General

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Location, contacts and inquiries
Additional English language and mathematics requirements
UTS: Engineering clubs and societies
Professional bodies in engineering
Women in Engineering program
Practice-based engineering education
Continuing professional education
Postgraduate coursework
Postgraduate research

Information for students

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology was formed on 1 July 2008 as a result of the Academic Structures Review undertaken in 2007. The review recognised the disciplines of engineering and information technology as a critical element of the UTS academic profile. The review's recommendation to amalgamate the former faculties of engineering and information technology was endorsed by the UTS Council in August 2007. Amalgamation of these two critical disciplines provides an organisational context to strengthen research capability and output and identify synergies in teaching and learning to enhance student study options for high-level, professionally-recognised courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

UTS: Engineering courses are administered by the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. The faculty structure comprises three portfolio areas in Teaching and Learning; Research and Development; and International and Enterprise Development, each led by an associate dean. Five schools house the academic sub-disciplines of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology:

• School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• School of Computing and Communications
• School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems
• School of Software
• School of Systems, Management and Leadership.

Location, contacts and inquiries

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology is located at City campus, Broadway, in Buildings 1, 2 and 10. Key staff are:

Dean

Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning): UTS: Engineering

Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning): UTS: Information Technology

Associate Dean (Research and Development)

Associate Dean (International and Enterprise Development)

Head, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Head, School of Computing and Communications

Head, School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems

Head, School of Software

Head, School of Systems, Management and Leadership

Faculty Manager

Engineering and Information Technology Outreach Office

The Engineering and IT Outreach Office deals with all prospective student inquiries and is located at CB02.4.16. This connects with Building 1 at City campus, Broadway.

The office is generally open from 9am–5pm Monday to Friday

Postal address

UTS Student Centres

All inquiries from currently enrolled UTS students are handled by the five UTS Student Centres located across the Broadway, Haymarket and Kuring-gai campuses.

Students enrolled in UTS: Engineering degrees (undergraduate and postgraduate) are advised to direct all their course-related inquiries to:

Key student liaison staff

The staff below are the key liaison staff for engineering and information technology students requiring specialist or academic advice to manage their enrolment and student candidature. All students are to direct all initial inquiries to the UTS Student Centre where their inquiry will be processed and forwarded to the key contact staff below only if the matter cannot be resolved by Student Centre staff. An appointment with these staff is based on referral from the UTS Student Centres or within staff consultation times.

Director, Undergraduate Programs: UTS: Engineering

Director, Postgraduate Coursework Programs: UTS: Engineering

Director, Undergraduate Programs: UTS: Information Technology

Director, Postgraduate Coursework Programs: UTS: Information Technology

Manager, Academic Programs Office

Manager, International and Enterprise Development

Faculty contacts and areas of interest

A comprehensive list of UTS: Engineering academic staff and their research areas is available from:

www.eng.uts.edu.au/research/staff_research.htm

Additional English language and mathematics requirements

UTS: Engineering requires commencing students to undertake English language and mathematics readiness surveys so that the most effective study patterns can be advised. UTS: Engineering reserves the right, when appropriate, to require students who are identified as needing additional support to undertake preparatory English language and/or mathematics courses prior to progressing further in the course, or to restrict the level of advanced standing awarded where this is indicated as appropriate by these readiness surveys.

UTS: Engineering clubs and societies

UTS: Engineering has an active student society — the Engineering Society of UTS — with over 500 members. The Engineering Society supports both a social calendar as well as various professional events and was awarded the UTS Union Club of the Year in 2004.

Further information is available from:

UTS: Engineering facilities

UTS: Engineering has a strong commitment to providing an effective and supportive learning environment for UTS: Engineering students. Engineering students have access to both University computing laboratories as well as a number of UTS: Engineering computing laboratories adapted for specific courses. The Learning and Design Centres are located at CB01.25.15 and CB02.6.39. They provide access to tutors for individual and small group support, reference material, and software and hardware resources, on a drop-in basis, and are open for extended hours. The Remote Laboratory is an exciting new facility, one of the first of its kind in the world. It is designed to enable students to conduct experiments at anytime, from anywhere in the world.

Professional bodies in engineering

Engineers Australia

Engineers Australia is the principal professional body and learned society for engineers in Australia. Its membership covers all branches of engineering, with specialist colleges catering for the main fields of practice. Its headquarters is located in Canberra, with operating divisions in capital cities and regional centres. The local division, which covers UTS, is the Sydney Division. It runs an annual program of lectures, seminars and professional activities, with particular events for young engineers. The division's office is located in Chatswood and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 9410 5600.

