Study Environment
We hold the highest possible teaching ratings (24) from the Quality Assurance Agency across all our subjects (Computer Science, Digital Systems Engineering, Electronic Engineering, and Electrical Engineering).
Our current students rate us highly and we make every effort to ensure that as a student here you will experience the best possible teaching and education and have access to a wide range of high quality and state of the art facilities.
The quality of our teaching and learning environment is apparent not just in our course delivery, but also in the learning support available in ECS, as well as opportunities for you to undertake project work, and to specialize in subjects in which you are really interested.
Project work
In the first year of your course most of your time is spent in lectures, labs, and classes. But from the second year, you will find yourself doing an increasing amount of project work.
The projects are designed to help you acquire a wide range of skills: teamwork, project-planning, applying your learning to design-and-build problems, time management, communication, presentation and working to a brief – all of which will stand you in good stead as you move into your career.
The projects are increasingly challenging and complex and will give you a real sense of satisfaction and achievement. See our blog and podcast on the Group Design project, and our watch our 2007 and 2008 podcasts on the Individual Research Project to find out more. The podcast on the Part II Software Design Project, sponsored in 2008 by Imagination Technologies, gives a good idea of the competition involved in group projects.
Our Undergraduate Prospectus gives a full account of projects in the undergraduate degrees.
Meet our students - Jevan Bryant
‘Looking round the room on the final project presentation day I saw students who had forgotten that this was coursework. For most of us this had ceased to be about the marks – competition had taken over and our hearts raced too as our robots hurtled round the track towards the finish line, every second counting.’
Jevan Bryant, Part II Electromechanical Engineering
Lectures and supervisions
You will experience a range of lectures, tutorials and supervisions throughout your course. During the supervisions, staff members help you to appreciate the lecture material. You will also have a personal tutor who guides and helps you through the course and who holds small group tutorials to make sure you get the most from your time at Southampton.
Coursework
Coursework can take the form of experiments in the lab, programming, technical essays or presentations. Design assessments are popular with students who find that a combination of traditional examinations, coursework and individual and group projects allows them to make good progress and achieve success. First-year examinations do not contribute to your final degree, but ensure that you are making good progress. Your final degree classification will depend upon your performance in later examinations, combined with coursework and project work marks from second year onwards.
Facilities
We have unrivalled facilities in ECS. Zepler Building houses the new computer, electrical and electronics labs, with the most up-to-date equipment. Project laboratories for the exclusive use of third and fourth year students provide personalized space for individual and team working. Access to the building and labs is by smart cards, which creates a safe working environment. Our high-speed wireless network means that you can be continually connected to the Internet anywhere in Zepler. Our dedicated computing helpdesk is staffed by experienced programmers who will give you expert advice and assistance for programming and other computing activities.
The ECS Electronics Teaching Laboratory has a total of 42 desk-style workbenches. The equipment fits are of several types to suit the wide range of student exercises, but every bench is equipped with a PC, power supplies, signal sources and monitoring systems. These are supplemented as required with special purpose and custom-designed experimenter units. A substantial annual budget ensures all equipment is of high quality and up-to-date.
The newly refurbished Electrical Lab has equipment for experiments in transformer and power electronics, robot projects, circuits theory, electromagnetic induction and system dynamics. The associated workshop is equipped for simple manufacture of sheet metal for chassis and soldering exercises for construction and project work.
The Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory is an unusual facility. One of a handful in Europe, it contains a full range of equipment to support the School's research and consultancy in high voltage engineering.