2018 SUBject Guide EBESS

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The University of Queensland
Electrically Based Engineering Student Society
2018 SUBJECT GUIDE
THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
St. Lucia
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
1
Contents
About this guide ...................................................................................................................... 2
About EBESS .............................................................................................................................. 3
2018 EBESS Executive ............................................................................................................... 4
The EBESS Committee ............................................................................................................. 5
2018 Events Calendar ............................................................................................................. 6
Membership ............................................................................................................................. 7
Part I: Compulsory Courses Overview ................................................................................... 8
2nd Year Compulsory Courses ............................................................................................ 8
3rd Year Compulsory Courses ............................................................................................. 8
4th Year Compulsory Courses .............................................................................................. 9
Part II: Course Reviews .......................................................................................................... 10
2nd Year Compulsory Courses .......................................................................................... 10
3nd Year Compulsory Courses .......................................................................................... 20
4th Year Compulsory Courses ........................................................................................... 26
Part III: Advanced and Coverage Electives ...................................................................... 31
Advanced Electives (AE) .................................................................................................. 32
Coverage Electives (CE) ................................................................................................... 32
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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About this guide
The 2018 EBESS subject guide has been created to help all EBESS members make
informed decisions about their subject choices. It is a comprehensive guide to the
core courses that electrical engineering students are required to take in their
undergraduate degree.
As the Electrically Based Engineering Student Society, EBESS caters to not just Electrical
engineering students, but to all student engineers studying in similar fields; this includes
Electrical & Biomedical, Electrical & Computer, Software and Mechatronic majors, as
well as our friends doing similar degrees such as computer science and I.T.
This guide is divided into three main sections:
Part I: Compulsory Courses Overview contains a condensed outline of the compulsory
courses that must be completed by students completing the BE in Electrical
Engineering as a single major.
Part II: Course Reviews contains detailed reviews of all compulsory courses required
for students completing the BE (Hons) in Electrical Engineering as a single major. Due
to the sheer number of different courses offered in the other electrical-related majors,
this guide focuses solely on the courses for the Electrical Single Major – our most
popular program.
The subjects listed in this category have been assigned an overall rating (out of a
maximum of 5) that reflects the overall enjoyment, difficulty and organisation of the
course. These ratings have been gathered in consultation with past students, and only
reflect personal experiences of the courses – your mileage may vary!
Also included in this section is key course information, assessment pieces and reviews
collated from past students and 2018 course profiles. Again, these reviews are based
on the personal experiences of previous students so don’t be shocked if you find a
less-than-favourable review of your favourite subject!
Part III: Electives Contains a full list of Advanced Electives (AE) and Coverage Electives
(CE) available to Electrical majors, as well as guidelines to which ones you can choose
depending on your program.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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About EBESS
The Electrically Based Engineering Student Society (EBESS) is the premier student club
in Queensland for students studying electrical engineering and all its related majors.
The club specifically caters to students who study Electrical, Software, Electrical &
Biomedical, Electrical & Computer and Mechatronic engineering – although anyone
is welcome to join!
EBESS was founded back in 2011 amidst a renewal of the Engineering Undergraduate
Society (EUS). EBESS and the other affiliated engineering clubs are all subsidiary clubs
of EUS, which is an umbrella club that caters to all engineering students.
A young, dynamic and rapidly growing club, EBESS’s membership grew to a record
1050 students in 2017, a steady 10% increase over the previous year. In 2016 EBESS was
crowned Engineering Club of the Year by UQ Union, reflecting the outstanding events,
services and merchandise that EBESS offers to our members. In 2017 we were awarded
Ball of the Year at the annual Clubbie Awards, and we hope to improve on our
achievements in 2018!
EBESS prides itself on providing high-quality social, technical and industry-specific
events throughout the year to ensure that your university experience is as fun and
educational as possible. If you’d like to make new friends, learn new skills and find new
work opportunities in 2018, then don’t hesitate to join EBESS!
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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2018 EBESS Executive
President
Sam Bloom
Vice
President/Sponsorship
Aaron Barker-Smith
Secretary
Jonathan Garnier
Treasurer
Matt Scriven
Careers Officer
Martin Le Rossignol
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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Social Officer
Rizal Rinjani
Media Officer
Harry Stokes
IT & Technical Officer
Luca Robertson
The EBESS Committee
For those looking to get involved in the running of EBESS, an easy way to do so is to
join the EBESS Committee. The Committee is a group of EBESS members who voluntarily
assist the Executive in a number of ways, including helping to run fundraising BBQs,
liaising with staff and industry contacts, and developing new ideas for EBESS to offer.
As a Committee member, you can do as much or as little as you feel comfortable
with, whilst gaining valuable insight into how an engineering student society like EBESS
operates and what the roles of the Executive involve.
It provides a great way to enrich your social life and gain valuable organisational skills,
as well as a pathway to potential Executive roles in the future (although it’s definitely
not a prerequisite!). It shows potential employers that you have the initiative and
confidence to get involved in campus life, and most importantly, it enriches your
university experience far beyond the confines of the classroom.
If you’re keen to get involved, email our friendly execs at contact@uqebess.com.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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2018 Events Calendar
While professional development is key in any engineering degree, taking time out to
unwind outside of the lecture theatre or lab is equally as important. In 2017, EBESS kick-
started Semester 1 with a BBQ for new members and a super fun launch party. The
subsequent weeks saw useful tutorials and seminars to get you up to speed.
In Semester 2 our trivia night and 6-a-side soccer tournament kept the fun going, whilst
our industry events provided valuable networking opportunities. The year was finished
by our Moulin Rouge Ball, whilst SWOTVAC exam tutoring held in both semesters
helped our members achieve the results they wanted.
