Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

About the Undergraduate Degree Programmes

bullet COMPUTER ENGINEERING (CE)

This is one of the popular student choices among all the programmes offered by the University because of the fascination young people have on computer technology. Jointly managed by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Computer Science, courses in computer engineering are designed to provide a balanced and integrated coverage in both computer hardware and software to prepare students to work in the field of computer engineering, software and hardware system design and information technology.

The first and second year of the programme consists of core and optional courses which provide a solid foundation in the discipline. In their final year, students may choose many optional subjects in the areas of integrated circuit design, computer architecture, parallel and distributed computing, system software and programming, database systems, computer networks, internet technology, electronic commerce, computer graphics, multimedia applications, etc. In addition, students enroll in broadening courses including languages, finance, management and law. A large variety of broadening courses offered by other faculties are available.

Throughout their course of studies, students have ample opportunities in acquiring practical skills from workshop training, industrial training, integrated project and final-year technical project. Students may also elect to spend a year in industry to follow an integrated study-work programme at the end of the second year.

An attractive feature of the programme is that it is jointly offered by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Computer Science. The two departments have about 60 teaching staff members which is very large by any standard. The resources of the two departments put together are huge. We have many laboratories, many teaching and research facilities, and we have expertise in many different areas ranging from computer hardware and software, computer networks, electronics and VLSI, communications, biomedical-engineering, etc. Hence our students are privileged to have the widest range of choices of courses, and have the chance of shifting from one specialization to another as they discover their real interest after joining our degree programme.

bullet ELECTRONIC AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING (EComE)

The Electronic and Communications Engineering programme (EComE) evolved from our traditional Electrical and Electronic Engineering programme (EEE) with particular emphasis on electronics and communications technology. It represents a foundation engineering programme covering a wide range of areas and applications. Electronic engineering is central to the development of many advanced products, ranging from small portable personal communication devices such as mobile phones, to large expensive medical equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. The phenomenal growth of the personal communication market is possible because of development by leaps and bounds in fibre optics and satellite communication systems together with innovative techniques in their control software. Electronics is a basic technology that has become indispensable for all kinds of other engineering products to work. The scope of applications of electronic engineering is practically boundless. Our EComE programme is designed on the one hand to provide students with broad-based fundamental knowledge to enable them to go further in any of the diverse fields in electronic engineering, and on the other hand to allow them to specialize in rapidly developing new technologies, such as IC design and fabrication, wireless and satellite communications, 3G technologies, communications and computer networking, audio and video signal processing, data compression, and many others.

A key feature of the programme is its balanced core and flexible elective structure. The curriculum is designed to provide a good foundation for an all-round engineering education in the first half of the programme. Subsequently, students are allowed to develop their potentials and interests in one or more of the following key areas:

(1) Electronic and microelectronics;
(2) Communications technology;
(3) Computer systems and applications;
(4) Digital signal processing and control; and
(5) Information technology and applications.

Our department, being the host to the Computer Engineering and Information Engineering programmes as well as the EComE programme, is well placed to offer our students course selection from an extensive range of elective subjects. Apart from requirements related to the theme of the curriculum, the selection of optional courses is not limited to electronic and communications engineering. In addition to technical subjects, students have to take broadening courses throughout the course of studies including languages, finance, management, law, etc. The aim is to provide students with a wide vision and the ability to understand and integrate knowledge from different disciplines, and to be aware of social issues of the community while solving technological problems.

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has strong research groups in microelectronics and ASIC design, digital mobile communications, communications signal processing, and computer networking. Research at the forefront of technology not only serves as a driving force in the updating of teaching material, but also creates exciting opportunities for student participation in challenging project work through their final year projects.

Throughout their course of studies, students have ample opportunities to acquire practical skills from workshop training, industrial training, integrated projects and final-year technical projects. Students may also elect to spend a year in industry to pursue an integrated study-work programme at the end of the second year.

bullet ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (EE)

This programme, formerly known as Electrical Energy Systems Engineering (EESE), has its name changed to Electrical Engineering (EE) to reflect the more general nature of its course contents. While electrical energy systems remains the central theme of the study, the curriculum is designed to provide students a sound fundamental education in all areas of electrical engineering such as electromagnetic theory, energy conversion, electronics, communications, signal processing, information technology, control theory, computers and software engineering, etc. In their senior years students will be given the opportunity to specialize in electrical energy related areas of their interest. They could specialize in electrical energy supply systems where the opening up of the electricity market offers a lot of opportunities. They could specialise in electric transportation where the electric vehicle is sure to replace the conventional motor cars in the not too distant future and where electric trains operating on magnetic levitation could deliver speeds in hundreds of kms per hour. They could specialise in power electronics which is the driving force behind all modern control systems or in building services which strives to make the buildings more energy efficient and the working environment more pleasant. In addition, students take broadening courses throughout the three years including languages, finance, management and law. Our aim is to educate students to become modern electrical engineers with the abilities to understand and integrate the knowledge from different disciplines as well as to integrate the technological problem with the social issues of the community.

Electrical energy is the backbone of modern civilisation and the programme has received overwhelming support from the government and leading industries, including the offer of many scholarships, prizes, training places and employment. Research on energy-related devices and systems is being actively pursued in the Department. The International Research center for Electric Vehicles in the Department is already world renowned and the center of Electrical Energy Systems has firmly established itself as a center of activity in electrical energy in the Asia-Pacific region. It has been projected that almost half of the world's electrical energy development in the next decade will be in Asian region and Hong Kong is the best place to pursue innovative research and East-West technology transfer in this area.

bullet INFORMATION ENGINEERING (InfoE)

This programme has been one of the most sought after programmes in the University. Our Information Engineering programme is aimed at equipping students with fundamental knowledge and specialized practical skills for the information industries (internet, computer networking, software design, communications). This is one of the major focus of the Hong Kong SAR Government to widen the economic bases and to improve Hong Kong's competitive advantages. The push of the Government in encouraging e-commerce will create many opportunities for graduates from this programme.

Courses in Information Engineering are designed to provide a sound fundamental education in information engineering, networking, telecommunications and related areas. As part of the curriculum, students are required to learn business skills and to understand the structure and operation of the IT industry. During the first three semesters all students follow the same core courses with one or two options covering fundamental materials. In the following three semesters, students may take various breadth courses and major in one or two key areas such as computer networking & IT applications, information processing, or in telecommunications. In addition, there are many options available so that students can choose to study topics of special interest.