Corporate membership of Engineers Australia (in the grades of Member or Fellow) confers the status of Chartered Engineer and provides a listing in the National Professional Engineers Register (NPER-3). Students enrolled in courses leading to the Bachelor of Engineering degree may join Engineers Australia as Student members and, upon graduation, become eligible for Graduate membership. To attain the corporate grade of Member, certain professional competencies must be gained and demonstrated, normally in employment after graduation. For the industrial experience gained during their degree, UTS graduates may expect to receive credit towards this requirement, although some further experience is normally needed.

Engineers Australia assesses degree courses conducted by Australian universities to determine whether they meet the educational requirements for membership. Accreditation of engineering courses and subjects is carried out every five years. Full details of all accredited programs are available through Engineers Australia.

Engineers Australia also manages the NPER-3, which is the only Australian register of practising professional engineers with legal recognition. A candidate for NPER-3 registration must have completed an accredited undergraduate engineering course, have practised as an engineer and be able to demonstrate competency against Engineers Australia's competency standards. Registration recognises the member's professional competence and commitment to ethical practice. It may be cited in relation to quality assurance systems and, particularly in NSW, it can provide legally established professional limitation of liability. Professional engineers normally join NPER-3 concurrently with their recognition as a Chartered Member of the Institution (CPEng).

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) provides advice and assistance on employment-related matters for professional engineers, scientists and managers. Student members receive the publication The Student Update three times a year, which gives practical insight into the workplace and employment issues that affect them as professional engineers. For information and student membership application forms contact APESMA on telephone +61 2 9263 6500.

Other bodies

There are a number of other national and regional associations representing particular branches of engineering. UTS: Engineering staff with interests in the field concerned are often active in these bodies and able to provide information.

Women in Engineering program

While Australian women engineers continue to make an outstanding contribution to the profession and practice of engineering here and across the world, their representation in the field continues to be low. Women's rate of participation in engineering courses nationally is now at 15 per cent. The Women in Engineering initiative was established at UTS to attract more women to its undergraduate program by communicating a broader concept of engineering and linking it with everyday applications and the interests of women. This led to the development of curriculum resources on teaching technology to females and a creative climate in UTS: Engineering for developing new curricula.

The program has strongly influenced the philosophy of engineering at UTS and has been a catalyst for many innovations in the Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice curriculum. The program inaugurated the Annual Australasian Women in Engineering Forum, and contributed to the groundbreaking National Review of Engineering Education, which strongly emphasised the need for culture change.

Women in Engineering at UTS now uses a range of activities to communicate with schools and engage the interests and capabilities of young women, including the annual Hands on Day and the Sydney Women in Engineering and Information Technology (SWIEIT) Speakers Program, which is jointly sponsored by UTS, IBM and CISCO. It has attracted Women in Engineering Scholarships for first-year and senior undergraduates from professional organisations in the construction and business sectors, including the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and Zonta. It is also active in the annual International Institute of Women in Engineering (IIWE) in Paris, in which staff and students work on an intensive summer program of international engineering practice.

As well as outreach and scholarships, the Women in Engineering program has a calendar of meetings and guest speakers and mentoring for first years by senior students and alumni in the profession and industry. In 2006, UTS: Engineering celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Women in Engineering program, the longest-serving initiative of its kind in Australia. In 2007, a UTS civil and environmental engineering alumnus, Jacinta Holmick, was named Young Engineer of the Year by Engineers Australia.

UTS: Engineering strongly welcomes female students and invites their contribution to ensuring an inclusive teaching and learning environment. Through the subjects which accompany industrial internship, all students can share their insights into workplace cultures in engineering. UTS: Engineering also supports broader cultural and equity initiatives which better enable women graduates to fulfil their potential as future engineering and managers, and as future researchers and academic leaders.

Practice-based engineering education

What does it mean?

Practice-based engineering education requires students to experience the reality of engineering from an early stage in their professional formation — through internship. It actively relates this experience to their developing understanding of engineering theory, analysis and laboratory work, and to studies in other disciplines, and it promotes critical and creative thinking based on knowledge gained outside as well as within the University. This interaction requires that most academic staff have significant experience of engineering practice and keep it constantly refreshed. Educational programs in which students or a majority of staff do not have current experience cannot validly be called practice-based.

Practice-based education is more than practice and more than education. A university education should impart a thorough grasp of fundamental principles, a respect for knowledge, a capacity for critical inquiry and lateral thinking, a fluency in communication, a pride in excellence and an eagerness to contribute to shaping the future. Practice-based engineering education claims that these attributes can be more effective when they have been developed in contact with the human and technical challenge of real engineering situations.