Check out our 2018 events calendar below, and be sure to follow us on Facebook
and Snapchat to keep up to date with all things EBESS. 2018 is going to be an exciting
year, and the EBESS executive team aim to provide you with #thEBESSt experience!
Semester 1
Semester 2
. Launch Party
Students have a chance to enjoy the
company of their peers before the grind of
University semester begins.
Week 1
Week 2
Launch Party
Another great event with your peers to kick
start the semester
LaTeX Tutorial
Dr. Joel Fenwick delivers his popular tutorial on
the powerful and widely used typesetting
program.
Week 4
Pub Crawl
A themed event which requires the most
daring of contenders, or the average joe and
his mates.
Dodgeball
Pick your teams, pack into the Connell
Gymnasium and get ready to dodge, dip,
duck, dive and…dodge!
Week 5
Week 6
Trivia Night
Many laughs are had and many friends are
made at the annual trivia night.
Careers & Beers Evening
Students meet, socialize and network with
multiple industry representatives in a relaxed
atmosphere.
End of Sem Party
Unwind before you have to lock yourself away
and study for exams.
Week 8
Week 10
Week 13
High Frequency Networking
A fun and fast-paced networking evening
with industry representatives
Super 6’s Soccer Tournament
Our annual social soccer tournament sees
teams from all across EBESS vie for the glory of
lifting a small plastic trophy
SWOTVAC Tutoring
Students can seek help from tutors for their
final exams.
Annual Ball
Hosted last year as the Moulin Rouge ball, this
is the highlight of the EBESS social calendar.
Week 14
End of Sem
SWOTVAC Tutoring
Students can seek help from tutors for their
final exams.
Mid Dec
Graduation Dinner
The graduating cohort, their family and friends
gather for a formal evening in the week prior
to graduation ceremonies.
+ many more!
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Membership
By joining EBESS in 2018, you’ll gain access to all our events, tutoring, and in an
engineering club first, access to our very own project kit! This electronics project kit is
aimed towards all members who want an opportunity to hone their soldering, circuit
theory and signal processing skills. EBESS members are able to purchase a
development kit with a PCB and components, then build and test their circuit with
guidance from the EBESS team. For more information, just email one of our friendly
execs (or talk to them in person!).
See us at Market Day to sign up and secure your membership. Should you miss us on
Market Day, you’ll be able to sign-up online at www.uqeus.com.au, or send us an
email at contact@uqebess.com
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Part I: Compulsory Courses Overview
A quick summary of ALL the compulsory courses required to be completed
in years 2, 3 and 4. This plan is for 2nd year students commencing the BE
(Hons) Electrical single major in 2017.
NOTE: If you’re enrolled (or planning to enrol) in one of the other majors,
you will only take some of the courses below – make sure to consult your
relevant course list by going to uq.edu.au/study and following the links.
2nd Year Compulsory Courses
Semester 1
Semester 2
PHYS1002
Electromagnetism & Modern Physics
CSSE2310
Computer Systems Principles &
Programming
CSSE2010
Intro to Computer Systems
ELEC2004
Circuits, Signals & Systems
ELEC2003
Electromechanics & Electronics
ENGG2800
Team Project 1
MATH2001
Advanced Calculus & Linear Algebra II
MATH2010/STAT2202
Analysis of Ordinary Differential Equations /
Probability Models for Engineering &
Science
3rd Year Compulsory Courses
Semester 1
Semester 2
CSSE3010
Embedded Systems Design & Interfacing
ELEC3100
Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Fields &
Waves
ELEC3004
Signals, Systems & Control
ELEC3300
Electrical Energy Conversion & Utilisation
ELEC3400
Electronic Circuits
ENGG3800
Team Project II
Advanced/Coverage Elective
Advanced/Coverage Elective
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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4th Year Compulsory Courses
Semester 1
Semester 2
ENGG4801/2/5
Thesis Project
ENGG4801/2/5
Thesis Project
Advanced/Coverage Elective
ENGG4900
Professional Practice and the Business
Environment
Advanced/Coverage Elective
Advanced/Coverage Elective
Advanced/Coverage Elective
Advanced/Coverage Elective
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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Part II: Course Reviews
2nd Year Compulsory Courses
Start your second year in electrical engineering with PHYS1002 which takes you on a
journey of relative proportions.
This then discretely leads into STAT2202 to finish off another year of electrical
engineering!
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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PHYS1002 – Electromagnetism and Modern Physics
Course rating:
Difficulty: 4/5
Enjoyableness: 3.6/5
Pre-requisites: MATH1050; PHYS1171 or Year 12 Physics
Course Description: PHYS1002 provides an introduction to 20th and 21st century
physics. The first two thirds of the course introduce you to electricity, then
magnetism, and then the unification of the two phenomena as electromagnetism.
The final third introduces general relativity and quantum theory.
Overall Review:
The content for this course forms the fundamental basis for the rest of electrical
engineering, and it is delivered in an extremely fast-paced, yet engaging manner. The
amount of time and effort required for this course is higher than most, and it forces
you to keep up with your textbook readings.
The weekly online quizzes will require you to understand the content thoroughly and
you will need to pass them all to pass the course. The assignments are conceptually
complex, but are not especially difficult mathematically; both they and the lab
reports require you to conform to certain physics-specific standards of
communication, so ask your tutor(s) plenty of questions to maximise your marks. All in
all, this course has a lot of interesting content, but is tempered by a high workload and
stringent communication standards.
EBESS Tips:
• Make sure you keep on top of weekly readings; Try to conceptually
understand the content since the reasoning behind how things happen is
what tutors/lecturers look for when marking your work.
