability to write working programs for use in engineering applications

• to develop the means of solving certain differential equations
• to consider applications of Taylor and Maclaurin series
• to generalise earlier ideas in calculus to deal with functions of several variables
• to discuss in more detail matrices, determinants and functions of a complex variable
• to introduce vector calculus and eigenvalues/eigenvectors

The aim of this class is to introduce you to the fundamentals of continuous and discrete signals and linear systems for baseband applications and further describe how these principles are applied in modern communications and bandpass systems.

This class promotes detailed understanding of the electrical and electromagnetic principles and their deployment in a range of engineering applications.  These are associated with electromagnetic waves propagation in bounded and unbounded media.  They are also in:

• electric power generation (both conventional and renewable)
• power distribution and energy utilisation
• electric transportation systems
• the propagation of electromagnetic waves in free space
• in insulating and conducting lossless and lossy media
• optical fibre

You'll gain an appreciation of the fundamental principles, engineering solutions, and social and economic implications of such applications.

INSTRUMENTATION

To develop techniques for system modelling based on block diagrams and transfer functions and to use such techniques in the context of analysis and design. To introduce you to instrumentation and measurement as an interdisciplinary engineering activity. To explain the basic principles of feedback and control systems.

To enable understanding of the dependence of measurement and control on a wide variety of scientific and engineering disciplines; to provide appreciation of the universal application of measurement and control within the same range of disciplines.

To demonstrate engineering design as applied to instrumentation systems and control engineering; in particular, to explain the important contribution of electrical, mechanical and software engineering to this process.

MICROCONTROLLERS

To allow you to gain practical design, implementation and test experience of the techniques required to create combined hardware/software systems with an emphasis on measurement.

It is important for you to see mathematics and statistics in the context of the computational problems they will be exposed to in their discipline.

The aim of this class is to further develop your skills and abilities in advanced mathematical concepts in the field of engineering. This will be achieved through contextualised problem solving using applicable mathematical and statistical techniques and tools on problems of moderate complexity.

This class aims to provide you with an understanding of the importance of innovation in today’s business environment. The class aims to also develop understanding and skills in the area of innovation management. It aims to develop practical skills for you to integrate a number of themes including:

• product development
• IP
• product finances
• project management
• market analysis with a view to successfully exploiting new ideas

To conduct, under supervision, a group based project within a EEE-related domain from a selection of projects tailored to match the EEE curriculum.

In this class you'll develop project management skills, including team work, time management, presentation skills and technical report writing. Moreover, the class will enhance your technical skills and knowledge in a EEE-related subject.

Expand your knowledge in the fundamental electrical and electronic engineering areas of analogue and digital design.

You undertake an individual design project. This will help you gain valuable technical and project management skills.

• Understand the principles of common power electronic systems
• Gain familiarity with the techniques required to analyse common power electronic circuits
• Understand the basic principles behind the design of rotating electrical machines
• Gain familiarity with the techniques required to analyse basic DC and AC machines
• Recognise that disturbances exist within a power system substation and appreciate that these disturbances may affect electromagnetic compatibility
• Be competent in dealing with the implications of those disturbances; in particular the effects of system switching
• Understand the use of power electronic devices, drives and machines for given applications, specifically for Electric Vehicles i.e. cars and trains
• Understand the range of energy sources capable of powering `independent? (as opposed to catenary supplied) EVs (e.g. batteries and fuel cells), understand how these energy sources work, their performance and degradation issues, and how to charge/fuel them.

This class will provide you with an appreciation and understanding of analogue electronic circuit design, relating to high frequency amplifiers and low noise design of electronic systems.

Develop necessary tools that will allow you to design, analyse and simulate (Matlab/Simulink) DSP systems by introducing core mathematical concepts, algorithms and fundamental properties of discrete signal and systems with applications

Impart an understanding of the principles by which information can transmitted with varying levels of security and the techniques by which communication systems can be analysed and designed.

To provide an understanding of the principles and key transport technologies which underpin high-speed heterogeneous broadband communications networks and architectures while giving an insight to the technical and strategic challenges associated with the provision of a Quality of Service (QoS)-based integrated future-network platform.

• to introduce you to the basic concepts, mathematical tools and design methods of classical control theory
• to enable you to use analysis and design tools used in control engineering and appreciate the industrial applications of control systems
• to enable you to analyse and design closed loop control system specifically using industrial three-term (PID) controllers
• to introduce you to advanced control methods and to provide a basic understanding of a time-domain approach to control analysis and design of industrial processes
• to appreciate the application of control theory in industrial applications

The primary aim of this class is to enable you to develop a basic conceptual understanding and working knowledge of fibre optic communications systems and their component parts addressing basic principles, engineering, design and performance limits. All of the fundamental principles of light, optics and photonic components necessary to achieve this are dealt with, giving a broad appreciation of photonics in general.

