Electrical and Electronic Engineering MSc

In this module a student will be assigned to an individual supervisor who will be a staff member in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. The student will carry out a practical or theoretical project chosen from the current interests of the staff member concerned.

The principal aims of the module are to develop the student's ability to work as part of a group to develop and analyse a proposed process design and to identify research need. Then to develop the student’s ability to evaluate and select information and apply this knowledge to propose and execute a research programme to address the identified need.

The module is composed of four major deliverables, a mixture of group and individual project work.

Assessment: 100% coursework

Task 1 (30%) Group design project

Task 2 (Formative) Individual research proposal

Task 3 (50%) Individual research paper

Task 4 (20%) Individual design re-evaluation

The Holistic Engineering Design module is vital for future engineers as it equips them with the skills and mindset needed to address the complex and multifaceted challenges of the modern engineering landscape. It encourages students to consider ethical, environmental, and societal aspects of engineering design, making them well-prepared to create sustainable and innovative solutions in their future careers. This course fosters creativity, critical thinking, and effective communication, which are essential skills for successful engineers.

The Project Design and Development module equips students with the skills and knowledge needed to design, plan, and implement research projects – the module is essential for MSc students in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering that will commence their individual project in the summer. Students will learn about the importance of developing proposals, time plans and project management, as well as the necessity to adequately explain the context and backgrounds of projects through critiquing literature. Students will engage with their assigned project supervisors to aid in this module.

This module covers the development of advanced engineering software projects, spanning a range of application areas.

Generic Topics to be discussed include:

• Large-scale software management
• robust design and coding techniques
• accurate and efficient numerical computing for technological simulations
• parallel computing techniques applicable to several classes of parallel computer e.g. multicore, distributed and graphics processing unit (GPU) based systems
• database design and implementation
• distributed network based computing
• hardware interfacing

Delivery

Assessment method

This module covers a range of advanced control techniques used in a wide range of engineering applications.

Typical topics include:

• multivariable state space modelling
• inear and nonlinear systems
• continuous and discrete domains
• observer theory.

Delivery

Assessment method

This module covers the design of power electronic converters for real applications. Both component-level design and the impact of non-idealities on modelling and operation are considered.

Assessment

Exam, 40.0%

Coursework 1, 30.0%

Coursework 2, 30.0%

Coursework:

Power electronic systems design exercise that puts module content into practice using modelling and simulation tools.

Key Module Topics

Advanced modelling and control of power converters

Enabling technologies of power conversion (semiconductor devices, packaging, cooling)

Explore the principles, major algorithms, methods of implementation and applications of digital signal processing. 

This module introduces students to the concepts and operating principles of fixed and variable speed electric machine and drive systems.

The module will use a number of system examples to demonstrate how machines and drive systems are specified, designed, controlled and operated.

Delivery

Assessment method

This module is an introduction to the principles and practice of instrumentation and measurement systems in an engineering context.

The module will cover the generally applicable basic principles and then look at specific classes of instrument and associated electronics and signal processing methods.

Topics covered include:

• Basic principles and instrument characteristics.
• Measurement errors, basic statistics, noise and its control.
• Dynamic characteristics of instruments, time and frequency domain responses.
• System identification using correlation techniques.
• Amplifiers, filters, ADCs and DACs.
• Position, strain, pressure and motion sensors (resistive, capacitive, inductive, optical).
• Flow sensors.    
• Electronic and optical measurement instrumentation.

Delivery

Assessment method

The module introduces CMOS integrated circuit design and internal operating mechanisms of semiconductor electronics and opto-electronic devices. 

Delivery

Assessment method

Providing an understanding of the operational principles of power electronic converters and their associated systems, this module covers: 3-phase naturally commutated ac-dc/dc-ac converters, capacitive and inductive smoothing - device ratings, dc-ac PWM inverters and modulation strategies, resonant converters, high power factor utility interface circuits and power converter topologies for high power (multilevel). You’ll have two one-hour lectures per week.

This module covers advanced analytic mathematical techniques used to provide exact or approximate solutions to common classes of ordinary differential equations (ODES) typical in Engineering.

Each week there will normally be one, one-hour lecture and a two-hour workshop to introduce key mathematical knowledge on module topics.

Techniques covered include:

• method of variation of parameters
• Laplace transform methods
• Taylor series method
• Frobenius method
• asymptotic regular perturbations and strained coordinates
• multiple scales

Delivery

Assessment method

Selected topics from the field of artificial intelligence with particular focus on the interface with electronic systems.

This module is an introduction to the operation of modern digital communication systems. Topics covered include:

• communication systems
• information content and channel capacity
• digital modulation techniques
• data compression techniques
• error-correcting and line coding techniques
• digital signal regeneration techniques
• system examples, telephone, digital television and CD technologies.

Delivery

Assessment method

This module aims to give an understanding of the operation of power systems which incorporate significant input from renewable energy generators, especially wind power systems and will enable design and analysis of such systems.

This module introduces both the syntax and application of HDL for the design of modern electronics. That would typically cover Xilinx, Mentor Graphics, and combinational and sequential circuits design. The module will use the software tools from both Xilinx and Mentor Graphics to present FPGA based digital system design flow with VHDL.

This module provides knowledge of the fundamentals of mobile communications and its application to real systems.

Typical subjects might be 3rd and 4th generation systems, OFDM and MIMO and how 5th generation systems are likely to develop.

Delivery

Assessment method

This module aims to develop an understanding of the design and operation of power systems in aerospace, marine and automotive applications.

With the introduction of more electrical technologies in these application areas, the understanding and expected performance of the power system has become a critical platform design issue.

Delivery

Assessment method

This module covers the analysis and design of renewable and sustainable energy systems. It covers the various types of renewable energy and the resources available. It uses an understanding of the physical principles of various types of energy resources in order to develop analytical models which can be applied to the design of renewable energy systems, including energy conversion and storage, especially for electrical power generation.

This module gives and Introduction to electromechanical fundamentals in robotics, and introduces students to: Direct Kinematics, Inverse Kinematics, Workspace analysis and trajectory planning, Manipulator Dynamics (Lagrange, Lagrange-Euler, and Newton-Euler) and Robot Control.

You will be introduced to the concepts and operating principles of optical communication systems and networks and the devices that underpin them.

Topics typically include:

• characteristics of optical fibres
• active and passive optical devices: including transmitters, detectors, amplifiers, multiplexers, filters and couplers

Delivery

Assessment method

This module provides students with an understanding of power system apparatus and their behaviour under normal and fault conditions. This module covers:

• concept and analysis of load flow
• voltage/current symmetrical components
• computation of fault currents
• economic optimisation
• power-system control and stability
• power system protection

Delivery

Assessment method

The module provides students with the necessary background knowledge so that they can understand sensors and their applications.  The module covers a selection of topics where information is acquired from sensors and subsequently electronically processed. Applications will typically include, optical, acoustic, non-destructive evaluation, medical and bio-photonics.

This module introduces typical analytical, computational and experimental tools used in the study of Radio Frequency (RF) and high frequency devices and systems. This module will detail the fundamentals of electromagnetic wave propagation and typical RF devices such as antennas, antenna arrays, amplifiers, mixers and metal wave guides.