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Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Bachelor in Computer Engineering

This four-year degree course is composed of 240 ECTS credits, including a final-year project. The course has been approved by ANECA for implementation as of September 2009, and it has been updated with minor changes in 2013 and 2014.

Graduate Profile

School of Computing ProspectusThis is a generalist degree course preparing students to either join the labour market directly or to take a master's course and specialize in any branch of computer science & engineering without any additional training.

Graduates will be professionals with a wide range of scientific, technological and socio-economic skills, trained to practice as developers and implementers of information and communications technologies (ICT) within the field of computer science and engineering.

Graduates of the degree course are expected to:

  1. Independently learn new applicable knowledge and techniques for conceiving, developing or using computer systems.
  2. Effectively convey, both in writing and verbally, knowledge, procedures, results and ideas related to ICT, and specifically informatics, in the knowledge of their socio-economic impact.
  3. Understand the social, ethical, professional, and possibly civil, responsibilities of a practising computer engineer and their role in the field of ICT and the Information and Knowledge Society.
  4. Conceive and develop computing projects using engineering principles and methodologies.
  5. Design, develop, evaluate and assure the accessibility, ergonomics, usability and security of the systems, applications and computing services and the information they provide in compliance with applicable legislation and regulations.
  6. Define, evaluate and select hardware and software platforms to develop and run computer applications and services of varying complexity.
  7. Understand and apply the mathematical, physical, economic and sociological foundations required to interpret, select, assess and create new computer-related technological concepts, theories, uses and developments.
  8. Conceive, develop and maintain software systems and applications using a range of software engineering methods and programming languages suited for the types of application under development, assuring the required quality levels.
  9. Conceive and develop centralized or distributed computer systems or architectures, integrating hardware, software and networks.
  10. Propose, analyse, validate, interpret, install and maintain computer-based solutions in real-world situations across a range of application areas within an organization.
  11. Conceive, deploy, organize and manage computing systems and services in business or institutional settings in order to improve business processes, taking responsibility for and leading their implementation and continuous improvement, and assessing their economic and social impact.

Program Educational Objectives

Our Program Educational Objectives are the long-term goals that we set for our students. This is how we envision them as computer engineering professionals in about five years after their graduation:

Problem solvers - Our graduates will have the ability to solve a wide variety of computer engineering problems across a range of application areas by taking advantage of a broad and deep understanding of the principles, methodologies, technologies and tools associated with the discipline.

Innovators - Our graduates will continue to learn about new technologies, tools and methodologies that emerge in the field, they will have the capability to critically analyze their advantages and disadvantages, and they will provide support to their employers through their capability to respond to the challenges of technological advances.

Effective team members - Our graduates will be able to work effectively in a team, demonstrating their capability to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams and to convey, both in writing and verbally, knowledge, procedures, results and ideas related to computer science and engineering.

Leaders - Our graduates will be capable of taking leadership initiatives in different aspects of their professional practice, such as in the conception and development of projects, in the adoption of innovations, in the leadership of team work, and in the continuous improvement of their abilities and knowledge.

Degree course standards

EURO-INFThe undergraduate computer science & engineering degree course takes a generalist approach, covering everything that a graduate needs to know to be able to perform satisfactorily in a professional environment. To define the aims and objectives of the degree course, we followed the guidelines drafted by a committee set up for the purpose by representatives of the key economic sectors employing graduate computer engineers. Directors of Accenture, Atos Origin, Banco Popular, Deloitte, Social Security Administration's Computing Division, GMV, Hewlett Packard Española, Iberia, IBM, Indra, Informática de El Corte Inglés, Sopra Profit and Telefónica I+D sat on this committee.

The specific competencies to be acquired by students taking the degree course were then defined based on professional studies, like Career Space and PAFET, focusing on the European and Spanish ICT sector, plus a survey conducted by our own Career Guidance Centre (COLFI). COLFI consulted 109 computing sector companies employing our graduates. The course design targeted the professional profiles that will be in most demand in the coming years. These are:

The curriculum conforms to the European framework for accreditation of informatics degrees EURO-INF and also complies with the guidelines of the Spanish Conference of Deans and Directors of Informatics Higher Education Institutions (CODDI).

Additionally, the degree course prepares graduates for ITIL certification. ITIL certification is a framework of ICT services management processes. This framework is increasingly widespread in businesses and demanded as part of computer engineer training by more and more companies. It provides a code of good practice drafted by the British Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The certification assures that engineers are familiar with the processes required to effectively administer a company's ICT area in order to optimize benefits and guarantee the integration of services in the business unit value chain.

The course curriculum also addresses ISO 27001 certification of a company's Information Security Management System (ISMS). Securing this certification will soon be a must for all organizations because it tells their customers, employees and suppliers that they provide a quality information security management service. Compliance with the standard is also a guarantee of service continuity because it proves that the proper steps have been taken. Having been trained as engineers with extensive knowledge of the organization and management of information systems and current technology concerning information security, our graduates will be familiar all the steps a company has to take to get its ISMS certified.

Course structure

The course will start on September and will end on the last working day of June of the following year.

The degree programme subjects are divided across eight semesters, that is, four years. Each subject will be offered on a semester basis. This way, students can take any subject in either September or February every year. This should help students to better manage and plan subject enrolment, and amend their plans within the same academic year depending on their performance in the previous term.

With the same aim of increasing and guaranteeing learning process efficiency and tailoring the process to each student's needs, all students will be allocated an academic tutor. Students can and should consult their academic tutor for personalized guidance about any issue related to their curriculum path, such as deciding what to enrol for next term in view of their previous progress, what optional subjects to choose as of the third year or whether to go on an Erasmus stay or opt for a professional placement in their fourth year.

Before finishing their degree course, students must decide whether to spend a whole semester (30 ECTS) in their fourth year building upon their training abroad at one of the 115 international universities with which we have agreements or gaining their first work experience at one of the 550 companies that offer internships through our Career Guidance Centre. If, for personal reasons, this is out of the question, students could alternatively opt to take optional subjects and specialize or gain further expertise in an academic field or professional sector. However, an Erasmus stay or professional internship should be the preferred option.

Student support

The student is at the centre of the degree course's design. The curriculum should help students to develop as individuals and acquire the competences taught as part of the degree course with the support of the Facultad de Informática through its professors. This support is realized through the following provisions of the degree course: