Skip to content
Department of Electronic Engineering (UPM)
Master in Electronic Systems Engineering (MUISE)

Objectives and Competencies

Objectives and Competencies Download PDF document

Goals

The Master’s Degree in “Electronic Systems Engineering” fills a gap in the current organization of postgraduate studies, by taking a systemic and global approach, compared to the traditional one that is more oriented to components or circuits, without giving up this also important approach to Electronic Engineering. As it is a horizontal technology, supporting many other engineering fields, this Master’s degree opens up to a wide spectrum of potential interested parties, both in the industrial field, as well as in development and innovation or research, allowing specialization to be carried out in more technological or detailed aspects (processes, components, circuits, etc.) as well as systemic and application aspects.

The objective pursued is to prepare future graduates both to conceive and design electronic circuits or systems and their possible applications, based on multifunctional and interdisciplinary training, or to prepare them for their doctoral training stage. In any case, the approach adopted aims to lead the participant to comprehensive training, not purely technical, based on enhancing their innovation skills, market understanding, communication, teamwork, developing their creative and long-term learning capacity, based on the use of the project-based training technique, which will force them to seek knowledge to later apply it to the resolution of a specific problem.

The Master’s Degree in “Electronic Systems Engineering” is the professional path for the Electronic Engineer that must help the modernization and improvement of productivity of almost any sector. It also provides the ideal path for the development of a research activity with a future that is in full growth, laying the foundations for a permanent learning process (“learning to learn”).

Therefore, quality preparation is offered to train engineers with high capacity and competence in their R&D&I areas of topics related to electronics at an international level, and thus achieve the adequate integration of our University in the European Higher Education Area.

More specifically, it is pursued:

  1. Provide the student with an overview of the state of the art of new technologies that are relevant in the field of electronics.
  2. Provide a specific and methodological basis for carrying out research and development work in the systems area.

The integration of teaching staff and collaborators from other national and European centers, together with the Department’s experience in teaching doctoral and postgraduate programs, as well as its intense research activity, are guarantees that support the achievement of the stated objectives.

The training objective of this Master is, on the one hand, the preparation of qualified technicians to address the tasks of analysis, conception and design or development of new technologies, components, circuits and electronic systems or that use electronics as a basic enabling technology; on the other hand, the training of those professionals who want to enhance their research capabilities, preparing to undertake subsequent Doctoral Studies in scientific fields related to these technologies.

This Master is considered a stage of specialization and deepening in one of the scientific-technical fields of electronics, being possible, as already indicated, to acquire a more technical or scientific, development or research profile, focused on some technology (processes or circuits) or systemic (making use of all the levels that allow conceiving a mixed analogue-digital, hardware-software system, with all the relevant aspects to complete such a system).

Electronics, as a supporting technology for many other engineering and industrial sectors, can be considered a horizontal technology. For this reason, the approach of the Master is aimed at offering a wide range of technologies in which the student can specialize, depending on their interests. In all cases, a common offer is made, as a core, which includes the main aspects of today’s electronic engineering: analog and digital circuits, microelectronics and the basic tools for the design of complex systems. From there, the student will be able to choose between a more academic or research profile and a personal intensification, based on elective subjects. The program offer includes four major areas of intensification: optoelectronic systems and microsystems, circuits and systems, intelligent systems and applications or technology management, although the choice of the personal curriculum will allow the student to make a broader selection of specialization: bioengineering, home automation, instrumentation, automotive, etc.

All of the above presents a wide range of competence profiles, but in general the aim is to prepare an electronic engineer who is capable of:

  1. Select, design and integrate hardware and software technologies to create electronic systems (telecommunication or other sector) with appropriate technical-economic and/or criteria.
  2. Plan and manage complex interdisciplinary projects and/or
  3. Conceive and develop new processes or circuits and/or
  4. Design microprocessor-based systems, new architectures and/or
  5. Develop software for control and operation of equipment based on embedded systems.
  6. Apply their knowledge and skills in solving problems in new or unfamiliar environments in interdisciplinary contexts (innovation)
  7. Integrate knowledge, face complexity and also formulate judgments based on incomplete or limited information but that include reflections linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments
  8. Be able to communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and conceptual framework on which they are based, to both expert and non-expert audiences in a clear and unambiguous manner.
  9. Learn to learn, autonomously, as a basis for your future professional innovation or research activity.

