Master of Science in Telecommunication Engineering

Justification
It has been found necessary to discard the current MSc and MEng programmes in Electrical Engineering owing mainly to the lack of focus in the programme that is required to meet the needs of industry. The programme was too broad with haphazard courses that did not encourage mastering of a specific discipline. The consequence was that there was very little interest in the programme even from among former undergraduate students of the electrical Engineering department.

Moreover, there have been many students who started on the programme and failed to graduate possibly because they never had the ambition to undertake a masters programme. To cater for such students, it has been proposed that a generic Post Graduate Diploma in Electrical Engineering be developed with two areas of concentration that would lead directly into the second year of the proposed master’s programmes.

As such the former MSc and MEng Degrees in Electrical Engineering will be dropped and replaced with the following programmes:

• Telecommunications Engineering (MSc TE)
• Power Systems Engineering (MSc PSE)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Electrical Engineering (PGD EE)

Owing to a common background, the two master’s programmes as well the PGD will share some courses that have been deemed necessary for all students. As such, the course design and distribution has been done with consideration of this fact as demonstrated in the course matrix in Annex III.

Time Commitment
It is expected that the students to be admitted in the programme will be practicing professionals who desire to develop their careers while maintaining their current jobs. To cater for this flexibility, Course will be delivered in both full semester lectures and modular intensive seminars as may be found appropriate at the time.

Research Focus
To make learning more research oriented in the curriculum, it is necessary to deliver every course with a strong research bias by putting emphasis on students spending more time researching (including reporting/presenting their work/results) rather than keeping in class. This is to enable students to learn how to conduct research as well as to learn the various research methodologies.

Consequently, most of the courses will be taught with a strong bias in research as seen in the curriculum. The output from the research will be considered as research lab papers and will constitute end of semester course work assessment.

Target Group
The programs is targeted to graduates from Physics, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering, and Computer Engineering, who want to gain graduate knowledge on Electronics, Computer Engineering, Power and Energy and Telecommunication Systems.

Admission Requirements
To qualify for admission, a candidate must fulfill the general Makerere University entry requirements for a masters degree, and in addition the candidate must fulfill one of the requirements below:

1. Be a holder of a first class or upper second bachelors degree in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field from Makerere University or another recognized University. OR
2. Be a holder of a lower second bachelors degree in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field from Makerere University or another recognized University and must have 2 year of working experience in Telecommunication or  a related filed.OR
3. Be a holder of a pass bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering, Computer Engineering from Makerere University or another recognized University; must have 2 year of working experience in Telecommunication or  a related filed and has demonstrated academic maturity by successfully accomplishing the Postgraduate Diploma in Electrical Engineering with a fist or upper second class.

Nature of the Programme
This is a day/evening programme that is completely privately sponsored. Students on the programme can follow one of two study options or plans.

MSc PLAN A
Students on plan A are required to take at least 30 credits of course work and two semesters of fulltime research leading to a dissertation. To qualify for this option, a student shall have completed all their course work and have a research proposal latest by the fourth week of the second semester.

To qualify for graduation, students on Plan A must

1. Complete the required course work in the programme
2. Undertake at least two (2) seminars during the second year of study where one presents critical outcomes of his/her research
3. Submit at the end of their research, a published conference paper with proof of publication or a paper of publishable quality as may be approved by the department
4. Defend their thesis to a Research & Graduate Studies committee constituted by the department
5. Submit the defended dissertation

MSc PLAN B
Students on plan B are required to take 45 credits of course work and one semester of fulltime project work leading to a project report. To qualify for the Plan B MSc, a student shall have completed all their coursework and also have a project proposal by the second week of the third semester.

To qualify for graduation, students on Plan B must:

1. Complete the required course work in the programme
2. Submit at the end of their project work, a conference paper of publishable quality as may be approved by the department
3. Present their project work and outputs to a projects defense committee constituted by the department
4. Submit a project report

Duration
The duration for the M.Sc TE degree programme shall be at least four (4) semesters of fulltime study or the equivalent amount of study time on a part-time basis.

