Electrical and Electronic Engineering MEng/BEng (Hons)

Master the skills to design and build electronic systems that power today’s smart technologies. In this hands-on module, apply your knowledge of electronic circuits and software to design, prototype, and manufacture products that are safe, reliable and effective.

Explore every stage of the embedded system design cycle: from concept and hardware/software design, to prototyping, manufacturing and testing for compliance. Learn how to analyse failures and consider the environmental, regulatory and safety aspects of your designs. With a blend of theory, simulation, and practical prototyping, this module aims to prepare you to create innovative embedded systems ready for industry.

This module covers topics such as:

• project design using an embedded system and its software. This can include working with key features such as internal components, ADCs (analogue-to-digital converters), serial ports like SPI, I2C and RS232, as well as timers, memory and connections to external devices like displays, sensors and keypads
• design using UML activity diagrams and write C programs (with assembler subroutines) to run in real-time on a PIC microcontroller. Test planning, test results and critical evaluation of the completed system
• working out the full cost of designing and building the project, including the cost of parts, tools and the time required to develop and produce the system
• presenting project outcomes to clients and a wider audience, explaining how it was developed
• thinking about safety and environmental risks when designing your system. This includes anything that could be dangerous to users or others, like moving parts or electrical faults in the microprocessor
• understanding why systems fail and how to prevent it, including case studies of real failures and legal testing requirements like RoHS2 and EMC.

Compulsory

Learn how to design and build digital electronic systems, focusing on hands-on, practical learning. Use a hardware description language (HDL) to create, simulate and build digital designs, developing skills that are important for working with modern electronic systems like FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays). Throughout the module, use industry-standard tools to turn your ideas into working digital systems.

Use combinational logic to help build your knowledge of circuits that make decisions using logic gates. Explore how to design more complex logic systems using different types of electronic components and understand important practical issues like power use, voltage levels, timing and signal interference. Study sequential logic—the basis of memory and state flip-flops (set-reset, data, toggle, JK) and their timing characteristics.

You will be introduced to HDLs—the programming languages used to describe how electronic systems work. Learn the key rules and structure of HDL code, how to write reusable designs and how to create test environments (test benches) to check that your circuits work correctly. Finally, see how your designs can be used in real hardware like programmable logic devices and FPGAs.

Compulsory

Study a variety of topics associated with electrical engineering, including single-phase and three-phase circuits, transformers, motors and generators. Learning is enhanced through computer circuit simulation and laboratory experiments.

Through this module, you will have the opportunity to explore:

• AC power: relationships between power, reactive power and apparent power factor, principle of conservation of power and reactive power, reactive power absorbed by capacitors and inductors as well as storing capacity, phasor representation, power factor correction.
• Three-phase circuits: learning about the balanced and unbalanced three-phase circuits, three-phase phasor representations; power calculations, summation of phase currents; effects of harmonic components, star to delta transformations.
• Magnetic and electric theory: electric flux, flux density, field strength, motive force, potential difference, field plotting, dielectric strength, example of insulator dielectric, forces within electric fields, permittivity.
• Transformers: principle of action, e.m.f equation, magnetic flux paths within the transformer, useful and leakage flux, equivalent circuit for transformer, efficiency, regulation, transformer tests, types of transformers and K rating.

Compulsory

Understand the key principles behind how signals and systems work, foundations that power everything from electronics to communications. Learn how to model, analyse and apply these concepts using tools like MATLAB and Simulink.

You’ll cover topics like continuous and discrete-time signals, system properties and modelling, Laplace and Fourier transforms, Bode diagrams and Z-transforms. By the end of this module, you should know how to interpret and apply these tools in real-world industrial systems.

Compulsory

This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved placement undertaken during your programme. A placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes.

Optional

This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved international study/work placement undertaken during your programme. A work/study placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes.

Optional

Carry out a major project, helping you develop deep technical, problem-solving and creative skills needed in your profession. Choose and plan your project with a supervisor, keeping a regular log of your progress. Research, design, build or simulate a system, object or concept and critically evaluate your work.