This module aims to provide an introduction and overview to the various core aspects of robotics which include design, control, sensing and localisation. It provides a solid base of understanding through theory and examples. Intuition is encouraged through numerous hands-on examples.

The module covers: Robotic systems including background, classification of robots based on design construction, control systems; Performance characteristics of typical robots; forward kinematics of robots including Denavit-Hartenberg (D_H) algorithm and inverse kinematics; Robotic control including principles of system modelling, Matlab implementation, time and frequency domain analysis and control system analysis; Bayesian robot localisation including linearization and Kalman Filtering; Robotic computer vision in particular when applied to mapping and localisation.

At the end of this module students will be able to:

• describe types of robotic systems, their dynamic and mechanical architecture and associated sensor technology
• describe appropriate path-planning techniques taking into account ways to perform collision avoidance and speed up optimal path evaluation
• understand standard camera models and common approaches to image registration
• use computer-based tools to evaluate designs, measure, record and report experimental and numerical data relevant to robotic and other computer control systems
• formulate models from given relevant information and design control systems to drive these models to specified positions and within required accuracy, speed and other performance-related parameters

Assessment and feedback is in the form of a final exam (60%) and coursework which will be a mixture of multiple choice quizzes and laboratory work (40%).

This project will have a strong industrial influence and provide you with an opportunity to utilise both your hardware and software skills by developing a functioning system. You are required to demonstrate at an internal business tradeshow/exhibition at the end of the year.

Allow you to understand, critically analyse and assess technical requirements for power system operation, management and planning.
To enable you to carry out advanced types of power system analysis as well as understand and use results from these analyses in power system operation and planning.
To enable you to have a detailed understanding of the main concepts related to the function, design and operation of protection schemes for distribution, transmission and generation applications.
To enable you to understand the implementation and other associated issues relating to protection of power systems.

The aim is:

• to introduce the fundamentals of high voltage electrical insulating systems
• to provide a basic understanding of principles, mechanisms and characteristics of high voltage discharges in vacuum and condensed media
• to provide a basic understanding of the behaviour of dielectric materials stressed with electric fields and their use in high voltage systems
• to understand the principles of high voltage generation and impulse testing of the high voltage systems
• recognise that disturbances exist within a power system substation and appreciate that these disturbances may affect electromagnetic compatibility
• be competent in dealing with the implications of those disturbances; in particular the effects of system switching

Modern energy conversion systems rely on the integration of range of technologies including power electronics, electromechanical actuators and energy storage elements. This class will build knowledge of the building block technologies and show their application to modern energy conversion systems.

Present and give an understanding of the economics, trading and pricing of electricity supply and how it is shaped by technical, commercial and regulatory considerations.

Give an understanding of power system economics under an environment of multiple suppliers and users.

Present the challenges, technologies and value of asset management within an electricity supply industry context.

Give a deep appreciation of factors affecting security of supply and how it might be quantified.

To provide an understanding of the principles of wind turbine power generation with attention to the wind resource, rotor aerodynamics, structural design, power conversion and control. It also addresses socio-economic issues and provides an underpinning in distributed energy resources including small scale generation, energy storage and demand management and their integration and management within power networks.

Develop the necessary skills that will allow you to analyse, design, implement and simulate advanced DSP techniques and algorithms for a variety of communications and general engineering problems.

Provide advanced competence in the use of industry standard microcontrollers programmed in low and high level languages in real time applications.

Design and implementation of real time embedded systems through familiarisation with Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and FPGAs via lectures, up-to-date technical discussions and hardware programming. This class provides hands-on experience in translating Digital Signal Processing concepts into real-time embedded systems applications.

This class aims:

• to introduce you to the concepts and tools of modelling, simulation for control of dynamical systems
• to introduce you to the concepts of computer control engineering and enable you to learn the skills required to understand and analyse digital control systems for real time engineering applications
• to enable you to appreciate the design of estimation and its use in control design
• to introduce you to the methods of system parameter identification and its application in control engineering
• to present you with the concepts of fault monitoring, detection, isolation in dynamical systems
• to introduce you to the monitoring and evaluation of closed-loop system performance
• to appreciate the industrial applications of control engineering methods