Postgraduate course information

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

In 2007, approximately 1,000 students were enrolled in postgraduate coursework programs and 110 in research degree programs.

Postgraduate award courses may be taken by coursework or research. The Faculty 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, the Faculty 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 the Faculty of Engineering. Additional information produced by the Faculty can be obtained online and from other publications, or by direct inquiry.

Postgraduate coursework

Specialist courses

Specialist courses by coursework are offered by the Faculty 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 the Faculty, 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 the Faculty.

Distance Education

Flexibility is a major feature of the Faculty's postgraduate Engineering Management, Environmental Engineering Management and Groundwater 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.

Assignments in the Distance Education program are mailed and any examinations, if the student is located outside the Sydney area, can be taken at locations other than UTS.

The following are examples of subjects offered in distance mode:

• 22784 Accounting: Concepts and Applications
• 49122 Ecology and Sustainability
• 49003 Economic Evaluation
• 49121 Environmental Assessment and Planning
• 49555 Groundwater Modelling
• 66014 Hydrogeology
• 49001 Judgment and Decision Making
• 49013 Managing Information Technology in Engineering
• 21867 Managing People: Concepts and Applications
• 49002 Managing Projects
• 49012 Project Management Support Systems
• 49309 Quality Planning and Analysis
• 49006 Risk Management in Engineering
• 49123 Waste and Pollution Management
• 49124 Water Quality Management.

Timetables

Up-to-date Engineering postgraduate timetables, usually covering the next two semesters, are available online at:

http://www.eng.uts.edu.au/currentstudents/postgraduate/downloads.html

Majors

Postgraduate majors are available in Master of Engineering (ME), Master of Engineering Studies (MEStud) and Graduate Certificates.

The Faculty 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 the Faculty 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.

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 and Management (MAJ03416)

This major is available in the ME only.

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

Academic inquiries

Groundwater Management (MAJ03441)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and Graduate Certificate.

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 (MAJ03437)

This major is available in the MEStud.

Academic inquiries

Water Engineering (MAJ03436)

This major is available in the ME, MEStud and Graduate Certificate.

Academic inquiries

Postgraduate coursework program coordinators

For program coordinator details, see Postgraduate coursework program coordinators.

Postgraduate research

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

Faculty 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

Further information on application processes and related rules is available from the University Graduate School and Faculty of Engineering websites. The Faculty of Engineering website also provides information about the research capabilities of academic staff members and guidelines for writing a research proposal. For specific inquiries about Faculty procedures contact:

Further academic advice is available from members of the Faculty Research Degrees Committee:

Most intending PhD candidates are able to relate their research interest to one or more of the Faculty's existing research areas. They should contact the relevant researchers directly to discuss their application.

Research profile

The Faculty is host, in whole or in part, to a number of key research areas and strengths, each designated and supported by the University and the Australian Research Council (ARC). These include:

• Institute for Information and Communication Technology
• Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management
• Institute for Nanoscale Technology
• Key University Research Centre for Built Infrastructure Research
• Key University Research Centre in Health Technologies
• University Research Group for Intelligent Mechatronic and Energy Systems
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems
• Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems
• Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics
• Centre for Real-Time Information Networks.

Collaborative research

The Faculty'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.

Information and Communication Technologies: networks management, adaptive intelligent systems, visualisation tools, advanced web technologies, satellite systems, wireless technology, radio frequency hardware.

Infrastructure and the Environment: built infrastructure, water and environmental resource management, public health engineering, groundwater management, local government.

Management, Policy and Planning: energy policy and planning, engineering, project, operations and risk management, systems theory and socio-technical systems, engineering practice, environmental risk.

Mechatronics and Intelligent Systems: health technologies, mechatronics, energy, embedded systems.

Further information on all Faculty-designated research groups and current research capabilities is available from:

Research management

Research management within the Faculty is coordinated through two committees.

The Faculty's Research Degrees Committee is responsible, under delegations from the Faculty Board in Engineering, for recommendations relating to the admission, progression and examination of research degree candidates, together with the development of policies and practices across the Faculty to assist candidates and enhance outcomes.

The Engineering Research Management Committee is responsible for enhancing research outcomes in the Faculty. It has responsibility (inter alia) for developing, implementing and maintaining the Faculty's Research Management Plan, including program allocations and infrastructure development funded by the Faculty, the collection and dissemination of research information and the promotion of research partnerships with industry and other bodies.

