Electrical Engineering

Study at the cutting-edge of technology and be part of global solutions related to energy conservation, power grids, communications networks, and intelligent products. You’ll be solidly schooled from the ground up before studying modern topics in electrical engineering, including communications, electromagnetics, microsystems, nanotechnology, power systems, and electronics.

This program is also offered at UBC's Vancouver Campus

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Program information

Campus: Okanagan
Faculty: School of Engineering
Degree: Bachelor of Applied Science (Engineering)

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours No
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

Electrical Engineering is the study and application of electricity and electromagnetism. Electrical engineers deal with power generation and distribution, control systems, electronics, and telecommunications.

Specializations

Biomedical Concentration
Mechatronics Concentration

Consult with a School of Engineering Advisor about these Concentrations.

Experiential learning and research

In fourth year you can complete the Engineering Capstone Design Project, where you design a project – which can be multidisciplinary or in a specialized area of engineering – in response to an actual engineering problem. You will then submit a comprehensive project report and deliver a formal presentation. Through Engineering Co-operative Education, you can work in BC, across Canada, or around the world while gaining international insight and developing technical skills, industry networks, and mentoring opportunities with professionals. As an engineering student, you can apply for a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada undergraduate student research award, and gain valuable work experience while working with a faculty member on one of their research projects.

From Women in Engineering to Engineers Without Borders to the Concrete Toboggan Club, UBC’s Okanagan campus has engineering-focused student clubs and associations that will help you meet your peers, have fun, and find opportunities for career growth in the process.

Campus features

The engineering program on UBC’s Okanagan campus has superb new facilities for teaching and research, which include undergraduate laboratories for electrical engineering courses and research labs for power electronics, lasers and optics, computer simulations, radio-frequency systems, micro- and nano-fabrication, and wireless communications.

Engineering labs and facilities

What can you do with this major after graduation?

Your Electrical Engineering career options

APSC 169 - Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering Design
Theory and practice of sustainable engineering. Awareness and risk analysis of potential impacts on society and the environment over the lifecycle of engineering projects. Engineering design process, project lifecycle, and professional responsibility. Team-based design project.
APSC 177 - Engineering Computation and Instrumentation
Computer systems, software development, operating systems, compilers, programming in a high-level language, selection and loop structures, functions, arrays, pointers, files, data acquisition, solving engineering problems with computer programs.
APSC 181 - Dynamics
Kinematics of particles, curvilinear motion, normal-tangential, polar, cylindrical coordinates, force and acceleration, equation of motions, work and energy, conservation of energy. Applications of linear algebra in dynamics.
APSC 182 - Matter and Energy I
Thermometry, states of matter and phase change, ideal and real gases, 1st law of thermodynamics, 2nd law of thermodynamics, liquids, solutions, solid crystals, atomic structures and bonding.
APSC 178 - Electricity, Magnetism, and Waves
Coulomb's law, electric field, Gauss' law, electric potential, conductors, capacitance, electric currents, resistance, DC circuits, magnetic fields and forces, sources of magnetic fields, electromagnetic induction, mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, light propagation, geometrical optics.

APSC 246 - System Dynamics
Linear time invariant system, impulse response function, operator, convolution, system characterization, complex numbers, solution of linear ordinary differential equations, Laplace transform and its applications, transfer function, frequency response, solution to system of linear differential equations. Fourier series and transform.
APSC 252 - Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
First and second laws of thermodynamics. Applications to simple thermodynamic processes and cycles. Heat transfer modes, design of heat exchange equipment, and electrical devices.
APSC 254 - Instrumentation and Data Analysis
Data acquisition, sensors, instrumentation, measurement techniques and their limitations, experimental design, and data analysis; statistics, basic probability; application of statistics to data analysis.
APSC 258 - Applications of Engineering Design
Principles of engineering design, applied to a team-based design project. Use of probability, decision making, economic principles, systems theory, and technical communication in design projects.
APSC 259 - Materials Science I
Atomic bonding, crystallographic characteristics of materials, stress-strain curve, strengthening mechanisms, failure of materials, Eutectic and Eutectoid phase transformations, Fe-C phase diagram, composite materials, corrosion, electrical properties of materials.

ENGR 320 - Electromechanical Devices
DC and AC magnetic circuits, transformers, DC machines, principles of electromagnetic devices, synchronous machines, induction motors, and brushless DC motors.
ENGR 365 - Engineering Electromagnetics
Review of vector calculus, electrostatic and magnetostatic fields, boundary conditions, Faraday's Law and induction, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves and propagation, reflection of plane waves, introduction to antennas and electromagnetic radiation.
ENGR 305 - Engineering Economic Analysis
Cost concepts, accounting, time value of money; depreciation and taxes; public sector projects; economic evaluation techniques; handling uncertainty; sustainability in economic evaluation; societal context; infrastructure management needs; project impacts, mitigating risk. Case studies.
ENGR 355 - Digital Systems Design
Logic design methods, hardware description language (HDL), number representation and arithmetic circuits, combinational circuits, flip-flops, registers, counters, synchronous and asynchronous sequential circuits, digital system designs.
ENGR 359 - Microcomputer Engineering
Microcomputer architecture, number representation, assembly language, parallel and serial input/output, interrupts, memory, peripherals.

ENGR 406 - Microelectromechanical Systems
Mechanisms, design, fabrication, and testing of microsensors, actuators, and MicroElectroMechanical systems (MEMS). Credit will not be granted for both ENGR 406 and ENGR 506
ENGR 455 - Power System Analysis and Design
Principles of electric power systems, three-phase transformer, transmission line parameters, admittance model, impedance model, network work calculations, power-flow solution, symmetrical faults, symmetrical components and sequence network, unsymmetrical faults, economic dispatch. Design projects using power system simulator package.
ENGR 413 - Law and Ethics for Engineers
The Canadian legal system. Companies, partnership, independent contractors. Contract documents, specifications, liability, torts and liens. Intellectual property. Agency; evidence; expert witnessing. Employment law. Engineer Act, Code of Ethics, APEGBC.
ENGR 451 - Microelectronics II
Building blocks of integrated-circuit amplifiers, differential multistage amplifiers, frequency response, feedback, output stages and power amplifiers, and operational amplifier circuitry.
ENGR 460 - Probability and Random Processes for Engineers
Set theory, conditional probability, distribution function, functions of random variables, central limit theorem, random processes and their spectral characteristics, linear system with random inputs. Applications in statistics and engineering.

Your future

A UBC education will introduce you to people and ideas from around the world, open doors to new opportunities, and take you places you never imagined. You’ll graduate not only with expertise in your chosen field, but with the skills you need to continue growing, learning, and evolving with your career over time.

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.

IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Applied Science (Engineering)

IB Math Analysis and Approaches SL or HL, or IB Math Applications and Interpretations HL. (IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, are not acceptable.)
IB Chemistry
IB Physics
Academically strong candidates missing either IB Chemistry or IB Physics may be evaluated on a case-by-case basis

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Sciences