Electronics Puts the ‘e’ in ‘e-verything’
What is Electronics?
Electronics is the technology that puts the 'e' into e-verything - e-mail, e-commerce and more. It's at the core of many of the appliances and equipment we take for granted - computers, television, cell phones, cars, cameras, watches, and electronic games - and plays a vital role in the control and monitoring of industrial, commercial, scientific and medical equipment and processes.
Electronics is a rapidly changing area, and is a major growth industry worldwide. It typically involves using low cost, miniature components, plus skill and know-how, to build hi-tech, high value devices and products to make our lives more efficient and interesting.
By studying Electronics, you'll learn about the design, development and application of equipment that makes familiar electronic services possible. You'll gain an understanding of the basic building blocks of electronic devices, electronic communications technologies such as radio and lasers, large-scale integrated Electronics systems, and the software that governs the application of this technology.
The Electronics industry is vast, and is one that rewards creativity and expertise. There will always be plenty of business opportunities waiting to be explored. To prepare you to make the most of these opportunities, Otago's BAppSc in Electronics also includes a range of commerce papers that focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Why Study Electronics?
- A career in Electronics provides huge opportunities to use your initiative and be creative, and rewards people who can come up with practical, fun and innovative ideas.
- Changing technology means you will always be facing new challenges and problems.
- Electronics is a growth industry with a promising future worldwide. When you are ready, you might even take your own product to the market, and launch your own business.
Career Opportunities
There really are countless career opportunities both in New Zealand and overseas for graduates with both technical expertise and sound business knowledge.
While Electronics has particularly strong links with telecommunications and software engineering, Electronics specialists are now being called upon to work in an increasing number of industries. You might become involved in communications (radio and optical systems), commercial or industrial control systems, consumer goods, entertainment products, computers and their peripheral devices, scientific and medical equipment, wireless applications or research and development.
These roles could see you employed for a large organisation, or equally, you could work for a consultancy firm, taking on a range of projects or several clients. This kind of work tends to have plenty of variety, not to mention opportunities for travel.
With a BAppSc in Electronics from Otago, you will be especially well qualified to work in the design and development of Electronics circuits for niche applications. This could include researching the needs of the market, conducting feasibility studies to see if your ideas will be profitable, developing new Electronics systems, testing prototypes, manufacturing and providing customer service. You may well find yourself setting up your own innovative Electronics company!
Background Required
Background requirements are largely determined by first year papers MATH 160 and PHSI 131. To enter MATH 160, you should have obtained a clear pass in NCEA level 3 Maths with Calculus and a good pass in Physics is needed for PHSI 131.
What Will I Study?
During the course of your degree you'll explore both analogue and digital Electronics by taking papers in introductory Electronics and digital Electronics.
In second-year, you'll take papers in introductory Electronics and digital Electronics, covering topics including digital logic circuits, large-scale integrated systems, programmable logic devices and microprocessor architecture. And because so much of applied Electronics involves radio and opto-electronics systems, such as lasers, you'll also gain an important understanding of the principles - such as electromagnetism and optics - which underpin these subjects.
In third year, you'll expand your understanding of semiconductor devices as well as Electronic systems, including television and radio, and both electronic and computer-aided design. You'll also look at radio communication, lasers and opto-electronics. These themes are further developed in fourth year, along with topics such as digital signal processing, and instrumental techniques.
All courses involve a mixture of lectures and practical laboratories, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to gain hands-on experience in problem solving. There will also be some scope for you to choose additional papers, which will allow you to develop extra skills in a particular area, such as computer science and telecommunications.
Work experience is a requirement for BAppSc(Hons) in Electronics. At the end of your second and third years, the University endeavours to help you obtain work in the Electronics industry.
In your fourth year, you'll carry out a major investigative project. Students are encouraged to do a project in conjunction with an external company, who - with luck - may offer financial support for your research.
Further information
For more detailed information on Electronics papers and course requirements, please see the main University website at http://www.otago.ac.nz/subjects/elec.html
Major Subject and Programme Requirements
Minor Subject Requirements
Profile: Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser discovered, after graduating from the University of Otago in 1998, that holding an MSc in Electronics meant an exceptionally wide range of career opportunities was open to him.
He worked for a few years providing computer support at the University of Otago, and then took up a position as a research fellow in broadband communications, working with high-speed data networks and multimedia systems.
But the ever-expanding world of computer systems beckoned, and now, Malcolm has the title of Senior UNIX Engineer for the Christchurch firm Computer Concepts. His role involves developing and supporting high-powered business computer solutions, using the UNIX operating system.
It's a "busy and challenging job", says Malcolm, and one that his Electronics background has been essential for. "If something ever goes wrong with a system," he explains, "it's vital that I have a firm grasp of what's going on at a very basic level. That way I can make a quick diagnosis and come up with an effective solution plan. That's what our clients demand of us."
Malcolm says the systems he develops are often integral to the day-to-day running of a business, so it is important they run smoothly at all times. "This means being prepared to carry out maintenance work at very odd hours of the day!" he says. "And implementing new systems can take months of forethought and planning."
He describes one project where a large manufacturer wanted to set up a new computer system that could run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This required establishing a complex relationship between two computers, so one could provide back-up if the other ever failed. This client told Malcolm that if their main computer went down, the new system would pay for itself in only one hour of trading.
It's successes like this that give Malcolm his job satisfaction. "When the pieces fit together, and everything works right, I get a very good feeling," he says.
Contacts
For further information regarding Electronics, please contact:
Dr Tim Molteno
Department of Physics
Tel 64 3 479 7752
Fax 64 3 479 0964
Email tim@physics.otago.ac.nz
Other Websites
- Electronics Regulations http://www.otago.ac.nz/subjects/elec.html
- Department of Physics http://www.physics.otago.ac.nz
PDF Infosheet
You can download the latest Electronics Infosheet (340k in PDF format).
