Electronic Engineering with Photonics

Summary
Photonics is transforming how we communicate, sense and process information. From fibre optic networks to advanced optical devices, it sits at the heart of modern technology.

On this integrated master’s course, you will combine electronic engineering with specialist knowledge in photonics. You will learn how to design and fabricate optical fibres, light sources and detectors, while exploring how these technologies are applied in real-world systems.

Your learning is shaped by expertise from the Optoelectronics Research Centre, one of the world’s leading institutes in photonics. You will explore advanced topics such as optical communications, photonic materials and quantum devices, building the knowledge to work at the forefront of the field.

At Southampton, you will be part of a department consistently ranked in the UK top 5, known for innovative thinking and real-world impact, with access to facilities shaped by major investment and designed for the way engineers work today.

By the time you graduate, you will be ready to step into a wide range of industries, with the practical mindset and problem-solving skills that employers value.

Key features of the course
Build strong foundations. Develop core knowledge in electronic engineering, preparing you for roles across the electronics industry.

Go further with an integrated master’s. This four-year MEng allows you to deepen your knowledge and specialise in photonics within electronic engineering.

Specialise in photonics. Study the design and fabrication of optical fibres, semiconductor light sources and detectors, and their real-world applications.

Learn from world-leading research. Benefit from specialist modules delivered in collaboration with the Optoelectronics Research Centre.

Build advanced expertise. Explore areas such as optical communications, photonic materials, silicon photonics, nanophotonics, plasmonics and quantum devices.

Learn by doing. Your third-year project gives you the opportunity to design, simulate, build or test your own system, applying your skills to a real engineering challenge.

Work with leading researchers. Collaborate with academics working at the cutting edge of engineering, gaining insight into new ideas and approaches.

Specialise your learning. Choose from an extensive range of advanced modules in your third and fourth years to shape your degree.

Work as a team on real challenges. In your fourth-year Group Design Project, you will collaborate in a small team on a project inspired by an industrial partner, applying your skills to develop solutions to real-world problems.

Study in a leading environment. You will benefit from facilities shaped by significant recent investment, designed to support computer science and electrical & electronic engineering students.

Prepare for your future. Strong links with employers and a focus on practical skills mean you will graduate ready for a wide range of careers in electronics and photonics.

Student support
Your Personal Academic Tutor will support you throughout your time at Southampton, offering guidance on your studies, career ambitions and personal development.

You will also have access to a dedicated careers hub, including an annual careers fair and opportunities to connect with employers. You will have access to “Successful Futures”, the award-winning employability skills model, which embeds career planning and employability across all courses. Furthermore, our new “Career Advantage” employability programme builds your skills, experience, and confidence, including a customised programme for international students. If you are interested in starting your own venture, Future Worlds, our startup incubator, is there to support your ideas.

Further information

A UKESF and IET Power Academy partner university.

Course Modules

This four-year MEng programme has been designed to maximise student choice by allowing you to tailor the degree structure to suit your own interests.

During the first two years you will undertake a series of core modules, for example Circuits, Electronic Systems, Programming, Digital Systems and Devices, Fields, Forces and Materials, and Mathematics.

In your third and fourth years you can choose from a wide range of optional modules that reflect the specialist areas of electronic engineering that will take you to the leading edge of technology sought by industry. You will also work on an individual project with one of our research groups which will allow you to work at the frontier of knowledge.

For further information on our optional modules: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/electronic-engineering-with-photonics-degree-meng#modules

A range of assessment methods are used on this programme to enable students to demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes. These include written examinations and assessments, in-class tests, design exercises, programming exercises, oral presentations, assessed laboratories and group work exercises.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Engineering and Technology, Institution of