Course summary

This course is professionally accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). As well as your main Imperial degree, you will also receive the award of the Associateship of the City and Guilds of London Institute (ACGI) on completion of this course. Electrical and electronic engineers are at the forefront of the challenge to use technology to improve the performance of electronic equipment in terms of speed, cost and sustainability; to improve power distribution and control for a robust and sustainable future energy network; and to improve communication in different aspects of life. Our Electronic and Information Engineering degrees will provide you with an understanding of the entire stack of modern networked computers, from the design and architecture of the CPU in a smartphone, to the information theory and wireless protocols connecting it to the internet, and on to the operating systems and databases providing back-end support in the cloud. The first two years follow a core programme in areas such as circuits, systems, networks and high-level programming. You will learn to program in C++ and become familiar with software design, programming concepts and tool use – skills that are transferable to any programming language/environment that you encounter. Taught modules are supported by study groups and lab classes in the electrical and computing laboratories. The first year project allows you to perform real-time video processing on a configurable hardware board. Students combine knowledge from digital logic, signal processing and software engineering in order to propose their own unique solution, with past projects including virtual pianos, platform games, and augmented reality goggles. The second year project is a five-day IBM computer architecture workshop, run by staff from Imperial and IBM. This gives you the chance to apply your understanding of systems architecture, databases, middleware, operating systems and network hardware and software to a real IT systems challenge. In your third year you can design the course to fit your interests and skills in consultation with your personal tutor, by choosing from a wide range of optional modules from within the Department and from the Department of Computing. You will also take a humanities or language module through Imperial Horizons, or a business module in collaboration with Imperial College Business School. The most important part of this year is the individual project. It allows you to implement the technical information assimilated over the past four years and develop novel approaches to present day problems. By your final year you'll be fully equipped to demonstrate all your knowledge, skills and innovation in a large and ambitious individual project. This project is the most important single piece of work in your degree programme, giving you the chance to demonstrate independence and originality, and to plan and organise a large project. .The common first and second years of Electronic and Information Engineering courses mean that transfer between streams is usually possible up until the end of your second year; or third year for the Year Abroad option. If you wish to transfer from an Electronic and Information Engineering degree to a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering you need to do so by the start of the first year. If you are an international student, transferring to a different course could have an impact on your Tier 4 visa, but our International Student Support Team are here to help advise and support you.