Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology (Automation)
The Electrical Engineering Technology programme has two main subjects. The main subject on Automation connects technology and the software behind that technology (mostly production automation and process management). The main subject on Electrical Engineering studies mastering electrical energy and renewable energy sources (as well as energy production and energy transmission).
What
The Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology offers two main subjects. The main subject on Automation studies the correlation between well-built technology and the software behind that technology, with a focus on product automation and process management.
You learn to solve all types of automation problems with electromechanics and applied analogous and digital techniques. You learn to use computer networks to enable information flows between processes, and you automate industrial processes over the internet. Because you are trained in using programmable logical controllers you can integrate automation to detail level. Our practical lab boasts industrial process set-ups that are unique in Flanders. You learn to organize and realize production processes by means of simulation equipment, computer simulation programs and a wide range of measuring and data communication instruments. You experience hands-on how technical software and practical hardware come together.
For whom
The admission requirements vary. Depending on your prior education, you are either able to enrol directly, or there are additional requirements.
Structure
Our Master's programme in Electrical Engineering Technology is a continuation of the main subject Electrical Engineering in the Engineering Technology Bachelor’s programme (an academic Bachelor’s programme).
The Master's dissertation is the bridge between your education and your career as an engineer: it involves a technical-scientific assignment in line with the specialization you chose. You conduct your Master's dissertation embedded in our research group and one of its research lines, or at the service of the industry. Your Master's dissertation is research-oriented and always contains a specific and in-depth review of the literature. It can cover the following aspects: a technical-scientific preliminary study and an exploration of technology, product innovation, technical-scientific development, optimization, materials research, prototype realization, a feasibility study and/or safety analysis.
Labour Market
Thanks to your versatile and multidisciplinary training with a focus on industrial practice, you can find employment as a generalist who is able to combine several specialities and techniques in an efficient manner. This multidisciplinarity guarantees a strong position on the labour market.
You have access to technical positions, management or commercial positions in a wide range of branches of industry: engineering firms, the electrical and electronic industry, lighting, heating, cooling, computer and information processing companies, the metalworking and mechanical industry, chemical industry, energy production and distribution, the aviation, space or shipping industry, inspection bodies, public agencies, education, semi-public organizations, banks, and the tertiary sector.
Be sure to check out these interesting testimonials at ikbenindustrieelingenieur.be (in Dutch).
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
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Multiperspectivism: We train our students into becoming engineers with both technical and academic-scientific knowledge, theoretical as well as practical skills and attitudes, a broad polyvalent base (first and second year) and a clear specialization (third and fourth year).
- Profile: In the third-year and fourth-year curriculum, we focus on specific key aspects based on our own on-campus research and long-standing collaboration with the industry.
- Talent Development: We aim to strengthen our students’ knowledge of specific technical-scientific matters, while also focusing on those generic skills that are indispensable for future engineers, like communication and project management. In addition, we also cover aspects of economics, sustainability and safety during projects.
- Integration of theory and practice: Our curriculum contains many hours of tutorials and practicals, during which we apply the theoretical knowledge covered in the lectures.
Strengths
- Curriculum: We have recently implemented a thorough curricular review, including clearly defined learning pathways of increasing complexity.
- Dedicated team of lecturers: Our programme boasts a team of highly motivated and approachable lecturers.
- Interdependence of education, research and the industry. At Ardoyen Campus we have at our disposal a number of state-of-the-art laboratories in which our students, lecturers and industrial partners can collaborate closely for the purpose of optimal knowledge and expertise sharing.
- Electives:We offer a wide range of electives, allowing students to specialize according to their own interests.
- Stakeholder Involvement: We involve the professional field through an industrial advisory board. Our lecturers each have personal contacts with the industry. The Programme Committee ensures an open dialogue with its lecturers and student representatives. Our student representatives are our first point of contact to keep abreast of what is going on in the larger student group, and to make adjustments if necessary.
Challenges
- Quality Culture:Quality monitoring and promotion is the responsibility of the entire study programme and is integrated into the Programme Committee’s day-to-day business. Ghent University’s quality cycle, including the Study Programme Feedback by Students as yardstick, are our guiding principles in this matter. In so doing, we determine specific acts in our annual quality improvement plan.
- Internationalization:There is room for improvement when it comes to student and staff mobility. The opportunities to spend a term abroad are currently rather limited. We work towards an integration of various I@H opportunities in the curriculum.
- Student Involvement: We offer our students ample opportunities to express their concerns and to help optimize our programme on a continuous basis. In addition, it is important for the study programme to work together with the student representatives to inform the broader student group of important decisions related to the programme and its quality assurance.ng;
- International Programme Review: We want to broaden the external perspective on our programme by consulting with comparable (international) study programmes. The involvement of a broad range of external perspectives at home and abroad in shaping and organizing our curriculum is an undeniable asset. We can count on the various international contacts of our lecturers.
- Assessment: Clear information on the form and contents of assessments is highly important. While studying for the exams, students must know clearly what we expect of them. In addition, we need to provide sufficient feedback in the context of continuous as well as end-of-term assessment.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This information was last updated on 14/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.