Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Electrical and information engineers find roles in almost all sectors, from automotive engineering and e-mobility, energy supply and distribution, to semiconductors. As skilled all-rounders, they have first-class career prospects in R&D, production and planning, technical sales and after-sales service. They can plan their careers regionally, nationally or internationally, just as they choose – and are sought after in companies ranging from SMEs to major global players.

HAW Hamburg’s degree course in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology places strong emphasis on real-world applications and practical tasks. Students can plan their courses flexibly from the word ‘go’. Preliminary courses and induction events before the degree kicks off are there to help you plan the route that’s right for you.

In your first year, you’ll receive a solid grounding in maths, physics, electrical engineering and electronics, alongside systematic training in programming basics. You’ll complete an ‘educational project’ to synthesise and apply your new knowledge and skills.

Your third and fourth semesters will see you specialising in a focal area, which you choose from the following:

• Automation and energy engineering
• Digital information engineering
• Communications engineering

Specialising early on in your course will help you prepare for the 20-week industrial internship you will undertake in your fifth semester and your Bachelor’s project.

In semesters 6 and 7, you enter the advanced study phase, which entails choosing from a range of required and elective modules from the three focal areas.

These are:

• Automation and energy engineering

This specialism explores processes for influencing technical systems and will help you acquire techniques for controlling these systems and using drives to manage their performance, understand how they transport information, and learn how to make this information accessible to people or other systems. The study of this area additionally involves implementing your newly acquired abilities in the handling of real technical systems, for which you will become familiarised with modern automation tools and gain insights into the generation and distribution of energy.

To understand how important automation technology is, just try and imagine systems without it. A lift wouldn’t respond when someone pressed the call or level button; an escalator wouldn’t start moving when someone approached or might not ever move at all; air conditioning systems in large-scale spaces wouldn’t be able to adapt the temperature and humidity they generate to changes in the ambient temperature, sunlight or rising or falling numbers of people in the space. Without ABS, catalytic converters managed via control technology, power steering and aircon, our cars would resemble those of the 1950s, and it would be impossible to produce affordable vehicles without modern production lines employing robotic technology. In all these examples, automation technology ensures that the system responds precisely to influences and carries out key sub-processes automatically.

• Digital information engineering

If you choose this option, you will gain key knowledge and methodological skills for designing and developing up-to-the-minute digital systems for acquiring, processing and transmitting information. We place particular emphasis on developing hardware and software for embedded systems, which we find everywhere in today’s world and which includes sensors, microcontrollers and operating systems, and rapid digital circuits and circuit networks. 

Engineers specialising in digital information technology develop the hardware and software which controls complex digital functions in machinery, vehicles and communications systems. An automobile may contain over 100 controllers, each of which carries out specific functions and so forms part of a distributed, networked system providing the driver and passengers with comfort, convenience and security – from steering assistance to rain sensors, from airbag modules to lane assistance systems. Similarly, electronic devices or robots contain sensors to capture signals and systems which read, analyse and merge them so they can be used to control gauges or actuators. Digital information engineering is making it possible to incorporate increasing numbers of functions in micro-format, as in devices such as smart industrial cameras. All these applications call for specialists with in-depth knowledge of rapid digital circuits, microcontrollers, specific operating and bus systems, and the economical and high-performance realisation of algorithms in software.

• Communications engineering

In this focus, you will be specialising in the transmission of information using modulated signals, via either cables or wireless/radio signals. The modules in this area look at signal processing, digital transmission and radio technology and at the associated methodologies. Others explore high-frequency analogue and digital electronics,  electromagnetic compatibility, computer networks and mobile communications systems.

To outline an example: Communication via smartphone is an entirely ordinary practice in today’s world; yet the increasing interconnection among other areas, such as devices, vehicles, machinery and buildings, is now entering phases which were virtually unimaginable just a short time ago. This development, known as the ‘Internet of things’, is advancing and accelerating all the time. Installing compact communication units in objects enables them to transmit small amounts of data a few times a day, communicating the object’s position, the ambient temperature or other parameters. In this way, an individual can track the position of – for instance – a bicycle. The future will need engineers able to design chips or circuit boards, knowledgeable on radio wave dispersion, and appropriately skilled to manage data exchange via protocols.

Ideally, you’ll have a strong interest in technology and be keen to work at solving complex problems. You should also enjoy maths, physics and programming. Creativity, a rational mindset, and a willingness to focus on fulfilling your potential will help you achieve success on this degree course.

Interested – but not quite sure yet whether this is the right course for you? Our self-assessment test can help you make up your mind. Take it here: HAW Navigator.