Engineering education at UTS

In Australia, the basic qualification for professional engineering is the Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree. At most universities, the BE occupies four years of full-time academic study. At UTS, as well as completing the academic program, all undergraduate engineering students must gain substantial approved engineering experience in industry or in other authentic professional settings. This experience must be distributed over the period of the course and must meet standards of quality and relevance. This experience is recognised in the award of a Diploma in Engineering Practice (DipEngPrac). The combined BE DipEngPrac degree takes five years to complete.

Graduates of most university engineering courses need up to two years' experience in industry, after graduation, before they are able to assume real responsibility. UTS: Engineering graduates have already gained much of this experience together with a real understanding of the interrelations between theory and practice, technology and human factors. They are equipped to undertake professional responsibility much sooner than graduates of other courses at other universities — often upon graduating.

The combination of formal academic learning in the University and experiential learning in the workplace is called cooperative education. UTS: Engineering courses have embodied this principle for over 30 years. The courses are highly regarded in industry and, according to many reports and surveys, the graduates enjoy the highest employment rate of any engineering degree courses in Australia. Cooperative education is also well known and highly regarded in other countries, particularly in North America. UTS is a member of the World Council for Cooperative Education.

The UTS BE DipEngPrac extends the concept of practice-based engineering education into one of total professional formation and leads to the combined award of Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice (C10061). Students' perception of the value of the periods spent employed in industry — the internships — is illustrated by the very high percentage of students who choose to continue to mix work and study even after completing the formal internship requirements.

Other UTS: Engineering courses, undergraduate and postgraduate, are also designed to interact strongly with industry, though the work-experience requirements are mostly less structured than those of the BE DipEngPrac. In all programs, the majority of students already have significant industrial experience or are gaining it concurrently. UTS: Engineering has policies for maximising opportunity for its academic staff to maintain first-hand experience in industry and engages many practising engineers as adjunct teaching staff. It also strongly encourages collaborative research and consultancy with industry and many of its research students are industry based. The predominant culture, therefore, is strongly practice oriented and this also benefits the relatively small number of students who do not yet have engineering work experience.

In all of its activities, UTS: Engineering seeks to promote a better understanding of the role of engineering in society and to promote and support service to the community through other channels as well as industry.

Continuing professional education

Practising engineers wishing to undertake continuing professional education may, if class sizes permit, enrol into single subjects. All enrolments in this non-award basis incur full-cost recovery fees. Their successful completion creates the possibility of advanced standing credit under existing University policies, should candidates decide to enrol in a course.

Further information is available at:

In addition, in-house short courses, seminars, workshops and other professional development programs are offered from time to time, frequently in response to corporate invitations or opportunities arising from visits by international experts.

Engineers and others requiring further information on continuing professional opportunities through UTS: Engineering should contact the Engineering and IT Outreach Office.

Postgraduate course information

UTS: Engineering offers postgraduate coursework and research programs, providing a wide range of professional development opportunities to engineers and other graduates. In fulfilling these responsibilities, UTS: Engineering draws on its close links with industry to offer distinctive programs that are highly regarded by engineering-dependent enterprises.

In 2008, approximately 1000 students were enrolled in postgraduate coursework programs and over 170 in research degree programs.

Postgraduate award courses may be taken by coursework or research. UTS: Engineering supports research through its management of postgraduate research, development of research strengths and centres, encouragement of individual researchers and research teams, facilitation of interdisciplinary research and sponsorship of visits to UTS: Engineering by internationally-renowned experts.

In addition to award courses, UTS: Engineering provides opportunities for continuing professional development through studies undertaken on a non-award basis.

The following information is intended to assist postgraduates to plan and complete their studies within UTS: Engineering. Additional information can be obtained online and from other publications or by direct inquiry.

Postgraduate coursework

Specialist courses
General courses
Distance education
Timetables
Majors

Specialist courses

UTS: Engineering offers specialist courses by coursework in several fields. Each of these courses includes core subjects which must be satisfactorily completed during studies for the award.

Students in any specialist course receive preference in the allocation of class places in core subjects. Students taking popular subjects through elective studies are allowed to enrol when places are available.

General courses

A range of coursework programs is available through UTS: Engineering, leading to the general awards of Master of Engineering (by coursework), Master of Engineering Studies and Graduate Certificate in Engineering.

For each of these general awards, postgraduate majors are available. The majors offered reflect current research strengths and interests in UTS: Engineering.

Distance education

Flexibility is a major feature of UTS: Engineering's postgraduate engineering management and environmental engineering management programs.

The distance education program is designed to meet the professional needs of busy engineers. Core subjects and a selection of electives can be taken in distance mode as well as standard attendance mode.

