Program Overview

Mastertrack Semiconductor Devices and Technology

The master's program in Electrical Engineering lasts two years, with each year consisting of 60 ECTS credits. During these two years, students follow core courses, elective courses, work on professional skills, undertake an internship, and complete a graduation project. The program is taught in English.

Basis and Specialization Courses

Basis courses are designed to acquire a certain level of abstract and model thinking. They include courses in mathematics, physics, and electrical engineering. Specialization courses are courses from a specific research group that prepare students for a specific area in Electrical Engineering.

Elective Courses

A range of elective courses are offered, providing state-of-the-art, specialized knowledge on topics currently being researched by the faculty's research groups. These elective courses are designed to prepare students for their internship or graduation project.

However, students are not limited to electrical engineering subjects. They can use their elective options to study technical or non-technical subjects, broadening their perspective. In addition to elective courses from Electrical Engineering, students can also choose courses from other faculties of the TU/e, from other universities, or even from universities abroad. For this, approval from the examination committee is required.

Professional Skills

Students receive training and opportunities to develop their general professional skills during their master's program. In the first year, for example, students learn how to write a business plan and will also supervise a group of first-year students in a project. The second year includes a course on the impact of technology on our society.

Internship

The program includes a three-month internship to familiarize students with the broad field of electrical engineering. The internship can be done within one of the nine research groups, but also within a company or abroad. The internship prepares students for the larger graduation project. The TU/e encourages master's students to go abroad to experience cultural differences and work in international teams.

This internship is a unique opportunity on a professional, technological, and social level. Our interns travel to Australia, Japan, Singapore, Argentina, and the US, but also to destinations closer to home, such as Munich or Leuven. Students can choose to do an internship at a university like the University of Rio de Janeiro or companies like Siemens in Germany. More locally, multinationals like ASML, Océ, and Philips are popular destinations, but there are also opportunities at numerous smaller companies like Prodrive. Finally, organizations on the campus like TNO and many start-ups also regularly offer internship projects for our students.

Graduation Project

The program is concluded with an eight-month research project in which students prove themselves as electrical engineers. During the graduation project, students go off the beaten track, applying what they have learned and the skills they have developed to create new knowledge and designs. The result of the project is usually a new product, a tool, a publication in a scientific journal, a presentation at an international conference, or a patent.

Our students have performed a wide range of projects. Some are very theoretical, such as simplifying general non-linear systems. Most are more practical, including the detection of epileptic seizures and prostate cancer, or converting 60 Hz video to 50 Hz. Moreover, any topic that can benefit from the application of electrical engineering insight can lead to a project - glass furnaces, brains, printed circuit boards, vibrations, robots, audio, electromagnetic lenses, mobile networks, or traffic control, to name a few examples.

Program Structure

The program structure is as follows:

• First year:
  • Basis courses: 25%
  • Specialization courses: 16.67%
  • Elective courses: 50%
  • Professional skills: 8.33%
• Second year:
  • Professional skills: 15%
  • Internship: 25%
  • Graduation project: 75%