University of Technology Sydney

Undergraduate course information

Majors

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology's flagship course is the five-year Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice (C09067). It also offers a four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (C09066) and a three-year Bachelor of Engineering Science (C10066) to international students only, and a number of combined degrees in partnership with other faculties.

The same educational philosophy underpins all awards: students undertake a set of core subjects, a set of practice subjects that defines their major and, in some cases, a set of electives. The Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice award requires the completion of two internships. The single Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and combined Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) courses require the completion of 12 weeks of work experience. The recognition of prior learning policies and assumed knowledge are the same for all courses.

The Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice is described below including information on course structure. For detailed information on the subjects in each major, or information on other courses, refer to the individual course entries.

Levels of award

Levels of award for degrees offered by the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology are determined on the basis of the weighted average mark (WAM). The WAM is the average of all marks achieved in the course, weighted according to the credit-point value of each subject. The WAM is calculated by:

  1. multiplying the mark attained in a subject by the subject's credit point value
  2. repeating step 1 for each subject attempted in the course (including any fails), then adding these figures together, and
  3. dividing the total calculated in step 2 by the number of credit points attempted in the course.

All graded subjects, including any credited from a different UTS course are included. Ungraded pass/fail subjects and subjects credited from other institutions are not included in the calculation.

Bachelor of Engineering

  • First Class Honours: WAM greater than or equal to 75.
  • Second Class Honours: WAM greater than or equal to 67 and less than 75.
  • Pass: WAM less than 67.

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

  • First Class Honours: WAM greater than or equal to 75.
  • Second Class Honours, Division 1: WAM greater than or equal to 70 and less than 75.
  • Second Class Honours, Division 2: WAM greater than or equal to 65 and less than 70.
  • Honours (no level): WAM less than 65.

Bachelor of Engineering Science

  • Distinction: WAM greater than or equal to 75.
  • Credit: WAM greater than or equal to 67 and less than 75.
  • Pass: WAM less than 67.

University Medal

To recognise outstanding academic achievement, the University Medal is awarded to the top student(s) in each graduating cohort, subject to the approval of the associate dean (teaching and learning). To be eligible for consideration, students must have achieved a WAM greater than 85.

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice

The program leading to the award of Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice (C09067) (BE(Hons) DipProfEngPrac) is a comprehensive preparation for careers in the professional practice of engineering.

The BE(Hons) DipProfEngPrac is a combined award and the Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice is not available separately. Both elements of the program are closely interwoven and interdependent, and prepare students for professional engineering internships by linking theory and application. The degrees combining engineering with business, international studies, medical science and science may also be combined with the Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice.

As noted above, the combination of formal academic learning in the University and experiential learning in the workplace is called 'cooperative education'. UTS Engineering courses have embodied this principle for over 30 years. The courses are highly regarded in industry and, according to many reports and surveys, graduates have enjoyed correspondingly high employment rates – the highest of any engineering degree courses in Australia.

Engineering education in many countries is undergoing revolutionary change and the UTS program is at the forefront of much of this change.

Course structure

The course comprises five principal components: (i) core program; (ii) Engineering Practice Program; (iii) field of practice (major); (iv) electives; and (v) Capstone Project. The core program, Engineering Practice Program and Capstone Project are common to all students undertaking the BE (Hons) DipProfEngPrac.

Core program

This component provides a framework covering knowledge, skills and attributes that are relevant to all engineers across all fields of practice. It consists of common mathematics and physics subjects, and common engineering subjects which draw on several fields of engineering practice to develop interdisciplinary knowledge and skills within the larger context of professional practice.

The core program runs throughout the course from admission to graduation. Students take differing combinations of subjects in their first year, and in each successive year, depending on their choice of major.

Engineering Practice Program

The Engineering Practice Program supports and assesses student learning in workplace and community environments. Its objectives are to prepare students for engineering work experience, to support them during that experience and to assist them in maximising learning. The program also supports the integration of this experiential learning with the theoretical and practical aspects of the academic curriculum.

A fundamental objective is to develop the ability to learn in a wide variety of modes and contexts and to critique and contribute to those learning environments on a lifelong basis.

The program is administered through a series of subjects offered in various modes. Students enrol in the program as a whole and are guided through the respective modules. Students are ultimately responsible for their progression through the program. Academic staff and workplace mentors and supervisors act as facilitators; administrative staff assist in ensuring that students' progress is recorded and validated; and Industry Partnering Unit staff assist students in securing suitable work placements and in establishing cooperative programs with industry and the community.

The minimum time in the workplace required to satisfy each engineering internship subject is 22 weeks. In total, however, 48 weeks must be gained by the required deadline to meet course requirements and to be eligible to graduate.