• Record every piece of data you can get during lab sessions. They are
designed to make you explain the physics behind the experiment.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. End of Semester Exam
50%
A two hour written exam during exam block.
2. Reading Quiz
5%
Pre-lecture quiz due the evening before each
lecture.
3. Lab report and
experimental proposals
15%
Two written proposals and two full lab reports
based on completed experiments.
4. Assignments
15%
Three Assignments based on past exams.
5. Mastering Physics quizzes
15%
Tests the familiarity with the weekly readings
through online quizzes.
6. Lab Participation
Hurdle
Attendance and participation in labs.
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CSSE2010 - Introduction to Computer Systems
Course rating:
Difficulty: 3.25/5
Enjoyableness: 4.5/5
Prerequisites: There are no official pre-requisites required for this course
Course Description: CSSE2010 provides a ground-up introduction to how modern
computers work. The course starts with binary logic and logic gates, before
progressing to computer memory, systems organisation and architecture,
interfaces/communication, and finally microcontroller programming in C.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Mid-Semester Exam
10% or 20%
A mid-semester exam (open book multiple choice)
held at the end of weeks six, eight or nine.
2. Online Quizzes
10%
11 Weekly online quizzes due at 8am Monday.
3. Practical Exam
Pass/Fail
An exam covering material and ideas from
practical activities in weeks 1 to 4. Held in week 5.
4. Project
20%
A project undertaken by students where they
develop a program for the AVR microcontroller.
5. End of Semester Exam
60% or 50%
A two hour open book final examination held in
exam block.
Overall Review:
CSSE2010 is an extremely well-organised course which offers you a challenging yet
rewarding introduction to the fundamentals of programming and computer science.
By starting at binary logic and steadily building your knowledge, the course provides
you with a deep understanding of how computers are constructed and how software
interacts with hardware. The final project puts all of this theory into practice as you are
asked to add software features to a game which runs on a small microcontroller.
The course introduces a large amount of challenging new content, but the multiple
small pieces of assessment allow you to keep up fairly easily if you put in the work.
Overall, CSSE2010 is an excellent course, and will likely be one of the most enjoyable
ones you take in your undergraduate degree.
EBESS Tips:
• Do the online quizzes each week to keep up with the content
• Use the prac classes wisely to practice your circuit-building and programming
• Start the final project ASAP, try to do a little bit every day, and ask for help!
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ELEC2003 - Electromechanics and Electronics
Course rating:
Difficulty: 3/5
Enjoyableness: 3.25/5
Prerequisites: ENGG1300
Course Description: ELEC2003 introduces AC circuit theories including real and
reactive power concepts, electromagnetic fields and their applications in electrical
machines. It includes basic principles of a solar PV system, physical models of
semiconductor devices, and common electronic circuits using discrete
semiconductor devices.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Practical Lab Work
20%
Pracs are marked using attendance, participation
and performance in labs. A lab workbook
maintained by students may be used for marking by
tutors.
2. Tutorial Exercise
15%
The best five out of six overall tutorials are used for
this assessment piece.
3. Mid semester Exam
10%
Ac circuit analysis will be testing on the exam in a
problem-solving format.
4. End of Semester
Exam
55%
A final end of semester exam will test all material
covered in the course.
Overall Review:
This course is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on honing your skills in circuit
analysis and is essentially an extension of ENGG1300. The second part focuses on
discrete semiconductor components like transistors and diodes. Both are equally
interesting and conceptually easy to understand, since the lecturers and tutors go
over many detailed examples. The practical sessions are designed to put into practice
what you cover in lectures during the semester.
Everything comes together near the end of the course when you understand WHY
you were soldering a transistor on the given PCBs and understand HOW it all fits in with
the theory. The most interesting part of the course is definitely the photo-voltaic
practical session. The downsides to this course is that the lectures are set in a two-hour
stream – so be prepared to listen to your lecturer from start to finish… or re-watch the
lecture online!
EBESS Tips:
• Make sure you attend your tutorial sessions! Honing your skills in circuit analysis
is key for this course and the tutors are always there to help.
• Professor Tapan Saha runs the first part of this course and is notorious for his
trick questions in his section of the exam. Always double check the question!
• The textbook for this course is very helpful and is also found online.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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MATH2001 – Advanced Calculus and linear Algebra
Course rating:
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Enjoyableness: 2.6/5
Prerequisites: MATH1051 and MATH1052.
Course Description: MATH2001 begins with calculus concepts including second
order differential equations, variation of parameters, multi-dimensional calculus,
surface & volume integrals and Stoke's & Green's theorems. The second part focuses
on linear algebra, including diagonalization, matrix transformations and quadratic
forms. Contact classes introduce vector spaces and inner products, maxima and
minima points in N-dimensions, and method of least squares for functions.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Assignments
30%
A total of six assignments worth 5% each that
are released as the course progresses.
2. End of Semester Exam
70%
A final examination at the end of the semester
which spans the entire course content.
Overall Review:
The difficulty of MATH2001 is akin to the difficulty of previous mathematics courses
like MATH1051/1052, upon which it continues to build. Like these previous courses,
MATH2001 devotes the first half to calculus concepts and the second to linear
algebra; it also has a weekly contact class in which the more difficult and abstract
content is taught – this content is the difference between MATH2000 and MATH2001.
Like most maths courses, the course workbook is simply worked through in lectures,
making progress easy to follow. Assignments marking is handled well and marks are
posted on blackboard for students to access. The downside of this course is that the
contact class content is delivered without slides, which forces students to quickly copy
down the proofs covered in the allotted time. That said, this course is like most maths
courses at UQ: well-structured, straightforward, conceptually challenging but easy to
do well in if you put in consistent effort.
