BSc Electrical and Information Technology

Smart responses to the challenges of our time.

There are hardly any areas of life that are not affected by electrical products – be it smartphones, smart homes (the housing of the future) or smart grids (intelligent electricity networks).

The broad spectrum of occupations in the professional world is reflected in the degree programme on offer, which you can complete on a part-time basis while working or on a full-time basis. We value well-founded basic knowledge complemented by laboratory experiments. At the same time, we work in a team on interdisciplinary, practice-oriented student projects that cover the entire field from microelectronics (e.g. configurable, digital effects units for guitarists who play electric guitars) through to electrical engineering (e.g. energy production using kites).

The degree programme does not only target electronic engineers and electricians – at the start of the programme, a variety of educational backgrounds are taken into consideration.

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Career prospects Electrical and Information Technology

Our graduates develop new electronic circuits, design energy supply systems, commission a broadcasting station in Africa or lead sales negotiations in Asia for the high-tech products pro-duced by their companies.

A mix of theory and practice

Studying at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland is an exciting challenge that involves an interesting mix of theory and practice.

Aldin Ljubijankic, Bachelor Electrical and Information Technology

Degree

The degree contains the following four training domains: student projects, specialist training, context modules (incl. language training and courses in the humanities/social sciences) and free modules.

A detailed description of the modules that can be taken as part of the Electrical and Information Technology degree programme can be found in the module table (German).

Specialisations

In your last year of study, you can choose a major. These specialisations focus on the latest research and offer an ideal basis for starting a career or a master's degree that builds on the respective student's undergraduate degree.

This specialisation passes on in-depth knowledge both in the field of electrical and drive engineering and the domain of power electronics and control engineering. This enables students to work in an extremely wide range of roles, including that of developer.

The field of electrical engineering is changing rapidly. The developments that have been achieved with regard to the electrical infrastructure over a period of one hundred years are nowhere near sufficient to meet our future needs for a sustainable supply. Renewable energy production from wind and sun to cover the growing demand for electricity also involves redesigning the network: high-voltage direct-current transmission, static VAR compensators, flexible alternating-current transmission systems, smart grids, smart metering, smart homes, centralised and decentralised energy storage etc. are more than just buzzwords.

Even the areas of application for generators and drives are on the increase and there is always a demand for an even better level of functionality and a higher degree of efficiency. Power and drive engineering can often only fulfil the demanding requirements if implemented in conjunction with power electronics and optimal control.

Power electronics is omni-present – it is used in almost every modern electrical device in the form of a switched-power supply as well as a power control element in domestic applications and the trade and industry sectors.

Studies in energy and drive systems are not only conducted in the classroom – we also place value on modern laboratory experiments and exciting projects.

Our information society relies on technical systems that pick up signals using sensors, process and transmit information using processors and emit these again using actuators. Nowadays, virtually all of these systems contain microelectronics. Engineers with a sound knowledge of microelectronics as well as information and communication technology are therefore in demand.

Hardly any product that incorporates the latest technology does without microelectronics. Sensors for detecting all possible dimensions are ubiquitous even though users are often unaware of them. Basic conditions such as cost, volume, weight, privacy, power requirements etc. are strengthening the trend toward application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Whether signals are picked up by ASICs or standard ICs – they then always need to be further processed and transmitted, be it within a small portable device or across huge distances with large transmitters. The signals are subsequently brought back into our lives with actuators such as speakers, electric motors, screens and so on.

This specialisation aims to give you a sound grasp of the elements of this signal and communication world: from the mathematics of signal processing, to the implementation of communication electronics, through to specialisms such as the construction of sensor amplifiers and the functional principle of speaker drives in mobile telephones.

The study programme focuses on the following three areas:

System level: digital communication technology; hardware and real-time software as embedded systems
Algorithms: filtering, spectral decomposition etc.
Implementation level: analogue and digital circuit technology as mixed-signal microelectronics

Trinational Information Communication Systems

The trinational version of the Electrical and Information Technology degree programme: study in three countries and become familiar with the proverbial savoir vivre of the French and the engineering ingenuity of the Germans.

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Student projects

Each semester our students work on a project from the commencement of their studies. The focus here is initially on the methodology of project work. Later on, the focus switches to the technical level.

Smart helmet

Two students developed an intelligent helmet that measures the force of impact in the event of its user sustaining a fall and issues an emergency alert message.

to Smart helmet