Institutes, key research strengths and research centres

The Faculty supports several institutes and centres, each capturing established research strengths in engineering and related fields. These include the following.

Institute for Information and Communications Technology

The Institute for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of four UTS advanced technology research concentrations involving research staff, industry partners and research students from several faculties, including the Faculties of Engineering and Information Technology. Its research spans interdisciplinary challenges in broadband network management, interactive and intelligent user interfaces and network enabling technologies, with an emphasis on emerging application domains.

For further information contact:

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. As one of four UTS-designated advanced technology research concentrations, it links research staff and students from the faculties of Engineering 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.

For further information contact:

Institute for Nanoscale Technology

The Institute for Nanoscale Technology is a UTS advanced technology research concentration aligned to national science and technology priorities. Its research relates primarily to nanomaterials and devices for biocompatible or energy efficient applications, with major programs on artificial cell membranes and nanosensors, nanograined metals and ceramics, nanocoatings and surface texturing. Opportunities exist for research linking the enabling science and its engineering application.

For further information contact:

Key University Research Centre for Built Infrastructure Research

The Centre for Built Infrastructure Research (CBIR) encompasses multidisciplinary researchers from the faculties of Engineering; Science; and Design, Architecture and Building. It aims to develop new technologies to enhance the quality and performance of new infrastructure and to underpin cost-effective strategies for the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure. The Centre currently focuses on collaborative research with industry in areas which include the application of new advanced materials in construction; assessment, maintenance and remediation of structural performance; minimisation of hazard resulting from earthquake, wind or wave action; the assessment and health monitoring of timber bridges; and use of renewable materials and recycled construction and demolition materials.

For further information contact:

Key University Research Centre in Health Technologies

Continued advances in health care and quality of life in the future will come from new knowledge and innovative scientific/technological breakthroughs. The Centre's research team has an extensive national and international reputation in the field of health technologies. The Centre brings together complementary interdisciplinary research skills unique in Australia in the development of novel devices and intelligent systems for health technology applications.

Based on significant devices which have been developed by core members of the Centre (such as the Mind Switch and the Non-Invasive Hypoglycaemia Monitor) and numerous novel systems (such as microwave ablation of atrial fibrillation of cancer lesions, a predictive test for retinal damage, liver-directed gene therapy, assistive technology for severely disabled people, detection of driver fatigue, early detection of breast cancer and fusion of tomology images), an ambitious program has been developed to enhance the capacity to deal with major illnesses in terms of effective prediction, diagnosis and rehabilitation. The focus of the group is on the study of health and disease processes, and the development of new devices and advanced techniques for the prediction, diagnosis and rehabilitation of lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders and cancer.

For further information contact:

University Research Group for Intelligent Mechatronic and Energy Systems

The aim of the University Research Group for Intelligent Mechatronic and Energy Systems (IMES) is to focus the University's research effort in intelligent systems into four strategic interdisciplinary areas encompassing mechatronics and energy systems: autonomous robots, automobile systems, electrical vehicles and artificial hearts.

Recent progress in intelligent systems research at UTS has made it opportune to build up a multidisciplinary team to undertake innovative fundamental research and develop practical implementations in these four application domains. The research program of the group exploits the existing expertise of the core and associate members in system modelling and synthesis, sensing, estimation, control and embedded computer systems.

For further information contact:

ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems

This Centre 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 the Centre for Autonomous Systems 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 and entertainment.

For further information contact:

Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics

The Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics is principally concerned with electrical variable speed drives and generation of electricity using rotating electrical machines and renewable sources (wind, 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.

Research topics cover:

• new models for analysis and design (electrical, thermal, mechanical)
• new control techniques (new theories and computer processors)
• new practical designs for commercialisation (new materials and components)
• new processes relevant to remote areas and developing nations (local organisations, high reliability).

Major interdisciplinary projects include:

• 2.5–20kW electric generators and controllers for wind turbines for remote area power supplies
• 40kW hydroelectric scheme for Solomon Islands
• very low-cost, efficient variable-speed drive for small fan motors
• implantable rotary blood pump with integrated motor, impeller and bearings
• brushless, doubly-fed, twin-stator drive for large fans and pumps
• 40kW brushless motor controllers and battery chargers for 105-seat hybrid electric ferry.

For further information contact:

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.

For further information contact: