Study overview BSc Advanced Technology

In the first module you get to step into the world of technology. You will be introduced to various disciplines, such as statics and dynamics. You will soon discover the importance of knowing and being able to apply mathematical methods. Using so-called ‘lumped element models’, you will learn to render the more striking details of dynamic systems in your surroundings in simple models. For this module’s team project, you will apply your knowledge of mechanics by tackling a research question: your team’s task will be to produce a solid model description and to validate it with an experiment.

You will learn all about thermodynamics and thermodynamic cycles such as engines, refrigerators and heat pumps. In the lab, you will get to work with various methods of heat transport. The mathematics you need to solve thermodynamic problems is another part of this module. You and your project team will design, build and test a thermodynamic system: a cooling installation you power yourselves.

In order to predict how materials and their properties will behave, you need to know more about the material's atoms and atom structures. The central theme in this module is the relationship between a material's properties and its structure at atomic level. You will be learning about quantum mechanics and materials at a molecular level. In your team project, we will challenge you and your fellow students to come up with a possibility for using a certain material for a new energy application. You will do this by looking at what others have found and drawing conclusions, as a consultancy firm would do. The influence of technological developments on society will also come into view here.

The project consists of designing and applying an accelerometer. In the design of your accelerometer you will start by specifying the application range of your device, which will require a certain time and frequency response. This response is characteristic of a certain system and in the subject Dynamic Systems you will gain the necessary theory to mathematically model such a system. You can use such models to analyse the behaviour of systems – such as your accelerometer. The practical assignment in Instrumentation is designed to familiarize you with analogue electronics and signal processing. You will apply this knowledge in the project to develop the electronic readout of the accelerometer system.

You will learn more about the principles of modelling and analysing dynamic systems. Using basic principles, such as conservation laws and continuity relations, you will learn how to make a fairly realistic description of a system, or part of a system, in a mathematical model. You will learn to predict the behaviour of these systems using advanced mathematics and simulation techniques. You will also analyse signals and models in the field of frequency and discover how signal response is used to research system dynamics. In the team project, you will design, build and test a measuring device, applying your knowledge of modelling and signal processing.

In module 6 you have four options to choose from:

Materials Science and Engineering
This module is all about the relations between the basic properties of materials and their functional application. After all, every device – from an electronic transistor to a pair of sunglasses – combines the properties of different materials to achieve a certain purpose. 

Transport Phenomena
You will learn how the fundamental aspects and the basic equations for describing transport of impulse, mass and energy can be applied to engineering as well as everyday situations. In the modelling project, your job will be to verify the models using experiments and determine the unknown parameters within the model.

Systems and Control
You will immerse yourself in the world of engineering systems design. You will learn about design strategies and work on modelling mechatronic systems, which are closely linked to simulation software. You get to apply the knowledge you’ve acquired in a mechatronics project, such as building your own small Segway.

Software Systems
You will learn how to design and build software, from analysing the requirements to delivering a working programme. In the final team project, you and your team members will programme a multi-player game according to a fixed structure.

Complex engineering problems – like describing the airflow profile of an airplane wing, or the magnetic field of an electrical spool – require a mathematical description. During this module you will work with vectors in the field of electromagnetics. You will learn more about fields (for example, vector and scalar fields), waves, electrostatics, magneto statics and electrodynamics. The project will challenge your knowledge and skills, as you set about designing and producing an antenna that works as well as possible in the 100 MHz range.

This module centres on the development and commercialisation of a complex technological system. You will obtain hands-on project experience of the entire innovation process, from working on an initial technological idea to delivering a commercially viable product and/or service. You will get familiar with key theories, tools and methods in entrepreneurship, innovation management, statistics and probability, and the impact of innovation on society. Group work is a key element in this module, as you stretch your capacities for effective collaboration, reflection and presentation.

In your elective space, you have several options. You can take subjects from other programmes that match the master’s you want to enter. For example, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Science & Engineering, Robotics or Nanotechnology. You could spend half a year studying at another university in the Netherlands or abroad. You could also sign up with one of our multidisciplinary student teams.

For your final bachelor’s assignment, you will work independently on one of our research projects or within one of our research groups, under the supervision of one of our staff members. Our students’ graduation projects are highly varied. Recent final assignments include: making an electronic nose that can detect illness, designing an inspection robot that can walk through a pipeline, robird: a robotic bird of prey that acts as a scarecrow and can scare birds away from airports and crops, and modelling a neurological population using a scientific model, so that simulations can be created.