The following are examples of subjects that may be offered in distance mode:

• 49122 Ecology and Sustainability
• 49003 Economic Evaluation
• 49121 Environmental Assessment and Planning
• 49001 Judgment and Decision Making
• 49069 Leadership and Responsibility
• 49013 Managing Information Technology in Engineering
• 49002 Managing Projects
• 49012 Project Management Support Systems
• 49309 Quality Planning and Analysis
• 49006 Risk Management in Engineering
• 49016 Technology and Innovation Management
• 49123 Waste and Pollution Management
• 49124 Water Quality Management.

Progression

Postgraduate students are excluded from further study at the University if they fail 50 per cent or more of the total number of enrolled subjects in an assessment period.

Timetables

UTS timetable information is available from:

Majors

Postgraduate majors are available in the Master of Engineering (ME), Master of Engineering Studies (MEStud) and graduate certificates.

UTS: Engineering offers an extensive range of programs by research and/or coursework through its award and non-award courses. A selection of these program majors are described below. Information on other specialist research areas can be obtained from individual members of academic staff.

Program majors have been developed to match the needs of engineers and other professionals. They provide opportunities for advanced studies and professional development in engineering and cross-disciplinary areas between engineering and other disciplines. All postgraduate program majors are differentiated by their focus, structure, presentation, attendance flexibility, assessment practices and multiple entry/completion options.

Students are entitled to have the name of the major listed in their degree transcript (not the testamur) if they have completed the following.

• ME (by coursework): a minimum of four subjects (24 credit points) must be completed within the particular postgraduate program major as described below, together with an approved graduate project in the major of between 18 and 30 credit points. Indicated major compulsory subjects must be completed.
• MEStud: a minimum of four subjects (24 credit points) must be completed within the particular postgraduate program major as described below. Indicated compulsory major subjects must be completed. Any special topics listed in the program major are not available in the MEStud. To obtain the energy planning and policy major, students must complete eight subjects (48 credit points) from the respective program major list. MEStud Group A subjects do not apply to these majors. To obtain the software engineering major, students must complete all five subjects from the major as well as the Group A subjects.
• Graduate certificate: a minimum of three subjects (18 credit points) must be completed within the particular postgraduate program major as described below. Indicated compulsory major subjects must be completed.

Postgraduate program majors reflect current research strengths and interests in UTS: Engineering and change with time. The availability of individual subjects in any year is influenced by student demand, arrangements with visiting lecturers, scheduling within the University and policies on class sizes.

If, in the opinion of the director of postgraduate coursework programs, a student does not have the required prerequisite knowledge to successfully undertake and complete a major, the student may be required to undertake one or two preparatory undergraduate subjects.

Civil Engineering (MAJ03455)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Civil Engineering and Structural Engineering (MAJ03456)

This major is available in the MEStud only.

Academic inquiries

Computer Control Engineering (MAJ03438)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Energy Planning and Policy (MAJ03439)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Engineering Management (MAJ08860)

This major is available in the ME only.

Specialist programs in engineering management are available as a Master of Engineering Management (C04094) and as a Graduate Certificate in Engineering Management (C11054).

Academic inquiries

Environmental Engineering (MAJ03416)

This major is available in the ME only.

Specialist programs in environmental engineering management are available as a Master of Environmental Engineering Management (C04098) and as a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Engineering Management (C11051).

Academic inquiries

Local Government Engineering (MAJ03440)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Manufacturing Engineering and Management (MAJ03442)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Software Engineering (MAJ03432)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Structural Engineering (MAJ03433)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Telecommunication Networks (MAJ03434)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Telecommunications Engineering (MAJ03435)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Telecommunications Engineering and Telecommunication Networks (MAJ03431)

This major is available in the MEStud only.

Academic inquiries

Water Engineering (MAJ03436)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and graduate certificate.

Academic inquiries

Postgraduate research

Contacts and inquiries
Research profile and strengths
Research centres and institutes

UTS: Engineering has a lively and cutting-edge research culture driving advances in engineering and IT technology, practice and education. UTS: Engineering's research is needs-driven and collaborative and works with many enterprises in business partnerships. Researchers are world-class and recognised leaders in their fields, responsible for delivering new, better and more cost-effective solutions to complex engineering challenges.

Research is varied and utilises modern laboratories and research facilities on the City campus, Broadway. These are supported by extensive computing facilities and library services. The laboratories have excellent back-up workshops and expert support staff. Many opportunities exist for professional development through challenging, well-resourced research programs.

