Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Control Engineering
Every intelligent system, every factory, every grid and every vehicle in the modern economy depends on people who can design power electronics, control systems and the electrical infrastructure that survives African conditions. Electrical and control engineering is the load bearing discipline ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Electrical engineer
- control systems engineer
- power electronics engineer
- embedded systems engineer
- instrumentation engineer
- automation engineer
- commissioning engineer
- technical founder
Employer types
- Manufacturers and industrial operators
- power utilities and renewable energy firms
- automation and robotics integrators
- telecommunications operators
- building services and infrastructure firms
- consulting engineers
- government infrastructure agencies
- international organisations
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate engineering compensation in East Africa and supports remote design employment. Progression routes include the School's masters programmes and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Control Engineering. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BECE 110 | Engineering Mathematics I Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 111 | Programming and Computational Thinking Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BECE 112 | Electric Circuits I Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BECE 113 | Engineering Mechanics and Materials Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BECE 130 | Digital Systems and Logic Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 131 | Engineering Mathematics II Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BECE 132 | Electric Circuits II and Signals Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BECE 133 | Electronics I: Devices and Analogue Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BECE 210 | Embedded Systems and Microcontrollers Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 211 | Electromagnetics and Fields Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BECE 212 | Electrical Machines and Drives Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 213 | Control Systems I Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BECE 230 | Power Electronics I Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BECE 231 | Signals, Systems and Measurement Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BECE 310 | Instrumentation and Sensors Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BECE 311 | Control Systems II and Digital Control Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 312 | Power Systems and Grid Engineering Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 313 | Power Electronics II and Converters Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BECE 330 | Embedded Control and Real Time Systems Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 331 | Engineering Economics and Project Management Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BECE 410 | Renewable Energy Power Conversion Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BECE 411 | Automation and Intelligent Control Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BECE 412 | Advanced Control and Systems Integration Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BECE 413 | Engineering Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BECE 430 | Electrical Engineering Capstone: Design and Commission a Real System Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| BECE 431 | Electrical Safety, Standards and Reliability Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BECE 432 | Engineering Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| BECE 433 | Professional Practice and Engineering Leadership Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Control Engineering
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
176
22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
Critical capabilities for this programme: Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse and design electrical circuits and systems from first principles, verified by measurement.
- PLO 2Design and build power electronic converters that survive real grid conditions.
- PLO 3Design, tune and implement control systems for real plant, from modelling to deployment.
- PLO 4Design and program embedded and instrumentation systems for sensing and actuation.
- PLO 5Design electrical infrastructure and machines to standard and to safety.
- PLO 6Model, simulate and test C electrical and control systems before building them.
- PLO 7Integrate intelligent C control and automation while retaining safe human oversight.
- PLO 8Commission, diagnose C and maintain electrical and control systems in the field.
- PLO 9Cost, pitch and defend C an engineering design or venture to a decision maker.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Every intelligent system, every factory, every grid and every vehicle in the modern economy depends on people who can design power electronics, control systems and the electrical infrastructure that survives African conditions. Electrical and control engineering is the load bearing discipline beneath robotics, renewable energy, manufacturing and mobility, and the region imports the expertise it should be growing. This programme builds the engineer who designs, builds and commissions electrical and control systems that work where the grid is unreliable and the environment is unforgiving, with hardware in hand from Year 1.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes including Mathematics and Physics; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics, Physics and English. Applicants sit a structured quantitative and problem framing task scored against Capabilities C2 and C7. Equivalent international qualifications are assessed against this profile. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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