Teaching

Our Bachelor and Master program                                          new.pngOctober 2018: Master TI offered in English
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Technische Informatik (Computer Engineering)

 

offer a profound academic education in all aspects of dependable embedded/cyber-physical systems. We are hence dealing with computing systems that directly interact with real-world systems, including critical ones such as spacecraft and cars.

 

 

Designing computing systems for such applications is both scientifically and technologically challenging: Control computers for aircraft cannot just stop operating in case of failures, "trial-and-error-style programming" is not an option in many applications, asserting system correctness by means of testing may be insufficient for the required reliability level, etc.

Key characteristics of our field are (i) an integrative view of a multitude of system aspects like hardware/software interface, continuous/discrete systems, communications, dependability, real-time processing, energy/resource efficiency, etc., and (ii) interdisciplinarity: Core computer science knowledge and skills like programming, modeling, design and analysis, and formal verification of both software and hardware must be complemented by a sound background in other disciplines, in particular, both discrete and continuous mathematics, electrical engineering and even physics.

Our Bachelor and Master curricula have been specifically designed to meet these challenges: Grounded on solid foundations in both discrete and continuous mathematics, our Bachelor Technische Informatik consists of a fully-fledged computer science core, with a specific focus on establishing the scientific foundations for rigorous systems engineering, which is complemented by solid engineering basics, both foundational (electrical and control engineering) and more practical (digital design and computer architecture, microcontroller programming). Our Master Technische Informatik allows to advance the knowledge and skills in modeling, analysis and validation of dependable, hybrid and autonomous cyber-physical systems, and to individually specialize in certain fields. Together, they form an ideal basis for entering one of the doctoral programs at TU Wien.

We are not aware of many universities world-wide that offer comparable programs.

 
 
 

 

Bachelor Technische Informatik (Studienplan,  Übergangsbestimmungen)

Qualifies for:

  • Advanced development of embedded/cyber-physical systems (VLSI design and computer architecture, microcontroller software development, dependable real-time systems design)
  • Applications engineering
  • Research support

BTI is enrolled by something like 50-70 beginners per year, with typically 40-50 active students entering the 3rd semester, and produces 30-40 graduated Bachelors per year. Note that it is in German only.

BTI_courses

Some Highlights

  • Except for the first and second semester BTI courses shared with other Bachelor programs, all courses in the BTI can offer student-to-staff ratios which are comparable to first-rate international universities.
  • The BTI is probably the most challenging among the Bachelor programs of the Faculty of Informatics, as it requires mastering both core computer science and additional fields like electrical engineering and systems & control theory. However, owing to this:
    • We can offer excellent job perspectives for our graduates, both internationally and nationally. In fact, Austria has a surprisingly rich industry (TTTech, RUAG Space, Frequentis, to name just a few) who are usually desperately looking for excellent graduates.
    • Working in a field as rich as Technische Informatik is not only intellectually challenging - it is also fun and very satisfactory. Live-long interest [and employment ...] is usually guaranteed!
 Additional remarks
  • The BTI is definitely not "reserved" for students coming from a HTL, despite persistent rumors saying the opposite: Experience tells that, over the years, the obvious headstart of good HTL graduates in engineering-related courses is often outweight by superior abstraction and language skills of good AHS graduates.
  • Except for the course Grundlagen Digitaler Systeme, all other courses in the first semester of the BTI (and also three courses of the second semester) are also present in the other Bachelor programs of the Faculty of Informatics. It is hence possible to switch from the BTI to another Bachelor program with minor loss of efforts.
  • BTI graduates can of course take a different Master program at the Factulty of Informatics later on, with very few additional requirements. For example, entering the Software and Information Engineering Master only requires to add the modules Datenbanksysteme and Verteilte Systeme, which could already be taken as Wahlpflichtfächer in the BTI.

Bachelor with Honors program

Top BTI students can apply for entering the new Honors program (that effectively started in January 2018), which adequately challenges highly gifted students, provides early exposure to research topics and early integration into research groups, and explicitly acknowledges excellence in the studies. It consists of an individual program of 45-60 ECTS of additional courses from any suitable Bachelor and/or Master curriculum, which is chosen in accordance with a professor of the faculty who acts as a mentor throughout the entire BHons studies. Note that courses taken in the honors program may also be re-used in a subsequent regular Master program. BHons graduation requires passing both the regular BTI and the individual honors program with distinction, within 9 semesters (for full-time students), hence effectively "simulates" a 4-years Bachelor education (without an official legal status, however, which would not be compatible with the Austrian law).

Visit the Bachelor with Honors webpage (German, English) for further information.

Master "Computer Engineering" ("Technische Informatik") (Studienplan,  Übergangsbestimmungen)new.png   

timeforachange.jpg  Starting October 2018, MCE will be offered in English!    

MCE, also abbreviated MTI for compatibility with the previous German-only version, qualifies for:

  • Modeling, design and analysis of dependable, hybrid and autonomous cyber-physical systems
  • Scientific and industrial research
  • Entering PhD program

MTI is enrolled by something like 15-20 beginners per year and typically produces 10-15 graduated Masters per year. 

The rapidly changing world of cyber-physical systems, the hiring of new professors, the need for maintaining compatibility with other programs (doctoral programs, BHons), and finally the need to clearly distinguish the MTI from the Master Embedded Systems of the Faculty ETIT suggested a major re-design of the MTI implemented in October 2017 and now offered entirely in English:

  1. Mandatory basic courses Discrete Mathematics (9 ECTS), Formal Methods (9), Advanced Multiprocessor Programming (4.5) only
  2. Choose 3 out of 6 key areas, by taking the associated gatekeeper modules and individually selected optional courses from
    • Automation
    • Computer-Aided Verification
    • Cyber-Physical Systems
    • Digital Signal Processing and Communication
    • Digital Circuits and Systems
    • Dependable Distributed Systems
  3. Diploma thesis (30 ECTS)

 MTI_courses.png

Admission requirements

We distinguish basic prerequisites, which must be fulfilled already before MTI admission (except for graduates of certain Bachelor programs at TU Wien) and prerequisites for the selected key areas, which can be fulfilled as additional obligations (that need to be taken before regular MTI courses except Discrete Mathematics). Prerequisites are specified via modules from the Bachelor Technische Informatik, with the meaning that they are satisfied if courses reasonably equivalent w.r.t content, level and ECTS-credits have been/are being taken:

  • Basic prerequisites:
    • Einführung in die Programmierung
    • Algebra und Diskrete Mathematik
    • Analysis
    • Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie und Stochastische Prozesse
    • Algorithmen und Datenstrukturen
    • Theoretische Informatik und Logik
    • Betriebssysteme und Computernetzwerke or else Betriebssysteme
  • Prerequisites for key areas:
    • KA Digital Circuits and Systems: Digital Design
    • KA Digital Signal Processing and Communication: Signale und Systeme
    • KA Automation: Dezentrale Automation
    • KA Cyber-Physical Systems: Modellbildung und Regelungstechnik, Microcontroller

In addition, fluency in English is of course mandatory.

Please consult the faculty website of the MCE for further information, admission procedure etc.

 

Practicals & Theses myTI TI Presentation (English) Präsentation Beginner's Day (in German) TI Research Presentations MS_thesis_guidelines