A Welcome Message to all Prospective Students from the Head of Department
Welcome to the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield. On our website, we try to give you an insight into the very modern world of the Control and Systems Engineer and the opportunities that we can provide to study these subjects. Our degrees are available in a variety of forms to suit the needs of our students and the many careers available in industry and commerce worldwide. Our graduates find employment with many reaching senior positions in well-known organizations.
Many of you will not be familiar with Systems and Control Engineering. This is not surprising because it has only recently grown from simple roots in the mid-20th Century to a position of great importance in almost all aspects of our lives. This is because modern life depends crucially on systems that have to operate independently to achieve a specified purpose accurately and safely. Examples include that of a wind turbine which can be seen as a machine designed to operate without human intervention to maximize the energy captured from the wind whilst ensuring safe and reliable operation. Another example is a robot designed to search a new landscape, detect and avoid obstacles and complete a specified task. The common features these and other examples are that the machines are a complex connection of electromechanical components and computer systems each of which is simple in its own right but which, together, have the ''intelligence'' to achieve a complex objective with minimal human intervention. The analysis and design of such systems is the job of the Systems and Control Engineer.
Systems and Control is in everyday use. It is used in domestic equipment such as washing machines and CD players, in cars and aircraft, in marine systems and the robots that assemble cars, explore the depths of the sea or the surface of planets. The list of applications is endless and I can confidently say that, without Systems and Control and Engineers educated to understand its principles, the world as we know it would be a very different, less safe and a far less interesting place. You may be interested to know that Systems and Control ideas also play an important role in the design and operation of medical equipment and in the design of aids for people with mobility problems.
Given its wide-spread use in industry, commerce and the professions, Control and Systems Engineers benefit from a study of skills in a wide range of subjects. This is needed because most modern systems consist of many different types of elements. It is essential therefore that a student obtains an understanding of aspects of computing, electronics, mechanical engineering and control principles supported by relevant aspects of other topics such as aeronautics, biomechanics and techniques for the analysis and design of complex systems and data. The precise mix of topics will depend on the degree choice and the specialization selected.
A university education is about you, the student, supported by an enthusiastic community of professional teaching and research staff. If you decide to study Control and Systems Engineering, here at Sheffield, you will benefit from our known high teaching quality supported by highly competent academic staff and academic support staff. You will also meet the staff and students in research groups working at the leading edge of the technologies, often supported by national and international industrial links. Our teaching and project work facilities are excellent and continue to benefit from large investments in state of the art IT and real-time computing systems.
Our degrees are very flexible with options to include aspects of Business and Management if this suits your needs. They are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Institute of Measurement and Control (InstMC) so you may be confident that the outside world will recognise your qualification as an excellent preparation for your chosen career.
I hope that you find the information on our website useful and that it encourages you to apply to study Systems and Control Engineering here at Sheffield. Whatever your choice, I would like to wish you well in your future studies.
Professor Visakan Kadirkamanathan, Head of Department