Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Computer Systems (Games Programming)

at Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh Campus United Kingdom

This course provides graduates with advanced mathematical skills and fluency in their chosen language, offering a valuable combination of technical expertise and linguistic excellence. Mathematical and language skills will be enhanced by studying mathematics for a year at one of the foreign partner universities. Languages on offer are French (G1R1), German (G1R2) and Spanish (G1R4). Graduates in mathematics and languages are consistently near the top of graduate employment tables, and the coupling of disciplines in this degree course ensures a highly marketable qualification.

The five year MEng Software Engineering degree is an integrated Masters course, which augments the first three years of the BSc Computer Science with the professional skills necessary for constructing robust, secure systems. Students spend the start of the fifth year on a paid industrial placement. Organisations that recent students have been placed with include Skyscanner, Leonardo, Cadence, BlackRock and Satalia. Many of our students go on to secure an offer of employment from their placement employer.

Teaching excellence and student satisfaction:
'Software Engineering' at Heriot-Watt is ranked 1st in Scotland and joint 1st in the UK for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2018. 100% of students were satisfied overall with their course.

Software engineers create and maintain software applications using best practice from computer science, project management, engineering, application domains and other fields. This programme is designed to teach students how to apply state-of-the-art techniques and methodologies to develop high quality software to professional standards at an advanced level.

Students will be able to specialise in particular areas, such as the development of dependable systems, parallel or big data applications, advanced interactive systems like games, or novel applications using biologically inspired models of computing.

In some cases the project can be carried out in collaboration with an outside industrial or academic organisation.

Graduates from the programme can expect to find employment with software houses, IT companies, R+D divisions of companies, financial services organisations, defence contractors or government IT agencies and as researchers or research students within universities.

This programme aims to develop the knowledge and skills of a Bachelor’s-level graduate Mechanical Engineering to Masters level through advanced teaching, design work and research. It provides an opportunity for candidates from a different Engineering background to develop key Mechanical Engineering knowledge and skills required for their professional development. A key objective of the programme is to be an accredited route to becoming a Chartered Engineer.

This programme makes use of Masters-level courses in the Energy Sciences and Manufacture and Design complemented with specialist courses from relevant MSc courses offered by the Institute. There is a growing need for an advanced mechanical engineering programme from our industry partners and this programme has been specifically developed to meet this need and to encourage students into further learning.

Robotic and autonomous systems are now used in areas such as autonomous vehicle guidance, healthcare, remote surgery, industrial manufacturing and domestic assistance. This multi-disciplined robotics degree brings together electronics, computer software, and mechanics. In the first three years, you’ll be given a background in all three disciplines, along with the opportunity to build integrated systems. In the final two years, you can either continue with a broad-based curriculum, or specialise in particular aspects of contemporary robotics.

The MEng Robotics degree shares a common first three years with the BEng and includes a six-month industry placement, during years 4 and 5. Advanced courses can also be chosen from the three departments: Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering.

Our teaching philosophy:
The philosophy behind all of our programmes is 'learning by doing'. Our programmes are designed to be practical and allow students to develop skills beyond traditional academic content.

Students work on both individual and group projects from the third year onwards, providing them with valuable hands-on experience. The projects challenge you to solve a 'real life' problem – such as the project in which our students helped design an electronic egg to monitor penguin incubation.

This International Marine Science course offers students with a background in marine biology, geology or geography the opportunity to integrate their expertise in the wider marine science context.

The highly interdisciplinary field of Marine Science aims to understand the biology, chemistry, geology and physics of this dynamic system so central to all our lives. It also considers the overarching influence of climate change and how policy can be brought to bear on managing the resources of the ocean as part of the Blue Economy.

The course has two core courses in Oceanography and GIS and offers a wide variety of options with maximum flexibility allowing students to pursue their studies either at our Orkney Campus or in Edinburgh. Furthermore the course offers an online study, through our Distance Learning option, with field work options in Malaysia and Orkney. Depending on the courses selected, Distance Learning students will be required to complete practical lab sessions in Edinburgh – students are responsible for meeting the costs of the travel and maintenance during these periods.

The 2020 National Student Survey placed chemical engineering at Heriot-Watt as 1st in Scotland and 5th in the UK, based on students’ overall satisfaction with our programmes.

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021 ranked Heriot-Watt University as 1st in Scotland and 4th in the UK for Chemical Engineering.

Our MEng in Chemical Engineering provides students with both the theory and practical application expected by industry. We have strong links with professional communities, allowing us to enhance the career prospects of our graduates.

Programme structure:
The MEng programme is a five-year degree which shares the same first four years with the BEng programme. You choose which route to follow at the end of your 4th year, giving you the flexibility to decide which degree best suits your career ambitions.

Our MEng programme gives you a sound understanding of both the chemical and process engineering fundamentals that you need to become a professional chartered engineer. In addition to a grounding in science, maths and engineering, our students acquire practical abilities that are highly sought after by industry.

The final year of the MEng programme offers a range of advanced courses to broaden and deepen students’ understanding of chemical and process engineering. Students study optional courses from a range of specialist engineering subjects along with an extensive research project. Final year MEng students also undertake a commercial tender-based exercise taking on the role of an engineering design house pitching for business to our industrial advisory board.

Our BSc Computer Science degree focuses on constructing robust and usable systems. As well as looking at cutting edge tools and techniques, it’s designed to help you build the next generation of software tools that other system constructors will use. The course aims to give a well integrated balance of theoretical underpinnings and practical experience, strongly informed by the research expertise of our academic staff.

All Year 3 students take part in a year-long group project, where they co-operate in tackling a large, realistic problem. Year 4 students conduct a major, year-long, individual dissertation project.

You can take advantage of our international campuses by taking part in an Inter-Campus Transfer. This gives you the opportunity to study Computer Science at our Dubai campus for a semester or a year.

Our MSc International Business Management with Project Management programme is aimed graduates who have little or no business or management background in their first degree and who wish to gain a broad based business qualification to enhance their future career prospects, or at those looking to develop business management knowledge and skills to allow them to change or further their careers.

This is a Conversion MSc
MSc International Business Management with Project Management is a conversion degree programme led by academics from Edinburgh Business School. It introduces the study of business and management to graduates and professionals from non-management backgrounds who wish to enhance their careers.

This degree introduces vital business knowledge to those with limited academic experience in the subject and provides an opportunity to develop versatile management skills in just one year of study. Coupled with specialist learning in the area of project management, it develops modern management skills to complement existing knowledge and prepare graduates for a career shift or management role.

At Heriot Watt, we are delivering a new MSc programme in Subsurface Energy Systems (SES) that will edcate you about unlocking energy resources with a low carbon footprint. This will be a stepping stone for your career in industry, government, non-government organisations (NGOs) or academia.

The programme addresses key concepts in subsurface energy and CO2 storage, geothermal energy or transitional gas while integrating geoscience, engineering, political and societal aspects. It will appeal to geoscientists, reservoir engineers, governmental stakeholders and all those interested in the management of subsurface reservoirs used to switch from a fossil fuel-driven economy to a decarbonised one, using natural gas as a transitional energy resource. Its production from unconventional reservoirs comes with environmental risks that we have to assess and control. This degree is delivered jointly by The Lyell Centre and the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering.

The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts serious consequences from further emitting CO2 into the atmosphere, thereby accelerating man-made climate change. This requires a drastic decarbonisation of our economies by switching from fossil fuels to renewable energies like wind, solar, hydro, or geothermal or by implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) at scale. Renewable energies can readily be used in the form of electrical power. When electricity production exceeds the demand, electricity can be stored in grids or batteries at limited capacity. At larger scale, electricity can be stored in the subsurface after conversion to, for example, hydrogen, thermal energy, or compressed air until needed, allowing for back-production within short and longer time scales of hours to years.

In comparison to temporary energy storage, CCS aims at safe and permanent storage. The UK and especially offshore storage sites in Scotland are attractive targets for CCS and considered to extend the lifetime of oil and gas reservoirs significantly, thereby strengthening the related industrial sectors. The combined technologies of geothermal energy production, subsurface energy storage or CCS refer to the geoengineering aspects of subsurface energy systems (SES). In this context, SES rather refers to the integration of geoenergy applications with energy production at the surface as well as economic, societal and policy aspects.

There is a significant demand globally for research and training in these technologies, given that many small and large integrated oil and gas companies are decarbonising their assets, which at the same time, needs to be monitored and regulated by governmental bodies. Councils across the UK and Europe are increasingly looking at the subsurface for storing or producing energy.