Contacts and inquiries

The management and administration of all research matters of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology is managed through the faculty's Research and Development Office, headed by the Associate Dean (Research and Development). The office is responsible for a broad range of matters including, but not limited to, research strategic priorities, policy and planning, and advice and support to faculty staff in preparing grant applications, research publications, research conferences and research degree student supervision. The associate dean is supported by the director of research programs and the research administration officers, who are responsible for the academic management and support of research degree students and general research matters respectively.

Research matters are governed via the Research Management Committee and Research Degrees Committee that report to the Faculty Board in Engineering and Information Technology. The Research Management Committee has overarching responsibility for determining the faculty's research strategies and policies, and for making recommendations in relation to building research culture and profile and for budgetary and resourcing matters relating to research. The Research Degrees Committee makes recommendations and sets policies relating to candidature management of higher degree by research students, from admission through to graduation.

Specific inquiries should be directed to the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology Research and Development Office. Key staff are:

Director of Research Programs

Research Administration Officer: UTS: Engineering

Research Administration Officer: UTS: Engineering

Research Administration Officer: UTS: Information Technology

General inquiries from domestic students should be directed to:

General inquiries from international students should be directed to:

Research profile and strengths

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology has a number of key research strengths, housed within the research centres and institute of the faculty. These centres are hives of research activity that have international standing within their respective discipline areas. The Centre for Autonomous Systems was sponsored in 2003 under the Australian Research Councils Centres of Excellence Programs. The centres include:

• ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems
• Centre for Built Infrastructure Research
• Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics
• Centre for Health Technologies
• Centre for Human-Centred Technology Design
• Centre for Innovation in IT Services and Applications
• Centre for Intelligent Mechatronic Systems
• Centre for Quantum Computation and Intelligent Systems
• Centre for Real-Time Information Networks
• Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management

Collaborative research

UTS: Engineering's researchers work with private and public companies to achieve their strategic objectives in engineering research and development. These collaborative programs tend to be long-term and offer mutually beneficial outcomes, with the economic, business, social and environmental dimensions of engineering being addressed explicitly. Most collaborative research is supported by sponsorships or grants.

Research opportunities and major research areas

Research opportunities are available in the following areas of specialisation.

School of Computing and Communications: adaptive intelligent systems, advanced web technologies, computer vision, computer systems and networking, enabling mechanisms that will allow the transformation of the current connectivity infrastructure into the service infrastructure of tomorrow's internet, image analysis, image processing, internet service architecture, mobile commerce and mobile learning, mobile computing, mobile ubiquitous services and technologies, networks management, next-generation IT services and applications, pattern recognition, peer to peer networking, radio frequency hardware, satellite systems, tackling missing and limiting characteristics of the current internet, video analysis, video surveillance, visualisation tools, wireless networks, and wireless technology.

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering: built infrastructure, groundwater management, local government, public health engineering, and water and environmental resource management.

School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems: advanced control, artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, automotive engineering, biomedical engineering, energy, embedded systems, health technologies, mechatronics, power systems, and renewable energy.

School of Software: art and technology, artificial intelligence, computer animation, computer games, computer graphics, computer usability, data mining, e-finance, e-government, e-health, e-marketing, e-safeguard, e-security and e-service, emergency management, expert systems, human-computer interaction, information systems, innovation and creativity, innovation and technology, intelligent agents, intelligent problem solving and smart business decision making in engineering, interaction design, interactive entertainment, interactive storytelling, learning environments, multi-agent systems, multimedia, next-generation automated enterprise cooperative infrastructure, object-oriented computing, object-oriented processes and methodologies, ontologies, optimisation activities, quantum computing, ray tracing, rendering techniques, requirements engineering, resource planning, robotics, semantic web, smart trading systems, software development, and technology design and use.

School of Systems, Management and Leadership: energy policy and planning, engineering practice, environmental risk, information systems, IT education, IT governance, IT strategy and management, knowledge management, operations and risk management, strategic IT leadership, systems analysis and design, systems development, systems theory and socio-technical systems.

Further information is available from:

Research centres and institutes

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology supports several institutes and centres, each capturing established research strengths in engineering, information technology and related fields. These include the following.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems (CAS) is run in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney and the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales.

The aim of CAS is to research and explore the nature of intelligence in problems of perception, learning and control, and to lay the scientific groundwork for the development and application of intelligent autonomous systems. Autonomous systems represent the next step in the fusion of machines, computing, sensing and software to create intelligent systems capable of interacting with the complexities of the real world. Autonomous systems have a broad and diverse range of applications of national importance. These range from field applications such as automated mining and cargo handling; construction, forestry and transport; to potentially dangerous applications including robotic bushfire fighting; search-and-rescue; and areas of air, land and maritime defence; as well as social applications in robotic health care, automotive engineering and entertainment.

