Electrical and Electronic Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge to develop new, creative and innovative solutions to address humanity's challenges. The degree programme trains you to solve engineering-related problems by applying the fundamentals of engineering in a responsible, methodical and creative manner. You are taught how to design and build smarter, and more sustainable technologies, making them more efficient, reliable and affordable with the aim to contribute to society by improving the quality of life especially related to health, comfort and our environment.

The degree provides an understanding of the fundamental principles of electrical, electronic and control engineering. During the first two years, the programme offers you a number of compulsory core modules that expose you to the fundamentals of circuits, signals, electronics, computing, automation and electrical energy. In third and fourth years, you can choose from a variety of modules allowing for some specialisation in different fields of electrical engineering. Throughout the degree course, you are given the mathematical skills required for engineering design and analysis.

The modules of the degree are shown and described in the programme of studies. The degree covers various areas of electronic engineering such as analogue and digital systems, microcontrollers, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI), Radio Frequency (RF) and high frequency electronics, optoelectronics, electromagnetics, communications systems and sensing and data acquisition. Moreover, you shall be taught how to design industry standard Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) taking into account noise, electro-static discharge and electro-magnetic issues aimed to make designs: low-cost, compact, low-loss, high-speed, with the least susceptibility to electro-magnetic interference. The applications of electronic designs can range from extremely low power, e.g. picosatellites, to biomedical equipment up to the embedded control and sensing used in high power generation equipment such as for example a 10MW wind turbine.

The degree also covers the area of electrical engineering which is mainly concerned with circuit theory, power electronics, electrical machines, energy conversion, electromagnetics, power engineering and building services. You are taught the fundamentals of electrical engineering for various areas of electrical energy conversion, such as: electric vehicles, electrification of systems on aircraft and ships (electric ships, more electric aircraft), energy storage, solar farms, wind energy, renewable energy sources, microgrids, electric motor control, new lighting systems and more efficient appliances. Building services and power engineering modules will train you for the role of the consultant engineer who takes care of large infrastructural projects.

Another area covered in the degree is that of signals, systems and control engineering, where you will learn how to design and develop complex systems to operate automatically and autonomously. Examples include control of mechatronic systems, process control, intelligent transportation systems, industrial automation, Programmable Logic Control and robot control systems. Moreover, you can learn about methods such as computational intelligence and artificial neural networks which play an important part in all fields of engineering The degree also exposes the student to signal and image processing which permits engineers to analyse, synthesise, filter and extract information from signals. This includes sound, speech and music signals, images, biomedical signals, and even numeric signals, such as financial data.

An example where multi-disciplinary areas of electrical, electronic and systems and control engineering come together is in a self-driving electric car. Such a car needs to sense its environment and react to it appropriately. This requires a variety of sensors from laser range finders (LIDAR) that can determine its distance from other cars, pavements, or pedestrians; to vision sensors (cameras) which allow the car to sense road signage such as stop signs, or traffic lights. The car also requires navigation systems (e.g. GPS) which enable it to determine its location in the world. While sensors provide data about the car's environment, the car requires intelligent control to use this data to function autonomously, be it from stopping at red lights, to planning the best route to arrive at the desired destination. The most important part of the electric car is its engine. The car's engine speed is changed by means of a power electronic converter. Moreover, this converter allows the car to idle without using any energy and also to recuperate energy during braking which is stored in its batteries. All the electronics, on-board computers, as well as the car's motor, require energy to function which is provided by an on-board battery system. Hence, to use the car reliably over long distances, its energy must be used efficiently. As with any other complex system, the development of a self-driving car would see teams of Electrical and Electronics Engineers with different skills and expertise working in synergy.

Self-driving electric cars are but one example of what Electrical and Electronics Engineers can achieve. Electrical and Electronic Engineering is at the heart of clean energy production, distribution and usage, sustainable and smart transport, electrification of transport, space technology, bio-medical technology, automation, robotics, autonomous drones, avionics, satellite systems, ship navigation, communications, mobile telephony, the list is endless. This explains why the demand for Electrical and Electronic Engineers in Malta and worldwide is high and perpetually increasing.