Parcours Electrical Engineering and Control Systems / MISCIT 2è année

Présentation et objectifs

Control and information technology components are increasingly used in complex engineering systems. The pervasive infiltration of computer systems (embedded systems and networks) in engineered products and in society requires new insights and ideas in engineering research, education and entrepreneurship. Model-based system integration methodology combined with an overall emphasis on compositional design methodology then appears as a crucial issue in modern process automation and research in automatic control. The proposed curriculum consequently includes advanced topics in control-oriented modeling, systems theory, supervision communication networks and real-time operation, along with the more classical multi-objective and discrete-events control issues. Our aim is to provide high level knowledge and skills for research and developments (R&D) in process automation, from the latest theories to their applications.

Two specialties, with different pedagogical goals, are offered:

• Industrial Processes Automation (IPA) aims at the industrial world, with a focus on team working and communication, technological innovation and the adaptability to new environments.
• Control and Systems Theories (CST), oriented towards research with the development of analytical skills and independent working capabilities.

The distinction between these two specialties is expressed by automation-oriented classes (networks, real-time implementation...), a higher proportion of labs and team projects in IPA, while more advanced courses in system theory and personal projects are proposed in CST.

Organisation

The classes are given in English and organized in two semesters:

• September to December: theoretical classes;
• January to June: project and 5 months of industrial or research internship.

Compétences

As this master is the last year of the academic curriculum and finalizes the students' education before their professional insertion in industry, the employers expectations are of first importance. Five competencies were consequently defined as top priorities: their inclusion in the curriculum is achieved as follows.

Team working: the principles of dialectical interaction are first addressed in the labs, in teams of two or three. Natural affinities determine the groups' composition for the introductory labs, when the students get confidence in the topic. The students are then suggested to change the teams' composition for each lab, in order to develop their adaptability. In a small project the students are divided into two student-organized competitive teams with similar objectives. A longer project differs in the size of the teams (3-4 students) and their composition, set according to complementary backgrounds and affinity for the proposed topic.

Problem solving: this competence is first addressed with homework, graduated from guided application of the theoretical material to process design. Industrial seminars, where the importance of finding applicable solutions with tight time constraints and thanks to the available software and engineering tools, emphasize the necessity for pragmatism and control architecture design.

Concern for quality: an important transition has to be achieved at the Master level between the students habits to deliver personal works aimed at knowledge and understanding checking from their teachers, and the ability to produce technical notes or engineering tools that can be used directly at the industrial level. This aspect of the education is considered with labs and projects reports. For example, the deliverable required at the end of the long term project includes a report and a code library that ought to be used by the next generation of students (multi-years project).

Capacity for applying knowledge in practice: this capacity is developed with software-oriented and experimental laboratories. The homework also contributes with topics that imply the use of multiple theoretical concepts in practice. The projects are oriented to integrate as much theoretical knowledge as possible, thanks to the supervision by teachers with different backgrounds.

Capacity to learn: at the master level, the fundamental of individual learning is supposed to be acquired. This capacity is then more oriented toward dynamic learning, through the interactions between students and the use of available information resources to complement the traditional learning process. The project thus includes a guided bibliographical search and takes advantage of the students various backgrounds (electrical, mechanical, computer, civil or instrumental engineering) to develop multidisciplinary approaches.

At the crossing of the previous skills, we can mention the importance of developing the students' confidence in their capability to adapt in an industrial environment, away from the well-known scholar system. The ability to work in an international and intercultural environment appears as an important issue, strongly supported by the European Union through mobility programs. The interest for entrepreneurial skills is also crucial and such skills are of first importance for innovation.

The previous competences and their application obviously only reflect some specific aspects of the pedagogy and each professor in the program would complement it with her/his own experience. The fact that they can only be acquired through practice render their teaching particularly difficult and one would be over-optimistic to pretend that the generic competences can be taught successfully to all the students. Nevertheless, they set some interesting guidelines for curriculum designers and may be presented to the students as complementary issues to the technical education.