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Key Information

Key Information

Electrical, electronic and computer engineering is one of the largest academic disciplines at Heriot-Watt with a team of 25 academics supported by researchers, postgraduate students and technicians. We offer a stimulating environment for supervised research leading to the degrees of MPhil or PhD. Our activities cover both applied and theoretical research under five main themes:

micro-engineering
ocean systems
image and signal processing
electrical power and drives
intelligent systems and computer assisted education.

Our research has been successfully funded over the last five years through more than 90 awards from UK research councils, the EU, foundations such as The Royal Society and the private sector.

Research students benefit from a wide range of opportunities to collaborate with renowned research centres in the UK, Europe and the US through focused projects and exchange agreements. At the same time, a well-established and growing network of industrial contacts guarantees a continuous, symbiotic relationship with companies at the forefront of technology transfer. For example, Agilent, Sony, British Telecom, BAE Systems, QinetiQ, Halliburton and Shell are some of the companies that look to us to carry their research into the future.

Electrical, Electronic and Computing Engineering is one of the largest academic disciplines at Heriot-Watt with around 30 academics supported by research staff, postgraduate students and technicians. We offer a stimulating environment for supervised research leading to the degrees of MPhil or PhD.

The postgraduate courses currently on offer cover the areas of embedded systems, information technology, mobile communications, vision, image and signal processing, and renewable energy. For full details, please click on the Taught Courses link on the left.

Our activities cover both applied and theoretical research under five main themes:

micro-engineering
ocean systems
signal and image processing
electrical power and drives
intelligent systems and computer assisted education

For full-time students the period from October to April is devoted to the taught phase of the MSc and Diploma courses, and assessed by written examinations and practical work. The award of the Postgraduate Certificate can follow successful completion of the examinations for those students who wish to complete only the theoretical part of the programme. MSc and Diploma students continue with a project leading to the submission of a dissertation. The MSc project is normally a major practical design, implementation and evaluation exercise lasting for five months and the Diploma project lasting two months.

Students registered for the Diploma on all courses who are resident in Scotland or the EU outwith Britain may be eligible for support from the Scottish Office Education Department under the Postgraduate Students Allowances Scheme (SAAS). University Scholarships may be available for well-qualified overseas students. There is also the possibility of European Support Fund (ESF) support for students who are unemployed. For the MSc in Microsystems Engineering, ESPRC funded places (that cover tuition fees and living expenses) are available for suitably qualified British candidates. Fees only scholarships are available to suitably qualified EU students.

Research has been successfully funded over the last five years by more than 90 awards from UK research councils, the EU, various foundations (e.g., the Royal Society, the British Council) and the private sector.

Research students benefit from exposure to a variety of collaborations with renowned research centres in the UK, Europe and the US through collaborative projects and exchange agreements. At the same time, a well-established and growing network of industrial contacts guarantees a continuous, symbiotic relationship with companies at the forefront of technology transfer: Agilent, Sony, British Telecom, British Aerospace, QinetiQ, Halliburton and Shell are only some examples of companies that look to us to carry their research into the future. Heriot-Watt was one of the first UK universities to offer an MSc in Information Technology, and the first UK university to deliver an MSc solely devoted to Micro Systems Engineering. Since 1969, we have been offering a range of MSc courses covering various topics in Digital Systems and Information Technology. There are currently over 150 postgraduate course students.

All our postgraduate courses lead to the qualification of MSc, Diploma or Certificate over one year (full-time) or two years (part-time). Some degrees are offered on a credit-bearing part-time basis over four years. Our successful long-running MSc in Information Technology, organised jointly with the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, combines our strengths in order to offer a variety of options exploring a vast range of attractive, cross-disciplinary specialisms.

There is also a programme of short courses, some of which are offered on a regular basis, others produced on demand in response to particular industrial needs. More than 50 companies were involved in delivering or in attending these popular courses last year.