System performance has advanced rapidly, together with the development of highly sophisticated techniques that combine hardware with software design. The study of computer engineering, as this is known, therefore covers both software and hardware and the link between them.

Your first year focuses on the basic principles and practices needed in electronic engineering, and on developing relevant analytical, design and organisational abilities. You will learn about digital fundamentals, computing concepts and the problem-solving tools that you will need as the course progresses.

In your second year you will explore in more depth the theories and techniques involved in product design and development, with particular emphasis on 'embedded' real-time microprocessor systems, programmable logic devices and power control. Building on your first year studies, you'll extend your knowledge of analogue electronics and mathematics with an introduction to the MATLAB package that is used in subsequent modules. You will learn to apply practical skills to design, implement and test solutions relevant to communications problems.

In your final year the focus is on understanding more about the specialist technologies that are at the heart of today's advanced communication systems. Mobile communication concepts and computer networks, the design of high-speed analogue and digital electronics using integrated circuits, and radio frequency circuits and systems are all examined, along with key microprocessor topics, fuzzy logic and neural networks and digital signal processing. You will also carry out an individual double-module project on a topic relevant to digital systems and/or computer engineering.