EBESS Tips:
• final exams have varied in difficulty in the past few years so you’ll have a wide
selection of past papers to use in your study for the course.
• Even though each assignment is only worth 5% each, make sure you get the
most marks from all of them – you’ll need to bank marks before the heavily-
weighted final exam.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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CSSE2310 – Computer Systems Principals and Programming
Course rating:
Difficulty: 5/5
Enjoyableness: 2/5
Prerequisites: CSSE1001 + CSSE2010
Course Description: CSSE2310 is an introduction to UNIX, the principles of computer
systems (networks and operating systems) and systems programming in C. It covers
operating systems principles, memory management, basics of machine
organization, file systems, processes & threads and interprocess communication. The
course also covers computer networks principles, including topologies & models of
computer networks, protocols, network programming, and network applications.
Assessment
Type
Weight
Description
1. Assignment one
25% of total assignment
mark
Requires the completion of one or more C
programming exercises.
2. Assignment two
25% of total assignment
mark
A debugging assignment that focusses on
reverse engineering a solution.
3. Mid-Semester exam
15% or 30% of total exam
mark
An open book mid semester exam held
during lecture times.
4. Assignment three
25% of total assignment
mark
Requires development of an application
which interacts with a UNIX file system
using processes and threads.
5. Assignment four
25% of total assignment
mark
Requires writing of a network application.
6. End of Semester Exam
85% or 70% of exam mark
An open book final exam.
Overall Review:
This course is designed to help boost your knowledge in the principals of modern
computer systems. The lecture material isn’t hard to understand and the lecturer, Joel
Fenwick, tries to make sure that all students are on the same page.
This course has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult, which is almost entirely
due to the programming assignments. They force you to code efficiently and this is
where the real learning happens. Thankfully, the exams are a lot easier than
assignments since they are predictable. CSSE2310 is somewhat of a trial by fire: the
assignments are very challenging, but you will learn a lot and come out the other side
with your coding skills significantly enhanced.
EBESS Tips:
• Attend all lectures since they are not recorded.
• Doing well in the first two assignments helps you overall near the end when
assignment get considerably harder.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ELEC2004 – Circuits, Signals and Systems
Course rating:
Difficulty: 3/5
Enjoyableness: 3.4/5
Prerequisites: ELEC1300
Course Description: Mathematical models of electrical components, circuits &
systems. Time & frequency response of AC circuits. Building complex systems from
subsystems, including feedback. Signal theory & filter design. Theoretical
investigations, substantial case studies & laboratory experiments.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Homework Assignments
10%
Problem sets which are given out 4 times during
the semester, based on lectures and tutorials.
2. Mid-Semester practical
exam
10%
A 45 minute exam requiring students to
reproduce and explain a key result from previous
practical session.
3. Mid-Semester theory
exam
20%
A closed book theory examination.
4. Design Challenge
Report
20%
A 15-page report on the solution to the design
challenge. Done in conjunction with a practical
partner.
5. End of Semester Exam
40%
A closed book final examination.
Overall Review:
This course is divided into two main parts. The first half, circuits, concentrates on what
is essentially revision from previous courses (ENGG1300 and ELEC2003) and is assessed
in the mid-semester exam. The second part of the course (signals and systems) is new
content which provides practical applications for the Laplace transform and Fourier
series covered in courses such as MATH2010. The design challenge requires you to
work in pairs and runs over the course of three short practical sessions, which is a
significant test of your time management skills. The exams are not overly difficult and
the format is consistent from year to year. Overall, the course requires plenty of work
to become good at solving circuit problems, but is not too hard conceptually.
EBESS Tips:
• Be sure to participate in your weekly tutes! Worked examples help a lot in this
course since they reinforce the theory.
• During the design challenge, utilise practical time with tutors wisely, since this
is limited. Time management is key.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ENGG2800 – Team Project I
Course rating:
Difficulty: 5/5
Enjoyableness: 3/5
Prerequisites: CSSE2010 + ENGG1300 + CSSE1001
Course Description: Small teams of 4 or fewer students undertake design,
implementation, testing, evaluation & presentation of specific project.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Peer Assessment
Incorporated
in product
mark
A peer assessment factor that is used to
calculate individual marks similar to ENGG1100.
2. Schematic and PCB
7.5% Pass/Fail
Completion of a working circuit element from a
supplied design specification.
3. Report
5% Pass/Fail
A detailed document that includes design
specifications/project timelines/ job allocations
etc.
4. Completion of WHS
requirements
Pass/Fail
Required to enter laboratory.
5. Seminar I
15%
A similar 10 minute presentation
6. Product Demo
65% Pass/Fail
Teams are required to demonstrate the product
based on specifications. This will happen 3 times
during the semester.
7. Final Report & Reflection
7.5%
A brief restatement of the roles of members and
an individual summary of the background,
methods and results of work.
Overall review:
This is a very demanding course by itself and is made more difficult when coupled with
CSSE2310. It is structured so that your team is required to deliver multiple seminars and
asks you to build a complex device with a randomly allocated team of 3-4 students.
If you put in the effort, this will be an extremely rewarding course, and the knowledge
that it gives you can and will be invaluable. The major downside to this course is that
the quality of you group can largely determines your experience (and final grade).
EBESS Tips:
• Tutors are especially helpful but do not solely rely on their help.
• Adhering to the budget is also equally important since going a single dollar
over can cap your mark to a 4.
