Renewable energy and cutting carbon emissions now top the global environmental agenda. This programme addresses the fundamentals of renewable energy and shows how solar, wind and other such energy sources can be efficiently integrated into practical power systems.
You’ll study core power engineering topics such as power electronic converters, machines and control alongside modules specific to renewable energy sources, on topics like power system modelling, analysis and power converters.
At the same time, you’ll study a unique set of modules on the efficient generation of electricity from solar and wind power, as well as integrating renewable generators into micro-grids, with stability analysis and active power management. Power electronics design is covered in depth, including conventional and emerging converter topologies and advances in semiconductor power devices.
You’ll be prepared to meet the renewable energy challenges of the 21st century in a wide range of careers.
School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Our School is an exciting and stimulating environment where you’ll learn from leading researchers in specialist facilities. These include our Keysight Technologies wireless communications lab, as well as labs for embedded systems, power electronics and drives.
Depending on your choice of research project, you may also have access to our labs in ultrasound and bioelectronics or our Terahertz photonics lab, class 100 semiconductor cleanroom, traffic generators and analysers, FPGA development tools, sensor network test beds. We have facilities for electron-beam lithography and ceramic circuit fabrication – and a III-V semiconductor molecular beam epitaxy facility.
This course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council.
Core modules that run throughout the year will allow you to take part in different lab-based projects and explore different forms of renewable energy as well as how they can be integrated into electricity systems. You’ll also consider how renewable source-powered generations can be integrated into the grid and analysis and design of control systems.
To build your understanding of the global electronics industry, you’ll also complete a dissertation. This could take the form of a business, manufacturing or outsourcing plan, a proposal for research funding or an essay on a specific aspect of the industry.
You’ll complete your studies with three optional modules, selecting one from each of three pairs that cover different topics. If you have no experience of c-programming you’ll take a module that develops those skills, or another focusing on software development. You’ll choose between Power Electronics and Drives and Electric Drives and take another module from Energy Management and Conservation and Energy in Buildings.
Over the summer months you’ll also work on your research project. This gives you the chance to work as an integral part of one of our active research groups, focusing on a specialist topic in power electronics, power engineering and control and selecting the appropriate research methods.
Want to find out more about your modules?
Take a look at the Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems module descriptions for more detail on what you will study.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
Our groundbreaking research feeds directly into teaching, and you’ll have regular contact with staff who are at the forefront of their disciplines. You’ll have regular contact with them through lectures, seminars, tutorials, small group work and project meetings. Independent study is also important to the programme, as you develop your problem-solving and research skills as well as your subject knowledge.
You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including case studies, technical reports, presentations, in-class tests, assignments and exams. Optional modules may also use alternative assessment methods.
The research project is one of the most satisfying elements of this course. It allows you to apply what you’ve learned to a piece of research focusing on a real-world problem, and it can be used to explore and develop your specific interests.
Recent projects by students on this programme have included:
Renewable energy and efficient power conversion systems are of immense importance worldwide and graduates of this course can expect to find jobs in a wide variety of industries including the electronics, automotive, transport, construction, industrial automation, power utility, energy, oil and environmental sectors.
You’ll be well-placed to develop practical solutions to the problem of integrating renewable energy systems into established electricity distribution networks. You should be able to contribute to strategic planning, systems implementation and operation of sustainable power generation systems.
This programme is also excellent preparation for PhD study.
This course covers the planning, design, analysis and management frameworks of infrastructure systems. In particular, you will develop expertise in the:
You will qualify with a sound understanding of the whole life-cycle of infrastructure assets, the environmental impact of infrastructure projects, and formal asset-management techniques enabling you to maximise the benefits of infrastructure assets in the future.
The lectures given by our academic staff are complemented by visiting speakers from different infrastructure companies such as Network Rail, Thames Water, Environment Agency, Transport for London, ARUP, KPMG, etc., covering different aspect of infrastructure engineering and management. During the academic year, infrastructure specialists carry out Keynote Lectures focusing on important infrastructure projects and approaches. Past Keynote Speakers include Sir John Armitt, Sir Terry Morgan, Sir Michael Pitt, Sir David Higgins, Keith Clarke, James Stewart, Andrew Wolstenholme, Michele Dix, Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson. A number of field visits are also organised to provide an overview of real-life infrastructure operation and management. Past field visits have taken place to both the National Grid and Network Rail Control Centers.