Director

Centre for Built Infrastructure Research

The Centre for Built Infrastructure Research (CBIR) is a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the faculties of Engineering and Information Technology; Science; and Design, Architecture and Building. CBIR's nationally and internationally renowned work focuses on finding solutions to important global problems in building structures, materials, design, management, improvement, safety and conservation.

Director

Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics

The Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics (CEMPE) is principally concerned with electrical variable speed drives and generation of electricity using rotating electrical machines and renewable sources (such as wind and hydro). The technical research disciplines necessary for these two areas are very similar, covering electrical machines design, power electronics and mechanical design. The interest in renewable energy generation is primarily for remote areas and developing countries, so the incorporation of expertise in design for such areas is valuable, with the inclusion of energy requirements analysis, energy economics, technology transfer and human management issues.

Director

Centre for Health Technologies

The interdisciplinary research skill-base brought together in the Centre for Health Technologies (CHT) is unique in Australia in the development of medical devices and systems. The CHT has two research streams: biomedical devices and biotechnology science. Its focus is on health and disease processes, the development of new devices and advanced methods for the early detection, diagnosis and rehabilitation of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological disorders and cancer. Its research has already produced several new device technologies which are at the cutting edge of biomedical engineering and science.

Directors

Centre for Human Centred Technology Design

The Centre for Human Centred Technology Design (HCTD) is committed to information and communications technology design research, methods and approaches, as defined by its commitment to the human, that is, to those who will use the technology.

HCTD's approach furthers the development of a much needed socio-technical perspective on technology design that can both balance and extend the more common technology driven or management driven perspectives. HCTD's focus is on understanding the complex interplay between the drivers of social, organisational and technical change and how these shape, and are shaped by, the design, implementation and use of information and communication systems. The centre's research outcomes contribute to the design and development of ICT that fit easily and appropriately into the social, cultural and organisational contexts within which they will be used.

Directors

Centre for Innovation in IT Services and Applications (iNEXT)

The Centre for Innovation in IT Services and Applications (iNEXT) is a world-class research environment for developing and nurturing innovation for the NEXT generation IT services and applications, including internet-enabled business applications, mobile health services, high-end visualisation technologies, novel image processing architectures and advanced video surveillance systems.

Future internet: iNEXT aims to develop those enabling mechanisms that will allow the transformation of the current connectivity infrastructure into the service infrastructure of tomorrow's internet.

Applications and services: iNEXT aims to develop innovative applications with special focus on assistive mobile health and internet-enabled business applications.

Visual information processing: iNEXT aims to define novel visualisation techniques and intelligent recognition algorithms for extracting important information from video streams and wireless sensor networks for surveillance and environmental monitoring purposes.

Commercialisation of such applications and services is particularly emphasised. iNEXT includes a significant research training component, graduating many research students in the past years.

Directors

Centre for Intelligent Mechatronic Systems

Building on 15 years of strong cross-disciplinary research in electrical machines and power electronics at UTS, the Centre for Intelligent Mechatronic Systems (CIMS) integrates the disciplines of mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering and computer systems. Its four main research directions are: autonomous robots (operating in unstructured environments and for infrastructure maintenance, search and rescue, health care and road vehicles); electrical machines (new materials and topologies, system optimisation, variable speed control and compact, low temperature fuel cells); automotive systems (performance, comfort, fuel efficiency, road safety and emission control); and human factors (physiological and psychological aspects of human–machine and human–environment interaction).

Director

Centre for Quantum Computation and Intelligent Systems

The vision of the Quantum Computation and Intelligent Systems (UTS: QCIS) is to develop theoretical foundations, innovative technologies and practical systems that will result in next generation enterprise intelligent information systems. The four research laboratories under UTS: QCIS are knowledge discovery; decision support and e-service intelligence; infrastructure enhancement; and innovation and technology. The outcomes of the researches under UTS: QCIS will be applied for a broad range of businesses, including finance, marketing, security, health, government and engineering.

Directors

Centre for Real-Time Information Networks

The Centre for Real-Time Information Networks (CRIN) aims to support research and development activities related to the efficient creation, collection, transmission, analysis and use of information in real-time, engineering embedded applications. The centre supports the improvement of Australian society through a focus on applied research achieved through close links with both industry and research bodies working in appropriate application domains.

Examples of priority areas of interest for the centre are national security for safeguarding Australia, healthcare diagnosis and monitoring for the cost effective improvement of the health of Australians, environmental and resource monitoring for a sustainable Australia and the smart use of the web in supporting Australian industry.

The centre aims to design, fabricate and test proof of concept systems, in which the performance and operational suitability of the developed systems shall be demonstrated. The proof of concept systems may be electronic hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, and will include the latest prototyping technologies, such as embedded processors, high-performance networks and sophisticated distributed software applications.