• Time management is KEY for this course. Learn to do this effectively early on.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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MATH2010 – Analysis of advanced Ordinary Differential Equations
Course rating:
Difficulty: 2/5
Enjoyableness: 2.4/5
Prerequisites: MATH1052
Course Description: ODE's and Laplace Transforms. Variation of constants,
fundamental matrix. Laplace transform, transform for systems, transfer function.
Stability, asymptotic stability; phase plane analysis.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Assignments
30%
Two assignments worth 15% each
2. Final Exam
70%
A written exam held during the final exam
period.
Overall Review:
The course content of MATH2010 is relatively trivial to understand when compared to
other math courses such as MATH2000. ODE’s once again are prevalent in this course
and having a sound knowledge of MATH2000 definitely helps. The concept of Laplace
transforms will be introduced here, which form the foundation of upcoming electrical
engineering courses such as ELEC2004 and ELEC3004.
The upside of this course is that it runs for only the first half of the semester; the
downside is that the final exam is at the end of the semester, meaning you’ll tend to
neglect studying – especially if you are taking ENGG2800 and CSSE2310 concurrently.
Neglecting this course because it is only a 1-unit course is definitely NOT a good idea
– that said, the familiarity of the concepts and relatively light workload will make it one
of the easier courses you’ll take.
EBESS Tips:
• Put in plenty of effort into the assignments to bank maximum marks
• Make sure you revise regularly during the second half of the semester in
preparation for the final
• If you plan on taking this alongside ENGG2800 and CSSE2310, invest in a solid
study plan. This will be your hardest semester yet.
• Tutorial questions are usually harder than the final exam questions – they and
past exam papers are both great study resources.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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STAT2202 – Probability Models for Engineering and Science
Course rating:
Difficulty: 2.4/5
Enjoyableness: 2/5
Prerequisites: MATH1051
Course Description: Probability models & applications in engineering & science,
including basic probability theory, distributions & their properties, transform methods,
construction of probability models, reliability, joint distributions, random processes:
queues, Markov processes, Gaussian processes & weakly stationary processes.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Assignments
30%
A total of five assignments worth 6% each
2. Final Exam
70%
A written exam held during the final exam
block.
Overall Review:
This course can easily overwhelm you if you don’t invest the right amount of time in it.
During the first few weeks, the course seems trivial enough but as it progresses, the
concepts become more challenging to grasp and equally as hard to apply to
questions. The formula sheet that is available on Blackboard/Dropbox is the heart and
soul of this course; It contains everything that you need and memorising where which
particular formula is will save you precious minutes during the final exam.
Staying on top of the weekly quizzes in tutorials is very helpful: most tutors who conduct
the weekly quizzes go over a question that is reasonably similar to the weekly quiz. At
the end of the day, having a conceptual understanding of the course content is KEY
to this course. Going over past exam papers simply will not be able to get you through
the final exam.
EBESS Tips:
• The assignment questions are fairly tedious at times but can be done within a
couple of hours. Getting them done early gives you time to work on ENGG2800.
• Make sure you understand the content covered every week. Most of the
content builds on itself and leads onto more complicated concepts.
• The tutorials help reinforce the lectures and the tutors are always there to help.
If you end up missing your tutorial, you can always attend another one during
the week. Don’t rely on tutorials being empty however, as tutors do have to
reject students who aren’t registered in their timeslot if it gets too full.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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3nd Year Compulsory Courses
Start off your 3rd Year by embedding yourself in front of a computer working on
CSSE3010!
Following this, ELEC3100 will introduce you to Aleksandar whose magnetizing
performance will bring back the fondest memories of PHYS1002!
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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CSSE3010 – Embedded Systems Design & Interfacing
Course rating:
Difficulty: 4/5
Enjoyableness: 4/5
Prerequisites: (CSSE2310 or COMP2303) + ELE2004
Course Description: Microcontroller system hardware and software. C programming
for embedded microcontroller and peripheral devices. Principles and practice of
using Embedded RTOS (Real Time Operating System) and peripheral devices such as
sensors and actuators to build a small embedded system. Peripheral interfacing
methods and standards. Analogue-digital conversion methods and interfacing.
Basics of digital communication signals, modulation schemes and error correction
methods. Data compression, formats for audio, image and video coding.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Project stage sessions
Pass/Fail
Individual weekly project development that is
continually assessed.
2. Project 1
25%
A project that follows the specifications set out
on Blackboard and is assessed in week 6 labs.
3. Practical Exam
10%
Practical exam held during weekly lab sessions
4. Project 2 demo
30%
A practical demonstration of the second project
that is assessed in week 13.
5. Final Exam
35%
A written exam that assesses the theoretical parts
of the course.
Overall Review:
This is an intense course, but one of the best courses you will ever do. The course treats
you not as a student, but as an embedded systems engineer. This therefore means
that your programming needs to be at an intermediate to an advanced level.
Spending the holidays brushing up on your skills is highly recommended if you aren’t
feeling confident for this course. It is predominantly a design course, consisting of three
main programming assignments; these are difficult to complete, but very interesting
and you will have a lot of fun developing them. Falling behind on these projects is
something that you don’t want to do, so use your TP1 skills to keep on top!
EBESS Tips:
• The first few assignments are used in the later parts of the course, so make
sure you start well to prepare yourself!
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
22
ELEC3004 – Signals, Systems & Control
Course rating:
Difficulty: 4/5
Enjoyableness: 4/5
Prerequisites: ELEC2004 + STAT2202
Course Description: Discrete-time signals & systems, system properties (linearity, time-
invariance, memory, causality, stability), sampling & reconstruction, A/D and D/A
converters, DFT/FFT, z transform, stochastic processes, frequency-selective filters,
effect of feedback, introduction to control.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Demonstration lab 1
10%
Demonstrate lab task during lab time. Marks
awarded based on tasks completed.