Graduates from the programme are highly employable but have the potential to progress to relevant specialist PhD or EngD research programmes in the field.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time or distance learning for between two to five academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
Infrastructure Engineering and Management Group Modules
Structural Engineering Group Modules
Bridge Engineering Group Modules
Geotechnical Engineering Group Modules
Construction Management Group Modules
Water and Environmental Engineering Group Modules
Wind Energy Group Modules
Dissertation
Apart from the usual full-time mode, there are also part-time options. The majority of Bridge, Geotechnical and Structural Engineering modules can be studied by distance learning through the use of an interactive web-based e-learning platform (SurreyLearn).
This programme can be studied via distance learning, which allows a high level of flexibility and enables you to study alongside other commitments you may have. Get full information about our distance learning programme (PDF).
Modules related to the different groups are taught by a total of 20 full or part-time members of academic staff, as well as a number of visiting lecturers from the industry and government.
In addition to the University Library and Learning Centre’s extensive resources, our excellent testing facilities can support experimentally based MSc dissertation projects.
The programme aims to provide graduates with:
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Commercial products today combine many technologies, and industry is increasingly interdisciplinary. This course is designed to meet this demand, giving you an interdisciplinary knowledge base in modern electronics including power, communications, control and embedded processors.
You’ll develop a broad grasp of a range of interlocking disciplines, combining core modules developing your practical lab skills and industry awareness with a range of optional modules that allow you to focus on topics that suit your interests or career plans. Next-generation silicon technologies, electric drives and generating electric power from renewable sources are among the topics you could study.
This course will appeal to people with a broad interest in electronics and communications, as well as those who are interested in modern communications techniques, radio propagation, cellular mobile systems, control systems, power and drives, and modern system on-chip technology.
Specialist facilities
Our School is an exciting and stimulating environment where you’ll learn from leading researchers in specialist facilities. These include our Keysight Technologies wireless communications lab, as well as labs for embedded systems, power electronics and drives.
Depending on your choice of project, you may have use of our Terahertz photonics lab, ultrasound and bioelectronics labs, class 100 semiconductor cleanroom, traffic generators and analysers, FPGA development tools, sensor network test beds.
The School also contains facilities for electron-beam lithography and ceramic circuit fabrication – and a III-V semiconductor molecular beam epitaxy facility. The Faculty is also home to the £4.3 million EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotic Systems, set to make us a world leader in robot design and construction.
This course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council.
Throughout the course you’ll choose from a range of optional modules that allow you to pursue topics across electronic and electrical engineering as they relate to your interests or career plans. You could focus on FPGA design for system-on-chip, wireless communications systems nano-electromechanical systems among many others to gain a broad and deep understanding a range of subjects.
A set of core modules will support your learning. You’ll take part in a range of experiments linked to your subject on our lab module, and you’ll develop your skills in programming. If you have no experience of C programming you’ll take the Programming module, or you can take Software Development if you already have those skills.
To build your understanding of the global electronics industry, you’ll also complete a dissertation. This could take the form of a business, manufacturing or outsourcing plan, a proposal for research funding or an essay on a specific aspect of the industry.
Over the summer months you’ll also work on your research project. This may give you the chance to work as an integral part of one of our active research groups, focusing on a specialist topic in computer science and selecting the appropriate research methods.
Want to find out more about your modules?
Take a look at the Electronic and Electrical Engineering module descriptions for more detail on what you will study.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
Our groundbreaking research feeds directly into teaching, and you’ll have regular contact with staff who are at the forefront of their disciplines. You’ll have regular contact with them through lectures, seminars, tutorials, small group work and project meetings.
Independent study is also important to the programme, as you develop your problem-solving and research skills as well as your subject knowledge.
You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including case studies, technical reports, presentations, in-class tests, assignments and exams. Optional modules may also use alternative assessment methods.
The professional project is one of the most satisfying elements of this course. It allows you to apply what you’ve learned to a piece of research focusing on a real-world problem, and it can be used to explore and develop your specific interests.
Recent projects by students in the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering have included:
A proportion of projects are formally linked to industry, and can include spending time at the collaborator’s site over the summer.
Graduates of this course can expect to find jobs where industry needs a breadth of knowledge matched by a depth in certain areas.
You’ll be well equipped to integrate and co-ordinate the strands of a cross-disciplinary project and manage the interfaces between specialities. With these skills, you’ll be in a good position to progress to project management roles in companies working at the cutting edge of modern multi-faceted systems.
General Electric, AECOM, Deep Sea Electronics, Hyperdrive Innovation, Descon Engineering, Broadcom, Pakistan Oilfields Ltd., Wabtec Rail UK and many others are among the organisations where graduates from our School have found employment.
Sustainability, Earth and Atmospheric Science Masters Degrees - School of Earth and Environment
