Project Electronics and Telecommunication

This course will be renamed to "PROJ-H415 Projects on Sustainable Electronics and ICT" next year; the current course content partially reflects this transition towards sustainability engineering already.

 

Summary

This course introduces basic concepts of sustainability engineering for electronics and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and highlights ongoing efforts by Bruface faculty members regarding research and development in this field. Lectures involve an introduction to planetary boundaries, sustainability, and the role ICTs in sustainable societies. This is followed by lectures of different faculty members who will highlight specific aspects of sustainable ICT, e.g., regarding the development of electronic devices, telecommunications, software development, or in Artificial Intelligence. Across these lectures, you will be given a choice of project topics – typically a well-defined task that requires you to explore a topic in sustainable ICT in detail – of which you will have to choose and execute one. Your evaluation and grade are based on how you execute the project, and on your final written and oral reporting on your findings.

Detailed Content

Introduction to Sustainability and Sustainability Engineering

• Planetary boundaries, notions of sustainability and sustainable development
• The impacts of electronics and ICT
• A multi-dimensional view on sustainable electronics and ICT
• Introduction of researchers and project topics

Telecommunications and radiofrequency systems

• Physical layer of telecommunications, radio access networks, radiofrequency and mm-wave systems, co-optimization of technology with measurement and modelling.
• Sustainability aspects such as energy efficiency, power generation, material use, etc.

Embedded Systems

• Advanced embedded technologies, HW/SW co-design, and development tools.
• Design considerations and trade-offs, energy efficiency, and sustainable aspects.

Sustainability Aspects in Software Systems

• Sustainability aspects in software systems and software engineering
• Measuring energy consumption and estimating carbon footprints of software implementations as services
• Security and privacy engineering as a driver for sustainability improvements
• Design decisions and optimizations

Machine Learning for Engineering

• Role of machine learning in engineering design
• Impact of machine learning on sustainability
• ML to mitigate energy consumption and environmental degradation
• ML carbon footprint

Sustainability in medical devices

• Sustainability along the life cycle of an electro-mechanical product
• The trend towards single-use devices and how to address that.

Students will develop:

1. A general understanding of sustainability challenges in electronic devices and ICT, including hardware and software systems.

2. Be capable of assessing the operation-time carbon footprint of different technologies and systems.

3. Understanding what a full-scale life-cycle assessment of such systems would involve.

4. Practical abilities regarding measuring, evaluating, and comparing sustainability aspects of simple systems.

The course features introductory lectures to sustainability aspects across different domains of electrical engineering and computer science. These lectures open up research questions and concrete project ideas that students will explore independently.

Contribution au profil d'enseignement

This course contributes to the following programme outcomes of the Master in Electronics and Information Technology Engineering:

The Master in Engineering Sciences has in-depth knowledge and understanding of
1. exact sciences with the specificity of their application to engineering
3. the advanced methods and theories to schematize and model complex problems or processes

The Master in Engineering Sciences can
4. reformulate complex engineering problems in order to solve them (simplifying assumptions, reducing complexity)
5. conceive, plan and execute a research project, based on an analysis of its objectives, existing knowledge and the relevant literature, with attention to innovation and valorization in industry and society
6. correctly report on research or design results in the form of a technical report or in the form of a scientific paper
7. present and defend results in a scientifically sound way, using contemporary communication tools, for a national as well as for an international professional or lay audience
9. work in an industrial environment with attention to safety, quality assurance, communication and reporting
11. think critically about and evaluate projects, systems and processes, particularly when based on incomplete, contradictory and/or redundant information

The Master in Engineering Sciences has
12. a creative, problem-solving, result-driven and evidence-based attitude, aiming at innovation and applicability in industry and society
13. a critical attitude towards one’s own results and those of others

The Master in Electronics and Information Technology Engineering:
17. Has an active knowledge of the theory and applications of electronics, information and communication technology, from component up to system level.
18. Has a profound knowledge of either (i) nano- and opto-electronics and embedded systems, (ii) information and communication technology systems, (iii) measuring, modelling and control or (iv) telecommunications.
21. Is able to model, simulate, measure and control electronic components and physical phenomena.

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Jan Tobias Muehlberg <jan.tobias.muehlberg@ulb.be>
Bruno Tiago da Silva Gomes <Bruno.da.Silva@vub.be>
Dries Peumans <Dries.Peumans@vub.be>
Jean-Francois Determe <Jean-Francois.Determe@ulb.be>
Domenico Spina <Domenico.Spina@vub.be>
François Quitin <Francois.Quitin@ulb.be>
Antoine Nonclercq <antoine.nonclercq@ulb.be>
Lesley De Cruz <Lesley.De.Cruz@vub.be>

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Présentation orale
• Autre

Présentation orale

Autre

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais