This module equips students with a comprehensive understanding of how mechanical systems move and deform when subjected to external forces. We then progress to advanced topics including buckling and deformation of mechanical structures such as beams and cantilevers. The second part of the module covers materials response to applied electric and magnetic fields, e.g. polarisation and conduction in dielectrics, magnetisation and ferromagnetism. Materials for novel and emerging applications are considered as well, e.g. high-voltage cable insulations, electret materials, triboelectric series, piezo-electricity, ferro-electricity, pyroelectricity. The module includes one laboratory analysis covering dielectric material characterisation and one laboratory experiments on deformation of beams. Students will be supported by examples and tutorial questions with many real-life practical examples.
The module aims to provide a detailed understanding of all aspects of the selection, sizing and operation of modern electrical machines and drive systems. Through the module, students will be able to learn to design electromechanical devices, identify different types of electrical machines and their suitability for different applications. The derivation of equations describing operation of machines, formulate relevant equivalent circuits and analyse simple problems related to operation of electrical machines and drives will be studied.
This module offers an introduction to the scientific principles and methods of electricity and electronics.
The major concepts covered are: - The abstraction from forces to fields using the examples of the electric and magnetic fields, with some applications - The connection between conservative forces and potential energy - How charges move through electric circuits - The close connection between electricity and magnetism, leading to the discovery of electromagnetic waves. - the integral form of Maxwell's Equations
Electroacoustic transducers, such as microphones and loudspeakers, are commonplace in the fields of acoustics and audio and it is important that acoustical engineers have an understanding of the theory and mechanisms of electroacoustic transduction. This module provides the knowledge to understand and predict the behaviour of a wide range of electroacoustic devices, and to relate this to real-world transducer technology.
Electromagnetism is one of the brilliant successes of nineteenth century physics and the equations formulated by Maxwell are believed to account exactly for all classical electromagnetic phenomena. The aim of this course is to present the laws of electromagnetism, their experimental justification, and their application to physical phenomena.
This module provides a comprehensive understanding of how modern computer systems are built, starting from fundamental transistor-level design and extending to full operating systems. Students will first learn the fundamentals of electronic circuits, including logic gates, memory elements (DRAM, SRAM), and amplifiers. They will then examine how these components integrate into larger digital systems, such as microprocessors and memory hierarchies. The course covers the inner workings of a computer at various levels, from transistors to processors, peripherals, compilers, and operating systems.
Semiconductor device technology has evolved beyond computation applications and is now increasingly being used in quantum electronics, data centres, lighting, lasers, high speed communications, photovoltaic energy harvesters, smart electronics for the Internet of Things, and sensing for healthcare and the environment. Semiconductor devices are not solely confined to silicon technology but include Group III-V compounds, such as gallium arsenide and indium gallium arsenide as well as other materials such silicon-germanium alloys, zinc oxide, molybdenum selenide and graphene. The next generation of semiconductor technologies will demand the knowledge and understanding to explore device platforms for new integrated circuit concepts and fabrication methods. This module covers the physical principles and applications of a range of important semiconductor electronic and optoelectronic (photonic) devices including field effect and bipolar junction transistors (MOSFET, BJTs, IGBTs), solar cells, photodetectors, lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Throughout the course, students are encouraged to read beyond the lecture materials provided and the core text books.
To introduce the physical and electronic properties of materials that underpin semiconductors and semiconductor devices that underpin modern electronic technology. To develop and understanding of electronic devices in circuits, to provide a range of circuit theory techniques for the analysis of resistive and active circuits and to introduce the analysis and design of active electronic circuits.
Digital electronics under-pins all current computation and networked systems. This module introduces some of the fundamental analogue electronic principles and ideas that digital logic is built on, then moves on to digital abstractions for designing circuits. This includes aspects of digital performance, styles of circuit, functional and non-functional correctness, and includes hands-one experience in the design and deployment of digital circuits in FPGAs.
Modern mechanical and acoustic systems contain numerous electronic and control components. For example, an electric vehicle may have speed, traction and active noise control systems. Practicing Mechanical and Acoustical Engineers therefore require a working knowledge of electronics and control systems. This module provides students with the necessary understanding of the design and analysis of these systems in the time and frequency domain. The skills and mathematical techniques developed in this module are applicable across a wide range of engineering domains including mechatronics, automotive, system dynamics and biomedical engineering.
This module will be first offered in the 2020/21 academic year. This module looks at the specific and somewhat unique requirements for electronics on spacecraft such as, radiation effects, other environmental hazards, e.g. space debris, atomic oxygen, low energy and high energy plasma (spacecraft charging and arcing). It will also address some of the key issues involved in using electronic parts in space including the design for the thermal environment (e.g. no convection), mass and volume constraints and the use of COTS. Future developments like miniaturisation (cubesats, microsats) and the use of MEMS in the space environment will be presented as well. The overall objective will be to introduce the students to the peculiarities of using electronics in space and how these drive the designs and influence the choice of the components selected.
