US1

Definition
Knowledge and understanding of scientific principles and methodology necessary to underpin their education in their engineering discipline, to enable appreciation of its scientific and engineering context, and to support their understanding of historical, current and future developments and technologies.

Sub skills
Possible skills that support this skill

Assessment
Current methods used to assess ability in the skill.

Benchmarks
 CORE 

Introduction to Electronic Hardware

Understand reasons for professional laboratory working practices (safety, use of logbooks, experimental record keeping and measurement techniques). Be able to plan and provide technical information for a formal report associated with the laboratory sessions, written to the IET Professional Engineering specification. Understand the basic properties of fundamental passive analogue components. Understand the operation of fundamental digital logic circuits in a variety of applications. Be able to design simple analogue circuits based on the operational amplifier. Be able to design simple combinational logic circuits using formal methods.

Introduction to Electronic Systems

Introduction to microprocessor systems & low-level programming. Introduction to communications systems.

Analogue Electronics

Be able to: Analyse simple circuits in the time and frequency domains; Explain the operation and limitations of basic operational amplifier circuits.

Digital Electronics

Be able to: Implement designs on programmable logic. Design interface and control circuits. Know when to use such standard logic or programmable logic; ROM or RAM; partial or full decoding. Design medium scale digital systems using components from standard families.

 NON-CORE 

Music Technology: Creation and Perception

Describe and understand synthesis techniques and their application in contemporary music. Summarise the theory behind sampling and synthesis systems.

Introduction to Nanotechnology

Have an understanding of how a p-n junction diode works, and when and why do they breakdown. Calculate the currents of a diode under biasing.

Semiconductor Devices

Understand the differences between materials used in devices and the relationship to the material’s conductivity/resistivity. Understand the mechanism of current flow in electron devices. Understand the basic principles of operation of semiconductor devices.

Further Analogue Electronics

Understand the structure and operation of the FET.

Nano fabrication

Know the issues in nanotechnology as compared, for example, to microelectronics.

Control Engineering

Apply the Laplace transform in the development of transfer functions for a range of simple dynamic systems.

Distributed Circuits

Know how to use the Smith Chart for transmission-line calculations. Understand how S-parameters are used in amplifier and attenuator design.

Modern & Digital Control

Display knowledge and understanding of a range of basic formulae and relationships appropriate to the fields of both modern (state- space) and digital control.

Digital Engineering

Analyse algorithms and identify strategies for their implementation on microprocessor-based systems.

Mobile Communications Systems

Wireless access protocols: TDMA, CDMA, FDMA and OFDMA.

Optical Communications

List the major technical characteristics of optoelectronic components (sources and receivers, amplifiers, modulators); explain their effect on possibilities and limitations of a system.

Analogue & Digital Filters

Design and build analogue and digital filters.

Antennas and Propagation

Understand the importance of antennas in all types of radio communication systems.

Environmental Engineering & Instrumentation

To understand the sensors and instrumentation available for environmental and industrial monitoring.

Flight Control

Understand and describe the fundamental behaviour of the longitudinal and lateral dynamics of a fixed-using aircraft.

Nanoelectronics

Explain the fundamental science and quantum mechanics behind nanoelectronics.

Neural Networks

Demonstrate an understanding of the structure and function of a neural computing unit.

Photonics & Nanophotonics

List, and have an appreciation of, the major technical characteristics of traditional and advanced optoelectronic components. Distinguish between different types of nanostructures (wells, wires, dots), describe the bandstructure of semiconductor nanostructure and its effect on optical properties.

Relevant Higher Order Skills
Electrical Engineering