Bachelor of Engineering (BE) Degree

The School of Engineering and Computer Science offers a four year Bachelor of Engineering (BE) with three specialisations: Electronic & Computer Systems Engineering (ECEN); Network Engineering (NWEN); and Software Engineering (SWEN). When taking the BE degree, you will be enrolled under one of these specialisations. If you're not sure which you like best, don't worry – you can leave your options open at first year and decide later!

BE Degree Requirements

The BE degree is split into several components which you will need to complete. These are:

• Part 1. This consists of six or seven 100-level courses which provide the necessary foundations for the BE. You will need to ensure you take the right courses for your chosen specialisation as set out on the following pages. If you are unsure about which specialisation you like, leave your options open by taking all the courses required for any specialisation (see here). To successfully complete Part 1 of the BE, you will need to pass all Part 1 courses required by your specialisation and achieve at least a B average in those courses.
• Part 2. This is the core component of the BE and is made up of various 200, 300 and 400-level courses. The courses you take will be primarily determined by your chosen specialisation. You may begin to take your Part 2 courses prior to successfully completing Part 1.
• Part 3. This consists of three courses outside of your specialisation forming a coherent addition to your programme of study and approved by the Dean. At least one of the courses must be at 200-level or above. This is an opportunity to explore some other interests you may have outside of the BE programme. Examples of Part 3 selections are given in the various sample programmes of study on the following pages.
• Professional Practice. This consists of a number of courses required for all specialisations (ENGR 301, ENGR 302 and ENGR 489) which develop a professional approach to engineering.
• Work Experience. This consists of three required courses (ENGR 291, ENGR 391 and ENGR 491) and 800 hours of approved work experience in an engineering environment. The courses will help you prepare to apply for and work in appropriate employment. This will normally occur in the summers following your second and third years of study. Full details of the BE work experience programme are available on the School website for employers and students.

If you achieve good grades during your BE degree, and particularly in your third and fourth year work, you will be awarded the degree with Honours, either First-Class Honours, Second-Class Honours (first division), or Second Class Honours (second division). To be eligible for the award of Honours you would normally complete your third and fourth year courses in three consecutive years.

Work Experience

Work experience is a key part of the Bachelor of Engineering degree. The goals of work experience are:

• To increase an understanding of the engineering terms and concepts introduced during the degree course.
• To provide actual experience of different work roles that you are likely to encounter once working as a professional engineer.

Required Courses for Work Experience

As a framework to help you manage your work experience, we have set up three professional courses that you need to pass. These courses will appear on your academic transcript. The courses are:

ENGR 291 - Work Experience Preparation
ENGR 391 - Practical Work Experience
ENGR 491 - Professional Work Experience

Timeline

The timeline for work experience in years 2 to 4 of the BE degree is:

Reporting

Students must write a report for each work experience they undertake as well as managing the documentation needed to record their work experience. Templates and other guidance are provided. The report encourages students to reflect on the work experience by describing, interpreting and evaluating the time, to develop a deeper understanding of their skills, how they dealt with situations and what they learnt.

Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering specialisation

Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering focuses on the development of electronic-based systems to solve real-world problems. These systems are not only based on their physical components, but often also on the signals flowing in the system and the embedded software that provides the system's intelligence. Find out more about Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering

Network Engineering specialisation

The study of networking includes the network elements, protocols, middleware and applications that make up modern networks. The NWEN specialisation equips students with the expertise to design, build, configure and test modern networks and services. The NWEN specialisation is flexible, and students can take a wide variety of courses in software engineering and electronics, as well as core courses in network engineering. Find out more about Network Engineering

Software Engineering specialisation

Software engineers must not only have a range of technical expertise, but must also be able to work with other people - other engineers, clients and systems users. The courses in the Software Engineering programme address these aspects. Students learn about the processes for managing software projects involving many people, work together to solve problems and develop experience. Find out more about Software Engineering

Not sure what BE Specialisation you like?

Choosing the right BE specialisation can seem daunting, and many students simply don't know which one they like best. An option is to delay making this choice until you reach the end of trimester 1 - by which time you'll have a much better understanding of what you do and don't like. This option requires 16 points of NCEA Level-3 Mathematics and you would enrol in the following courses in the first trimester:

However, you can delay your choice till the end of the 1st year if you have 18 points of NCEA Level-3 Calculus (or equivalent), which means that you can take PHYS 114 instead of MATH 141. Essentially, you will be taking the first-year courses important to all BE specialisations. Whilst this does mean taking more MATH courses than needed for some BE specialisations (e.g. SWEN only requires MATH 161), it does ensure you can move to any specialisation at 2nd year. Your first year would look like this:

You will need to have 18 points of NCEA Level-3 Calculus (or equivalent) for this option.

Bridging Courses

If you haven't got enough NCEA credits for your favourite specialisations, don't worry - you can make up for this by taking a bridging course. However, you need to understand that this means your degree may take longer.

Students without enough credits may make these up by taking additional University courses first:

• Students without enough NCEA Mathematics credits may take MATH 132 to make up for this.
• Students without enough NCEA Calculus credits, but who have at least 16 credits of NCEA level-3 Mathematics, may take MATH 141 to make up for this.
• Students without enough NCEA Physics credits may take PHYS 131 to make up for this.

2012 Enrolments

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