2. Signals problem set
15%
Exercises on signals and systems
3. Demonstration lab 2
10%
Same as previous lab demonstration
4. Control problem set
15%
Exercises on control
5. Final Exam
50%
A written final exam done during exam block.
Overall Review:
The content from this course is far more abstract and concept-heavy compared to
most of the electrical engineering courses offered at UQ. Past students have
described Dr Singh’s teaching style as very American, in that he provides you with
large amounts of content in lectures which you will have to keep on top of. That said,
the lecturer is very dedicated to students, having made a separate website with
much-improved access to course materials. Assignments in the past have been
conceptually driven, are not too challenging mathematically; if you make a good
attempt at the assignments, you can do very well in this course.
The downside of the course is that since it is concept-heavy, past exam papers are
not similar and you do not know what to expect on the exam. Assignments must be
written in LaTeX, and are submitted using an online system called Platypus. Whilst this
is time-consuming initially, it is eventually beneficial since LaTeX is a useful and widely-
used document editing system. The best way to approach ELEC3004 is to try very hard
in all the assignments. This sets you up for a 5 or higher!
EBESS Tips:
• You can get bonus marks from the optional lab sessions. Free marks!
• Practice your LaTeX skills in the holidays to prepare for the assignments
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ELEC3400 – Electronic Circuits
Course rating:
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Enjoyableness: 5/5
Prerequisites: ELEC2003 + (ELEC2004 or MATH2001)
Course Description: Detailed examination of electrical & electronic circuit analysis &
synthesis tools & techniques such as the Laplace transform, nodal analysis & two port
network theory. Examples of use in analysis & design of amplifiers, filters, oscillators &
other circuits.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. In class quiz
10%
A 90-minute mid semester quiz held during class
time. A one sided A4 sheet of notes is allowed.
2. Final Exam
50%
A three hour long final examination. A double
sided A4 sheet of notes is allowed.
3. OH&S tasks
Pass/Fail
Students that do not complete these tasks will not
be able to attend laboratory sessions.
4. Lab Demonstration
20%
A random laboratory which has already been
completed in prior sessions will be allocated for a
7.5 minute exam.
5. End of Semester
Project
Demonstration
20%
A team project based on an analogue electronics
design project.
6. Electronics Design
Project Report
Supplementary
assessment
A report based on the end of semester project
demonstration. Only applicable if end of semester
demonstration was failed
7. Peer Assessment
Used to
calculate final
mark
Similar to previous engineering projects, a PAF is
utilized to ensure that efforts by individual members
are reflected accordingly to their marks.
Overall Review:
ELEC3400 has a reputation for being one the hardest courses to complete, but also
one of the most interesting and rewarding you will ever take. The content is delivered
in a very relevant and industry-focused way, and is well taught by the lecturer, Dr Phil
Terrill, and the tutors. This course puts all of your skills from previous years into practice.
Dr Terrill recommends students commit at least 10 – 12 hours per week towards this
course, due largely to the lab sessions which take up most of your time. These lab
sessions are great for enhancing theoretical knowledge, and equipping you with the
skills you need for your team design project due at the end of the semester. Getting
started on the project early is essential, as is paying attention to content in lectures.
EBESS Tips:
• The tutorials are all worked out and solutions are provided.
• Be sure to use the tutors during lab sessions to the fullest extent.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ELEC3300 – Electrical Energy Conversion & Utilisation
Course rating:
Difficulty: 3/5
Enjoyableness: 2/5
Prerequisites: ELEC2003
Course Description: ELEC3300 covers electricity generation and energy conversion
issues including AC machines, DC machines, transformers, three phase analysis,
demand side management and recent development in electric power engineering
such as renewables and distributed generation.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Lab practical
assessment
15%
A practical assessment of the course content
divided into four lab sessions.
2. Tutorial Assessment
15%
A total of eight tutorials testing student
understanding of the material covered in lectures.
3. Mid-Semester exam
20%
In class mid semester exam that covers the first half
of course material.
4. Final exam
50%
Overall assessment of entire course material.
Overall Review:
This course reinforces content covered in ELEC2003 by revising transformers,
harmonics, and steady state analysis of AC circuits. Synchronous & induction
machines and modern motor control systems are some of the ‘newer’ topics. The first
third of the course is mostly revision, with transformers covered in great detail. The next
two-thirds of the course is completely new material and Mithulan covers them fairly
quickly. The final exam is typically quite repetitive so past papers are a must when
studying.
The downside of this course it can be hard for students to follow the lecturer at times.
Students who learn better through practical applications and hands on learning will
find themselves doing more individual research, as there is very limited lab work. The
lecturer covers all topics in the lectures but it is done lightly, so students will have to try
to pay attention to his every word – very specific definition based questions often get
assessed in the mid-semester and final exams.
EBESS Tips:
• Many of the tutorials questions are readily available online and this reinforces
learning
• The lecturer is always happy to answer any questions
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ELEC3100 – Fundamentals of Electronic Fields & Waves
Course rating:
Difficulty: 4/5
Enjoyableness: 3/5
Prerequisites: ELEC2003 + MATH2001
Course Description: Fundamentals of electromagnetics including transmission lines,
time varying fields, plane waves, radiation, waveguides & basic antennas, radar
fundamentals. Applications in area of satellite communications & radar sensors.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Problem
Demonstration
20%
An oral presentation of a problem selected from the
tutorial for a particular session. A total of ten ‘sign-
offs’ are required for this piece of assessment.
