Programme overview

The last year of the BSc programme in Computer Technology runs in English, and international students may be admitted for the two semesters. The programme is focused on theoretical, methodological and practical skills acquired through problem-based learning.

5th semester: Complex distributed systems

The semester project (15 ECTS) concerns development of a large distributed system with high demands for timing and reliability. A distributed system is a wide concept that generally means applications with data divided between a number of computers. As such, a distributed system may physically cover everything from a small box to the entire universe, depending on your choice of subject. Such work demands advanced software, especially when different parts of the system must work together. During the project, you will work with analysis, design, implementation and tests. You will learn about the fundamental qualities and construction of distributed systems, incl. their behaviour and design. Moreover, you will study databases, object-oriented methods and communication protocols, etc.

Often, the semester project will be based on current research- or development projects at the university. A project may also take its point of departure in your or your supervisor’s ideas. For instance, you could do a project on the internal network for control of a car’s anti blocking system or a robot controlled by several connected computer systems.

5th semester courses

• Signal processing (5 ECTS)
• OOAD, test and verification (5 ECTS)
• Network technologies and distributed systems (5 ECTS)

Signal processing

Analysis and filtration of signals is a discipline basic to all specialisations within electronic systems. It is used in automation, communication, multimedia systems, etc., etc. The course in signal processing enables you to understand and work with concepts, theories and methods central for analysis and filtration of analogue and digital signals.

OOAD, test and verification

On this course, you will gain experience with object-oriented software development and systematic testing. You will work with among others object-oriented implementation, incl. development tools, programming languages and automatic code generation.

Network technologies and distributed systems

The purpose of this course is for you and your fellow students to gain insight into theories and methods for analysis, design, construction and test of distributed systems, incl. distributed real-time systems, and enable you to utilise this knowledge in concrete projects.

6th semester: Bachelor project

On the 6th semester, you write your bachelor project (20 ECTS). As a student of ICT, you may choose between four areas of specialisation:

• Control engineering
• Communication systems
• Embedded real-time signal processing
• Information processing systems

All four subject areas give you the opportunity to work together with a company or an organisation.

Control engineering

A bachelor project in control engineering must be based on a physical process. It can be mechanical, thermal, electrical, biologic or chemical. You must develop a dynamic model of the process and adjust and verify it through measurements. Moreover, you must specify demands in time and frequency. Using the dynamic model, you will design classic controllers and implement them in the process. These controllers must be evaluated and compared to the mentioned demands.

Communication systems

Besides the traditional human-to-human communication (e. g. phone) or human-to-machine communication (e. g. web browsing), communication is also an indispensable subsystem of systems consisting of multiple distributed components. An example is a home automation system in which various sensors and actuators communicate through wireless links. Such communication should satisfy multiple requirements; the data should arrive timely in order to be relevant to the control actions in the system. In addition, data should be sent reliably, avoiding the possible transmission errors on the links. Finally, the communication should be energy efficient in order not to drain the batteries of the devices too quickly. A bachelor project in communication systems can be a system or scenario such as the one described or similar in which communication among distributed components is required.

Embedded real-time signal processing

An embedded system is defined as an electronic system which is based on a computer, but the system is not in itself a computer, e.g., like a PC. According to this definition, an average person is interacting with hundreds of embedded systems on a daily basis, typically in terms of audio/video applications, wireless/mobile communication, gaming consoles, household machines, automotive and medical devices, as well as avionic and satellite based systems. In most cases, the computer embedded in such devices is conducting some kind of signal processing, i.e., an analogue signal is registered by a sensor and sampled, and next the signal is either analysed or modified digitally by software executing on the computer. Eventually the resulting signal is finally reconverted back to the analogue domain. A project in this specialisation will primarily focus on the signal processing theories and algorithms, as well as development of optimal source- and object codes using commercially available development boards/tools, thus excluding the design and implementation of user-specific hardware.

Information processing systems

One of the cornerstones in modern engineering is automatic interpretation of measurable signals. As an example, consider recycling of glass bottles. When you place a used bottle in a reverse vending machine in your local supermarket, a sensor (here a camera) takes a picture of the bottle and automatically extracts characteristics (known as features) such as dimensions, shape, color, etc. These features are then fed to a classification process where they are compared with prototypical features stored in a database. The classifier then makes a decision regarding the type of bottle and whether it is broken or not. The purpose of this project module is for you to work with a concrete problem where you first extract relevant features from some input signal, e.g., audio or video, and then classify the input into a number of different categories.

6th semester courses

• Introduction to probability theory and statistics (5 ECTS)
• Matrix computation and convex optimisation (5 ECTS)

Introduction to probability theory and statistics

The purpose of this course is for you to develop an engineering intuition of the fundamental concepts and results of probability, statistics, and stochastic processes. You will be able to apply the taught material to models and solve simple engineering problems involving randomness.

Matrix computation and convex optimisation

Engineering systems and design problems can often be compactly described, analysed and manipulated using matrices and vectors. Moreover, tractable solutions to design problems can be obtained by casting the design problems as optimisation problems. For the class of linear and quadratic problems, solutions can be obtained by solving systems of equations. In computer programs, this is achieved via matrix factorisations. For the larger class of convex problems, no closed-form solution may exist and numerical methods must be applied. This course aims at teaching numerically robust methods for solving systems of equations and, more generally, convex optimisation problems, also including standard constrained problems.

For further information, please contact us (see menu) or consult the curriculum for Computer Technology (scroll to 5th and 6th semester for English). Please be aware that the curriculum still features the old title for the programme.

postgraduate options

With a BSc degree in Computer Technology from Aalborg University, you have seven different postgraduate programmes in engineering to choose from (all are in Aalborg unless otherwise specified):

• Communication Technology
• Control and Automation
• Innovative Communication Technologies and Entrepreneurship (Copenhagen)
• Lighting Design (Copenhagen) 
• Signal Processing and Acoustics
• Sound and Music Computing (Aalborg & Copenhagen) 
• Vision, Graphics and Interactive Systems

Please click on the individual link to learn more about each programme.

4th best in the world

If you choose to study engineering at Aalborg University, you will be studying at one of the best universities in the world. In March 2018, our engineering programmes were named best in Europe and fourth best in the world according to a report commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).