Throughout the project, gather and reference information properly, use the right tools and methods and apply relevant testing and evaluation standards like ISO or IEEE. Reflect on your results and write a formal report explaining your work, with at least one section covering testing and standards. Finally, present your project clearly and, if applicable, demonstrate any practical outcomes.

Compulsory

Develop a strong understanding of power electronic converter topologies and operation, and examine the usage of power electronics in the context of different applications.

With power electronic converters, the emphasis is on converter topologies, concepts, design, switching techniques and the application of those for the efficient control and conversion of electrical energy. 

Study topics related to the generation, supply and control of electrical energy, including energy sources, power supply systems, and power system analysis and power flow. The content also covers aspects of market economics relevant to the energy sector.  

Compulsory

Learn how to design and apply digital signal processing techniques like finite impulse response (FIR) and infinite impulse response (IIR) filters to remove noise in real engineering scenarios. Use simulation tools to explore these concepts in practice.

Build a strong foundation in machine learning by exploring key methods and techniques, gaining insight into how data-driven models can be used to solve complex problems in modern engineering and technology.

Compulsory

Choose one from the following two:

Control Systems – 30 credits

Build a solid understanding of how control systems work and how to design them for real-world applications. Explore key principles and methods that support innovation across industries such as aerospace, robotics, automotive and clean manufacturing.

By learning how to analyse and design control systems, you should be equipped to contribute to modern industrial technologies and solve practical engineering challenges.

Communication Systems Engineering – 30 credits

Gain a solid understanding of how modern communication systems work, from wireless signal transmission to noise reduction and error correction. Explore key topics like modulation, BER and wireless signal propagation.

Get hands-on with techniques used to detect and correct errors, including block codes and ARQ systems and learn how to calculate path loss and link budgets. Study multiple access techniques like FDMA, TDMA, CDMA and spread spectrum, giving you the tools to understand mobile and wireless communication systems in real-world scenarios.

Availability of optional modules may vary depending on student demand.

Optional

Take on a real-world engineering challenge to develop and showcase the professional skills employers value. Working as part of a team, apply the technical knowledge and problem-solving abilities you have acquired throughout your course to deliver practical solutions to projects drawn from either our industry collaborators or our research groups.²

Develop core employability skills such as leadership, teamwork, project management and effective communication, all vital for a successful engineering career. Gain experience in working to deadlines, managing client expectations, documenting your work and presenting technical outcomes, mirroring the realities of professional engineering practice.

Alongside the project, attend workshops on research methods, data collection, critical thinking, engineering ethics and professional project management. Explore ethical research practice, literature review, developing project proposals and selecting appropriate research or modelling methods.

Throughout the project, conduct experiments or simulations, analyse and validate results and apply project management techniques. The module culminates in a detailed written report and an oral presentation to academic staff and industry professionals, providing you with invaluable experience and opportunity to develop your personal confidence and skills in communicating your work to both technical and non-technical audiences, abilities highly sought by employers.

Compulsory

Build advanced knowledge in control theory and signal processing by exploring how electrical and electronic systems behave and respond in real-world industrial settings.

Learn how to model and simplify systems using differential equations, Laplace transforms and transfer functions. Explore Linear Time Invariant (LTI) systems, test signal responses and perform stability analysis. Design and tune advanced controllers, including PID, using root locus methods.

Gain hands-on experience with frequency domain tools like Fourier transforms, Bode plots, z-transforms and FFT, preparing you to tackle complex signal analysis and control challenges in digital systems.

Compulsory

Gain advanced knowledge of electric drive systems by exploring how power converters, electric machines and control systems work together in real-world industrial applications.

Start by learning electromagnetic field fundamentals, including magnetic circuits, hysteresis and eddy currents. Explore key machines—DC, induction and synchronous—examining how each is built, operates, is modelled and controlled for different performance outcomes.

Study semiconductor devices and various power converter topologies, including rectifiers, DC-DC converters and inverters, learning how to switch and control them efficiently. Apply this knowledge to build and analyse electric drive systems, covering techniques like dynamic braking, regeneration and four-quadrant control. Through practical work, evaluate the electromagnetic behaviour of machines and their drives to support reliable and effective electrical system design.

Compulsory