2. Laboratory report
10%
Carried out in small groups. Calculations and studies
prior to the marking session must be completed and
then explained during the session.
3. Mid-Semester Exam
10%
A written exam during a tutorial session which covers
only the transmission line part of the course. Smith
charts are provided.
4. Final Exam
60%
A 3-hour final contains a mix of short answer
questions and analytical questions. It covers all the
material from the course but with emphasis on
material after the mid semester.
Overall Review:
ELEC3100 is an introduction to communications engineering. It is taught in a very
theoretical fashion, with no practical component to the course, meaning it is highly
mathematical and calculations based. Tutorial sheets are released each week, and
these are the best way to study for the course. They are accompanied by very
thorough solutions, and are very similar to the types of questions that appear in exams.
The course is generally well organised, and Aleks is extremely friendly and
approachable. He regularly invites feedback on how students are finding the course.
The major disadvantage of ELEC3100 is that there is no practical content. Due to the
highly abstract content, this means that some concepts may take longer to sink in. It
also means you’ll definitely need to keep on top of the lecture and tutorial content.
EBESS Tips:
• The Notaros textbook is a good resource for the course, as it is the source of
many tutorial/exam questions, and lectures are structured based on it.
• Make sure you attend all workshop sessions, as this will give you an easy 10% of
the course grades.
• Exam papers tend to remain very similar from year to year, so past papers are
a must when it comes to studying for the final.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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4th Year Compulsory Courses
This is it! Your last year studying at UQ! Make it a great year by choosing an
interesting thesis topic (possibly with your favourite lecturer), and by taking some
electives on topics you’ve always been excited to learn about.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ENGG4810 – Team Project II
Course rating:
Difficulty:
Enjoyableness:
Prerequisites: ENGG2800; CSSE3010 or CSSE2002 recommended
Course Description: Small teams of students undertake design, implementation,
testing, evaluation & presentation of a complete product.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Peer Assessment
Incorporated
into final mark
A PAF taken into consideration when calculating
final marks.
2. Completion of OH&S
Pass/Fail
A risk assessment that is completed by ALL
students.
3. Group work
management
Pass/Fail
A group assignment that outlines how group
members will conduct themselves over the
semester.
4. Preliminary demo
10%
Your partially completed product will be assessed
by stuff. You will be assessed by progress and
personally contribution
5. Intermediate demo
10%
The next demo after preliminary, both have the
same process
6. Seminar
10%
Each team presents a progress seminar approx. 10
– 12 minutes long in week 8.
7. Product Demo
65%
This demo mark will be based mainly on
functionality and performance of the product.
8. Final Report
5%
An individual report to be submitted by in week 13.
Overall Review:
Like all team projects, what you get out of this subject depends on what you put in.
TP2 is a more advanced version of TP1, so the same advice applies: start ASAP and
consistently put in time and effort. This is a difficult course, due to its largely self-taught
nature and the amount of physical construction and testing you will have to do.
The amount of effort made by all the team members ultimately governs what you as
a team, and especially you as an individual, get out at the end. At the end of the day
like ENGG2800, it’s luck of the draw with team members, so just try your best to do your
work well and be a good team member. The course has been specifically designed
to challenge final year students, so start the work early!
EBESS Tips:
• Like all team projects, start work as early as possible.
• Ask plenty of questions of your tutors
• Keep communication open and frequent between members of your group
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ENGG4900 – Professional Practice and the Business Environment
Course rating:
Difficulty:
Enjoyableness:
Recommended Pre-requisites: N.A.
Course Description: ENGG4900 is designed to give students the knowledge needed
to effect change and implement design solutions in the real world. The course
teaches you cost-benefit analyses; risk and uncertainty; the economic, social,
environmental and ethical drivers for investment decision-making relevant to
engineering projects; and the factors acting as barriers to technology uptake.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Participation in
tutorials
5%
Grade based on active participation in class and
tutorials.
2. Assignments
85%
Six assignments to be completed over the whole
semester.
3. Presentation
5%
Groups present one assignment during the
semester. 10 minutes in length
4. Online Quiz
5%
Online quiz held in class consisting of 30 quiz type
questions.
Overall Review:
ENGG4900 is a less technical course which is designed to teach you the business and
project management skills required in professional engineering environment. Previous
feedback paints this course as a combination of great guest lecturers and poorly
designed assessment tasks. The group work in the course requires students to work
together on case study topics that are given out by the lecturer. These case studies
range from researching new biofuels, to off-grid power options for a regional hospital,
and are essentially large, time-consuming reports.
The biggest downside of this course would be the lack of clear communication
regarding assessment and criteria, which is key in any course that requires group work.
That said, if you put in plenty of work and make an effort to co-operate with your
group members – much like in the real world – it’s possible to do quite well.
EBESS Tips:
• Past students have observed blackboard misbehaving in regards to
assignment submissions. Avoid this and simply email assignments to the relevant
tutors/lecturer.
• When emailing assignments, make it clear to the person involved that you
were either submitting for your entire group or just for yourself.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ENGG4801/2 – Thesis Project
Course rating:
Restrictions: Restricted to final year students.
Incompatible: COMP4801 or COMP4802 or COMP4807 or COMP4808 or ELEC4801 or
ELEC4802 or 3E400 or 3E401 or 3E491 or 3E492
Relevant Background: The required academic background knowledge is usually
specified in the various project descriptions.
Course Co-ordinator: Dr Larissa Meinicke (l.meinicke@uq.edu.au)
Course Description: Thesis on subject selected or approved by Head of School.
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Online Quiz
Pass/Fail
An online academic integrity tutorial.