The training will include an important part of experimental content, which will guarantee that students will have no problem immediately joining companies in the sector, where they will be able to apply the knowledge acquired with a high level of innovative capacity. Ultimately, the aim is to train professionals who can join innovative companies and institutions that, based on the use of electronic technologies, create complex systems and services with increasing benefits in any industrial sector. At all times, we will seek to adapt the profile of the teachings to the requirements of the local, national and European industry and productive sector. Practical content and teaching will also be taught, close to concrete and innovative applications in the industrial and service sector, through the participation of professors from the industry, as well as encouraging students to carry out internships in external companies and institutions with which specific agreements have been signed. The generic itineraries planned are two:

  1. Professional: Vocational training oriented to the labor market with a focus on systems (hardware, software, communications, integration…) and services, of interest in the ICT sector and in other fields of industrial application.
  2. Researcher: Basic training to carry out research work aimed at completing a doctoral thesis in the area of ​​electronic systems and their applications.

References external to the university who guarantee the adequacy of the Master’s degree to national or international criteria for degrees with similar academic characteristics

When designing the competencies specifically related to the topics addressed in the Master in Electronic Systems Engineering, the following reference frameworks have been taken into account:

  1. The principles included in article 3.5 of RD 1393/2007.
  2. “A Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area” of the Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks of February 2005 (especially its appendix 6 “From 1st cycle (e.g. Bachelors) to 2nd cycle (e.g. Mást ers) to doctorates: the differences / ‘step changes’ between the respective Dublin descriptors”), which creates a common framework of reference between the different qualification systems and levels. At the Master level it says: “Qualifications that mean completion of the second cycle are awarded to students who:
  • have demonstrated knowledge and understanding that is founded upon and extends and/or enhances that typically associated with Bachelor’s level, and that provides a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often within a research context;
  • can apply their knowledge and understanding, and problem solving abilities in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their field of study;
  • have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and formulate judgments with incomplete or limited information, but that include reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments;
  • can communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underlying these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously;
  • have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous.
  1. The requirements included in section 3.3 of Annex I of RD 1393/2007:
  • That students know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their ability to solve problems in new or little-known environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of ​​study;
  • That students are able to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of formulating judgments based on information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments;
  • That students know how to communicate their conclusions - and the knowledge and ultimate reasons that support them - to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way;
  • That students possess the learning skills that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be largely self-directed or autonomous.
  1. The thematic analyzes of:
  • The aforementioned “White Book of the Degree in Telecommunications Engineering” of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation, as a basis for the establishment of more advanced studies.
  • “ICT - INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES Work Program 2009-10”. from the EUROPEAN COMMISSION, especially Challenge 2: Cognitive Systems and Robotics (Objective 2.2 – Language-based interaction); Challenge 3 Components, systems, engineering (objectives ICT-2009.3.1: Nanoelectronics Technology; ICT-2009.3.2: Design of Semiconductor Components and Electronic Based Miniaturised Systems; ICT-2009.3.4 Embedded Systems Design; ICT-2009.3.9: Microsystems and Smart Miniaturised Systems.); the Challenge 4 Digital Libraries and Content. (ICT-2009.4.3 objective: Intelligent Information Management.); Challenge 5: Towards sustainable and personalized healthcare; Challenge 7: ICT for Independent Living, Inclusion and Governance. (ICT-2009.7.1 objectives: ICT & Aging; ICT-2009.7.2 Accessible and Assistive ICT.); and the Future and Emerging Technologies section. (objectives ICT-2009.8.4 Human-Computer Confluence; ICT-2009.8.8 Brain-Inspired ICT.).
  • The “National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011” which includes among its strategic actions: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, New Materials and New Industrial Processes; Telecommunications and Information Society (especially Electronics and devices; E-inclusion programs for people with specific needs; Computer technologies such as Architectures for high-performance systems, Advanced multimodal interfaces, Embedded and distributed systems, Software engineering and information management; intelligent systems; Free and open source software and Human language processing technologies); and Health.

Competencies to be acquired

The general competencies of the graduated students are shown in the following table:

In addition to a set of specific common skills, each graduated student will have acquired the skills of the itinerary or intensification they choose:

  1. Intensification in Electronic Systems Engineering, aimed at the efficient integration of technological solutions in systems or services of interest.
  2. Intensification in Optoelectronic Systems and Microsystems, oriented to processes, devices and their characterization.
  3. Intensification in Electronic Circuits and Systems, oriented to the design of electronic circuits, microelectronics, microprocessor-based design, embedded systems.
  4. Intensification in Intelligent Systems and Applications, aimed at the integration of HW/SW systems and their various fields of application, including multidisciplinary systems: biomedical, digital home, etc.

Table of specific competencies of the Master: table 3 of this document

Table of optional specific competencies of the Master: table 3-bis of this document