Director

Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management

The Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management (IWERM) undertakes research shaped by the need for sustainable management of water resources, nationally and internationally. The institute links research staff and students from the faculties of Engineering and Information Technology, and Science with government, industry and community partners through its collaborative programs. Major research themes include groundwater, hydrology and hydrogeology; vegetation and land use salinity; urban water cycles, waste water management and recycling economics; rural water resources including irrigation, recycling and agricultural run-off; and ecotoxicology and environmental engineering.

Deputy Director (Engineering)

Undergraduate course information

UTS: Engineering's flagship course is the five-year Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice (C10061). Students graduating with this award can major in civil, civil and environmental, electrical, ICT engineering, innovation, mechanical, mechanical and mechatronic engineering or graduate without specifying a major. In addition, a major may be combined with a sub-major in another discipline. UTS: Engineering also offers a four-year Bachelor of Engineering (C10067) (available to international students), a three-year Bachelor of Engineering Science (C10066), as well as the combined awards Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Arts in International Studies Diploma in Engineering Practice (C10062), Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Business (C10065), Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Science (C10073), Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Medical Science (C10075), Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Biotechnology (C10078) and Bachelor of Engineering Science Bachelor of Laws (C10136).

The same educational philosophy underpins all awards: students undertake a set of core subjects, a set of field of practice subjects that defines their major and, in some cases, a set of electives. The different awards have a requirement of between zero and two internships. The recognition of prior learning policies and assumed knowledge are the same for all courses.

The Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice is described in some detail below. Descriptions of the engineering courses in the undergraduate courses section cover only the differences between the award and the information below. For a full understanding of all award courses, students should read the following information in association with the particular award description.

Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice

The program leading to the combined award of Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice (C10061) (BE DipEngPrac) is a comprehensive preparation for careers in the professional practice of engineering.

The BE DipEngPrac is a combined degree and the awards are not available separately. Both elements of the program are closely interwoven and interdependent, and prepare students for professional engineering internships by linking theory and application. The degrees combining engineering with business, biotechnology, science and medical science may also be combined with the Diploma in Engineering Practice by undertaking further work and study.

As noted above, the combination of formal academic learning in the University and experiential learning in the workplace is called cooperative education. UTS: Engineering courses have embodied this principle for over 30 years. The courses are highly regarded in industry and, according to many reports and surveys, graduates have enjoyed correspondingly high employment rates — the highest of any engineering degree courses in Australia.

Engineering education in many countries is undergoing revolutionary change and the UTS program is at the forefront of much of this change.

At present, students can major in the combined award in one of the following areas: civil engineering, civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering, ICT engineering, innovation engineering, mechanical engineering, mechanical and mechatronic engineering, or with a non-specified major. The choice of major can be made at entry or postponed until the end of the first year without extending completion time (subject to availability of places and adequate performance). Further majors will be introduced in subsequent years in response to technological developments and employment demand and provision will be made to allow students to change from existing majors. It is also possible for students to negotiate a program that focuses on an area outside the designated majors. There is considerable elective scope which can be used to extend engineering knowledge or to take a sub-major in a discipline such as business or social science.

Course structure

The overall program comprises five principal components: the core program, the Engineering Practice Program, the fields of practice subjects, the electives and the Capstone Project. The core program, the Engineering Practice Program and the Capstone Project are common to all students undertaking the BE DipEngPrac.

Core program

This component provides a framework covering knowledge, skills and attributes that are relevant to all engineers across all fields of practice. It consists of common mathematics and physics subjects and common engineering subjects which draw on several fields of engineering practice to develop interdisciplinary knowledge and skills within the larger context of professional practice. It also develops awareness of the values debate in engineering and promotes commitment to the principles of sustainability.

The core program runs throughout the course from admission to graduation. Students take differing combinations of subjects in their first year, and in each successive year, depending on their choice of major.

For details of core subjects refer to STM90106 for students undertaking the Construction specialisation.

Engineering Practice Program

The Engineering Practice Program supports and assesses student learning in workplace and community environments. Its objectives are to prepare students for engineering work experience, to support them during that experience and to assist them in maximising learning. The program also supports the integration of this experiential learning with the theoretical and practical aspects of the academic curriculum.

A fundamental objective is to develop the ability to learn in a wide variety of modes and contexts and to critique and contribute to those learning environments on a lifelong basis.

The program is administered through a series of subjects offered in various modes. Students enrol in the program as a whole and are guided through the respective modules. Students are ultimately responsible for their progression through the program. Academic staff and workplace mentors and supervisors act as facilitators; administrative staff assist in ensuring that students' progress is recorded and validated; and Industry Partnering Unit staff assist students in securing suitable work placements and in establishing cooperative programs with industry and the community.