2. Project Proposal
10%
A clear15 page project proposal which defines the
thesis topic and presents a review of relevant
background material and such.
3. Progress Seminar
15%
An oral presentation of the key content of the
research and progress of work conducted.
4. Seminar Attendance
Pass/Fail
A total of 5 other progress seminars must be
attended by the student.
5. Poster and
Demonstration
25%
A verbal and visual presentation of results of the
research conducted.
6. Thesis
50%
A report that should facilitate assessment by
persons other than the supervisor.
Overall Review:
The purpose of ENGG4801 is to develop your research and problem-solving skills. The
course involves the specification, development and evaluation of an individual
research project on a specific topic or problem within the broad fields of electrical,
computer systems, software and mechatronics engineering.
As a year-long, individual project, your thesis is essentially what you make of it. This
means systematically planning and managing your project, and clearly presenting
your work and its significance in the context of the current literature and prior art. It’s
a great opportunity to create something in an area that you’re truly interested in, but
requires a large amount of time and effort to produce something worthwhile.
EBESS Tips:
• Before writing the thesis proposal, make sure you do most of the coursework
and do an extensive literature review.
• You should also have a solid understanding on the background materials AND
previous research done by other researchers in the same field.
• Develop two/three topics first and finally focus on a topic to further develop.
• Write a thesis that you can manage within your present resource and
timeframe since it is the beginning of scholarly work.
• Set aside drafts every few weeks that you can run by your supervisor.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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ENGG4805 – Thesis Project
Course rating:
Restrictions: Restricted to final year students.
Incompatible: ENGG4801 or ENGG4802
Course Description: Thesis on subject selected or approved by Head of School.
Students completing in one semester enrol in ENGG4805. This code is intended for
special cases including CEED projects. Usually, students commencing thesis in
Semester 1 enrol in ENGG4801 for semester 1 and semester 2; students commencing
in Semester 2 enrol in ENGG4802 for semester 2 and the following semester 1.
Relevant Background: The required academic background knowledge is usually
specified in the various project descriptions.
Course Co-ordinator: Prof Peter Lindsay (p.lindsay@uq.edu.au)
Assessment Type
Weight
Description
1. Online Quiz
Pass/Fail
An online academic integrity tutorial.
2. Project Proposal
20%
A clear15 page project proposal which defines the
thesis topic and presents a review of relevant
background material and such.
3. Final Presentation
30%
4. Thesis
50%
A report that should facilitate assessment by
persons other than the supervisor.
Overall Review:
See ENGG4801/2.
EBESS Tips:
• Preparation for this course is VERY much similar to the preparation for
ENGG4801/2
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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Part III: Advanced and Coverage Electives
For students doing a single major in the Bachelor of Engineering, electives are
divided into two areas. Firstly, students must take a minimum of 3 courses (6 units)
from the Part B: Advanced Electives (AE) list, which is comprised of advanced
electrical engineering courses.
Students must then take a total of 6 courses (12 units) from free electives. These
electives can be any courses that UQ offers (including any Advanced Electives and
Coverage Electives on the Electrical course list), but there are some restrictions:
• A minimum of 2 courses (4 units) must be on the BE program list (i.e.
engineering courses, in any discipline);
• Also, a maximum of 2 courses (4 units) can be level 1 courses, which are
course codes starting with 1 such as ECON1010;
• No courses which are incompatible with compulsory/elective courses in your
major.
Otherwise, feel free to broaden your horizons and take some courses in other areas
such as economics, commerce and more!
If you are enrolled in an extended major (e.g. Mechatronics) or dual major (e.g.
Electrical & Computer), the rules are slightly different due to the greater number of
compulsory courses.
Students in both of these programs generally only have 2 courses (4 units) available
for free electives; most courses are compulsory courses or Advanced/Coverage
electives, the exact combination of which depends on your major. Mechatronics
students, for example, have 5 courses (10 units) of Advanced electives, whilst
Electrical & Biomedical students have just 4 courses.
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
32
Advanced Electives (AE)
Course Code
Units
Course Title
• COMS4103
2
Photonics
• COMS4104
2
Microwave Engineering
• COMS4105
2
Communication Systems
• CSSE4010
2
Digital System Design
• ELEC4300
2
Power Systems Analysis
• ELEC4400
2
Advanced Electronic & Power Electronics Design
• ELEC4620
2
Digital Signal Processing
• ELEC4630
2
Image Processing and Computer Vision
• METR4201
2
Introduction to Control Systems
• METR4202
2
Advanced Control & Robotics
Coverage Electives (CE)
Course Code
Units
Course Title
• COMP4702
2
Machine Learning
• COMS3200
2
Computer Networks I
• COMS4200
2
Computer Networks II
• CSSE2002
2
Programming in the Large
• CSSE4011
2
Advanced Embedded Systems
• ELEC4000
2
Special Topics in Electrical Engineering 4A
• ELEC4001
2
Special Topics in Electrical Engineering 4B
• ELEC4302
2
Power System Protection
• ELEC4320
2
Modern Asset Management and Condition
Monitoring in Power System
• ELEC4403
2
Medical & Industrial Instrumentation
• ELEC4601
2
Medical Imaging
• ENGG4000
2
Introduction to Systems Engineering
• ENGG4800
2
Project Management
2018 EBESS Subject Guide
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Thanks for reading
EBESS hopes this has been a very useful and informative guide to your subjects and
university life at UQ. Congratulations on starting, continuing or finishing an Electrical
engineering-based degree. We look forward to seeing you around campus and at
our numerous events. Don’t be afraid to engage with the friendly executive team as
they are here to help. Let’s make 2018 #thEBESSt year of your University life!

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