About the course
Course content
Who is it for?
Whether you are an engineering student or engineering professional, this course will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to pursue or enhance your career in the IoT industry. The course will also appeal to aspiring entrepreneurs that are keen on starting their own IoT ventures.
This MSc will help you explore a range of technical fields, such as computing, electronics, telecommunications, computer networks, informatics, data analytics, cyber security, and software engineering.
Objectives
The City, University of London Internet of Things with Entrepreneurship MSc will help you:
- Cover the theory and practice that will be valuable for a career in the emergent IoT industry or starting your own IoT venture.
- Develop the deep expertise in the underlying technologies of electronics, sensing and communications that will enable you to exploit the demand and opportunities for engineers with both technical skills and an awareness of the business implications of IoT.
- Learn to apply your knowledge to create new inventions and ideas, and bring them to reality.
- Develop an entrepreneurial perspective that is essential for designing innovative products with modules from the Sir John Cass Business School, renowned as one of the UK’s leading business schools.
The UK Government allocated £40 million in IoT research in the 2015 budget, calling it "the next stage of the information revolution, connecting up everything from urban transport to medical devices to household appliances.”*
Placements
You may apply for competitive three- to six-month placements offered by the informal industry advisory group, at the discretion of the companies involved. These currently include a wide range of IoT companies, including LG Electronics, CGI, Tivital.
Teaching and learning
Academic staff from City’s Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering will deliver modules on this MSc. The Entrepreneurship module will be delivered by the Cass Business School.
The taught modules consist of lectures, tutorials, and laboratory coursework. Lectures will provide you with a solid theoretical understanding of relevant technical and business fields. Tutorials and labs give you opportunities for practical training and experience in each subject.
The programme focuses on a group and individual design project given by the informal industry advisory board or based on your own idea. A project fair at the beginning of the programme will disseminate project ideas and allow you to network with other students and industry advisors.
A Starter Weekend offered by Cass Business School will acquaint you with business plans and inspire new ventures. At the end of the programme, selected individual projects will compete as new ventures, which will be judged but not marked.
Various technical and business seminars will be held throughout the programme, approximately monthly. These seminars will be given mostly by industry professionals to reinforce knowledge in support of the group and individual design projects.
The design project/dissertation aims to provide you with the opportunity to deal with problems in areas where new subject knowledge is required. This involves literature search, assessment of the relevance of previous work, the development of the design task, self-directed research, and the presentation of results.
Assessment
Assessment of the programme modules comprises written examinations and laboratory coursework. Each individual module coursework is combined with the written module examination to provide an overall module mark.
The Group Design Project will be assessed through an interim group report and a final group report, viva, and poster session.
The Individual Project is assessed primarily through a dissertation, but with contributions from an interim report, work carried out during the project period and oral examination.
Assessment criteria and grade-related criteria will be made available to you via programme handbooks, module specifications, on the virtual learning environment or attached to a specific assessment task.
In order to pass the course, you should complete successfully or be exempted from the relevant modules and assessments and acquire the required number of credits. You will also need to pass each part of the programme in order to progress to the following part.
The pass mark for each module is 50% for both coursework and examination combined.
Modules
This MSc is uniquely oriented around practical design projects, guided by an informal industry advisory group of IoT companies, including LG Electronics, CGI and Tivital.
The programme is made up of four core modules, two elective modules, and a final individual project. One of the core modules is a group design project, which will feed into the final individual project of your choice. Also, unique to this programme, another core module on entrepreneurship will be delivered by the Cass Business School on new product development and ventures.
The programme follows a normal 12-month pattern with two terms of taught modules followed by a four-month individual design project/dissertation. The electives are studied in the second term. The third term is reserved for the final individual project. Electronic equipment and labs will be made available for projects.
Course content
IoT is about the interconnection of smart "things", combining sensing, processing, communications, and data analysis for a broad range of everyday applications. The course covers the study, design, and development of "things" based on these technologies:
- Electronics
- Embedded computing
- Sensors
- Software engineering
- Cyber security
- Communications and networks
- Data analytics
You will learn and apply technologies to design and create your own product that will contribute to the growing IoT industry. By engaging with representatives from industrial partners during the programme, you can develop your knowledge and skills for real-world applications.
Career prospects
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the major technology influencing all aspects of our life, health, entertainments and society. As a graduate of this course, your skills and knowledge will open up opportunities in a range electronic communications fields that include the Internet, covering:
- Fundamental technologies
- Electronics
- Informatics
- Wireless communications
- Optical communications
- Mobile communications
- Satellite communications
- Communication protocols
- Networks
- Encryption
- E-commerce
- Digital security
After your MSc studies, this course will also provide you with opportunities for further study, leading to a PhD.