Internships are organised into two blocks of six months each. Students are required to undertake the relevant prerequisite subjects prior to undertaking their internships and in a session following an internship are required to enrol in the appropriate review subjects. Credit point limits also apply to some of these subjects. Details of prerequisite subjects and subjects required to be completed after each internship are listed under STM90993.

While students are encouraged to undertake additional work experience, they are only permitted to complete each of the two official internships once.

Engagement Team

The Engagement Team assists students in obtaining internships. The staff maintain contact with industry to assist over 700 FEIT students to obtain internships annually. The team can advise students on the details of obtaining and documenting an internship via CareerHub, the UTS system for online internship management. Students seeking internships must register in CareerHub before their intended period of work. It is the students' responsibility to advise the Engagement Team via CareerHub of the start and finish dates of the internship and to enrol in the appropriate engineering experience subjects.

Fields of practice and majors

This component relates theoretical and practical learning from core subjects to applications in specific fields of engineering internship. It develops knowledge of engineering science and technologies relevant to particular branches of engineering and specialist technical expertise. Particular sets of subjects constitute majors in the respective fields of practice. A major provides the essential foundations needed for practice in that field, familiarity with current practice, awareness of likely developments and knowledge of resources available for future self-directed learning.

All majors emphasise and develop the essential engineering skills of observation and experimentation, analysis and synthesis, modelling, systems thinking, conceptual reasoning and judgment, and problem formulation and solving, using as case studies the technologies and contexts relevant to the particular field of practice. Each major involves substantial laboratory content, designed to integrate theoretical and practical understanding. All are designed to link with the core program and with engineering internship.

Additional majors may be introduced in future years in response to technological developments and employment demand, and provision may be made to allow students to transfer from existing majors. The major is selected at the time of application to the course; however, it may be possible for students to change the major at a later date provided they meet the academic requirements. There is considerable elective scope which can be used to extend engineering knowledge or to take a sub-major in a discipline such as business or social science.

Electives

With the exception of combined degrees and double majors, students may devote 24 credit points to electives. A range of electives may be taken to broaden or deepen knowledge. The elective component also provides a mechanism for recognition of prior learning. Further, the elective component affords maximum flexibility for students wishing to undertake study on international exchange with our overseas partner institutions.

Students are not permitted to take an elective subject that covers substantially the same material as a required subject or a subject already undertaken. Undergraduate students may enrol in approved UTS Engineering postgraduate subjects provided they have completed at least 120 credit points of their undergraduate degree and met prerequisite requirements. Undergraduate students may undertake up to four approved postgraduate subjects. A maximum of three approved postgraduate subjects recently undertaken as part of an undergraduate degree may be used to apply for exemptions from a UTS Engineering master's degree provided the subjects fulfil the equivalent subject requirements.

Capstone Project

In the final sessions of the degree, each student undertakes a Capstone Project, supervised by a member of academic staff and designed to consolidate and integrate learning in all aspects of the program. Industry-linked projects, under joint supervision, are strongly encouraged.

The project topic must be approved by an academic supervisor and must be relevant to the field of practice concerned. It may be largely technical in emphasis or it may encompass a range of technical and contextual challenges.

The Capstone Project results in a substantial report which must be written and produced to professional engineering standards and must demonstrate the student's readiness for professional engineering practice.

Recognition of prior learning

If you have undertaken relevant study at another recognised tertiary education institution (such as other university study or TAFE qualifications), you may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). To be considered, subjects must normally have been completed no more than ten years prior to the commencement in a UTS Engineering course.

The Faculty assesses such applications for RPL on a case-by-case basis and applicants may be asked to demonstrate that their knowledge, learning and/or skills are current and relevant (UTS Rule 6.2.2(4)).

Established agreements for RPL with external tertiary institutions are outlined in the Recognition of prior learning tool.

The faculty reserves the right to advise any student who is admitted with recognition of prior learning, and who is not succeeding in the program, to undertake some or all of the subjects from which exemption had been granted.

Majors

Majors are currently offered in the following engineering sub-disciplines:

  • biomedical (not available in the BEngSc and combined degrees with medical science and science)
  • civil (with specialisations in construction and structures)
  • civil and environmental (not available in the BEngSc and combined degrees)
  • data
  • electrical
  • electrical and electronic (not available in the BEngSc and combined degrees)
  • electronic
  • flexible (no specified major)
  • mechanical
  • mechanical and mechatronic (not available in the BEngSc and combined degrees)
  • mechatronic, and
  • software.

The name of the major completed appears on the student's academic transcript and testamur.