The minimum time in the workplace required to satisfy each engineering internship subject is 22 weeks. In total, however, 48 weeks must be gained by the required deadline to meet course requirements and to be eligible to graduate.

Internships are organised into two blocks of six months each. Students are required to undertake the relevant prerequisite subjects prior to undertaking their internships and in a semester following an internship are required to enrol in the appropriate review subjects. Credit point limits also apply to some of these subjects. Details of prerequisite subjects and subjects required to be completed after each internship are listed under STM90271.

While students are encouraged to undertake additional work experience, they are only permitted to enrol in each of the two official internships once.

Industry Partnering Unit

The Industry Partnering Unit (IPU) assists students in obtaining internships. The staff of the IPU maintain contact with industry and on average facilitate 250 internships a semester. IPU staff keeps records of students' intentions of seeking and securing internships. A service is also offered to advise students on the preparation of résumés, presentation at interviews and advice on how to find work opportunities in Australia and overseas. Students seeking work experience must register with IPU in the semester preceding their intended period of work.

IPU maintains a database, called Industry Internship Management System (I2MS), which provides the interface between the student and company. Once students have access and an active résumé on I2MS they can apply for internships. This system also records the detail of junior and senior internships. It is the students' responsibility to advise IPU of the start and finish dates of the internship.

Fields of practice and majors

This component relates theoretical and practical learning from core subjects to applications in specific fields of engineering internship. It develops knowledge of engineering science and technologies relevant to particular branches of engineering and specialist technical expertise. Particular sets of subjects constitute majors in the respective fields of practice, as set out below. A major provides the essential foundations needed for practice in that field, familiarity with current practice, awareness of likely developments and knowledge of resources available for future self-directed learning.

All majors emphasise and develop the essential engineering skills of observation and experimentation, analysis and synthesis, modelling, systems thinking, conceptual reasoning and judgment, and problem formulation and solving, using as case studies the technologies and contexts relevant to the particular field of practice. Each major involves substantial laboratory content, designed to integrate theoretical and practical understanding. All are designed to link with the core program and with engineering internship.

The totality of all fields of practice subjects across all majors provides the pool from which students wishing to graduate with a general degree may draw (subject to approval) to make up their field of practice component. Some fields of practice include subjects taught wholly or partly by other faculties.

Electives

In general, students may devote 24–30 credit points to electives. A range of electives may be taken to broaden or deepen knowledge. Some students may wish to explore two or more introductory engineering subjects before making their choice of major, in which case the additional subject(s) may be counted (subject to conditions) as part of the elective component. The elective component also provides a mechanism for crediting prior learning and work-based learning.

Students are not permitted to take an elective subject that covers substantially the same material as a required subject or a subject already undertaken. Undergraduate students may enrol in some UTS: Engineering postgraduate subjects that have been approved for undergraduate enrolment provided they have already completed at least 120 credit points of their undergraduate degree. Undergraduate students may undertake up to four approved postgraduate subjects. A maximum of three approved postgraduate subjects recently undertaken as part of an undergraduate degree may be used to apply for exemptions from a UTS: Engineering master's degree provided the subjects fulfil the equivalent subject requirements.

The combined degrees have no electives.

Capstone Project

Late in the degree, each student undertakes a Capstone Project, supervised by a member of academic staff and designed to consolidate and integrate learning in all aspects of the program. Industry-linked projects, under joint supervision, are strongly encouraged.

The project topic must be approved by an academic supervisor and must be relevant to the field of practice concerned. It may be largely technical in emphasis or it may encompass a range of technical and contextual challenges.

The Capstone Project results in a substantial report which must be written and produced to professional engineering standards and must demonstrate the student's readiness for professional engineering practice.

Recognition of prior learning

Students with prior formal learning (such as other university study or TAFE qualifications) may be entitled to recognition of prior learning (RPL) in the form of subject exemptions. The level of RPL granted depends on the relevance of the area of study to the proposed major in the BE DipEngPrac. For a TAFE diploma in the same area students can expect to receive between 24 and 48 credit points of exemptions, depending on the grades obtained in the TAFE subjects.

Exemption from part of the Engineering Practice Program is granted only on the basis of actual work experience that can be shown to meet the required standards. The maximum exemption given is for one work-experience semester. Without exception, all students in the engineering practice program must complete all components associated with the second internship.

UTS: Engineering reserves the right to advise any student who is admitted with RPL, and who is not succeeding in the program, to undertake some or all of the subjects from which exemption had been granted.