Tuition Fees
The tuition fees per semester for the programme(s) shall be as shown below:

Nationality	Ugandans (or East African residents)		Foreigners
	Semester Fees (Shs)	Annual Fees (Shs)	Semester Fees ($)	Annual Fees ($)
Full Time	2,850,000	5,700,000	2,800	5,600

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Course distribution

YEAR I SEMESTER I      4 compulsory courses and at least 1 of 3 Electives – 15 credits

YEAR I SEMESTER II    1 compulsory course and 4 of 7 Electives – 15 credits

YEAR II SEMESTER I    Research (for Plan A) or 3 compulsory courses and 2 of 5 Electives (for Plan B) – 15 credits

YEAR II SEMESTER II   Research and Thesis (for Plan A) or Project and report (for Plan B) – 15 credits

MSc TE Plan A Course Layout

Table 2: Course Layout for Plan A MSc Telecommunication Engineering

YEAR I		SEMESTER I – 15 credits	L	P	R	CH	CU
Compulsory
RET 7105		Statistics and Research Methods	45	0	0	45	3
MEC 7101		Principles of Management	45	0	0	45	3
MTE 7101		Digital Communications	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7102		Computer & Communications Networks	30	30	0	60	3
MTE 7103		Digital Signal Processing	30	0	60	45	3
YEAR I		SEMESTER II – 15 credits
Compulsory
EMT 7201		Advanced Engineering Mathematics	45	0	0	45	3
MTE 7201		Wireless and Mobile Communications	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7202		Satellite & Microwave (RF) Communications	30	0	60	45	3
Electives (Choose any two)
MTE 7203		Radar System Engineering & Design	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7204		Optical Communications	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7205		Telecom Mgt, and Policy	30	0	60	45	3
MEC 7201		Engineering Project Management	45	0	0	45	3
YEAR II		SEMESTER I – 30 credits
Compulsory
MTE 8100	Telecommunications Research		0	0	600	150	10
MTE 8101	Telecommunications Research seminar		0	0	120	30	2
MTE 8201	Telecommunications Research seminar		0	0	120	30	2

MSc TE Plan B Course Layout

Table 2: Course Layout for Plan B MSc Telecommunication Engineering

YEAR I		SEMESTER I – 15 credits	L	P	R	CH	CU
Compulsory
RET 7105		Statistics and Research Methods	45	0	0	45	3
MEC 7101		Principles of Management	45	0	0	45	3
MTE 7101		Digital Communications	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7102		Computer & Communications Networks	30	30	0	60	3
MTE 7103		Digital Signal Processing	30	0	60	45	3
YEAR II		SEMESTER II – 15 credits
Compulsory
EMT 7201		Advanced Engineering Mathematics	45	0	0	45	3
MTE 7201		Wireless and Mobile Communications	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7202		Satellite & Microwave (RF) Communications	30	0	60	45	3
Electives(Choose any two)
MTE 7203		Radar System Engineering & Design	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7204		Optical Communications	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 7205		Telecommunication Mgt, and Policy	30	0	60	45	3
MEC 7201		Engineering Project Management	45	0	0	45	3
YEAR II		SEMESTER I – 15 credits
Compulsory
MPS 8101	Finance in Engineering		45	0	0	45	3
MTE 8102	Marketing Management		45	0	0	45	3
MTE 8103	Microprocessor based Systems		30	0	60	45	3
Electives: (Choose any two)
MTE 8104		Operations Research	45	0	0	45	3
MTE 8105		Radar Signal Detection & Data Processing	30	0	60	45	3
MTE 8106		Advanced Topics in Communications	30	0	60	45	3
YEAR II		SEMESTER II – 15 credits
Compulsory
MTE 8200		Telecommunications Project	0	0	300	75	5
MTE 8201		Telecommunications Research seminar	0	0	120	30	2

Graduation Requirements
Table 5: Graduation Requirements

Semester / Term	MSc Plan A (44 Cr)	MSc Plan B  (52 Cr)
Year 1 Semester 1	A total of at least 30 credits (including 15 Credits of compulsory courses)
Year 1 Semester 2
Year 2 Semester 1	Research & Thesis (10 Cr) Research Seminar (4 cr)	15 course Cr (including 9 compulsory courses)
Year 2 Semester 2		MSc Project (5 Cr) Research Seminar (2 cr)

Attachments

Attachment Name	Attachment Type
Master of Science in Telecommunication Engineering	DOC	PDF	PS