Another maturity step for the Faculty of ICT

When the University of Malta’s Faculty of ICT was launched in October 2007, it adopted a structure being used by most continental European universities, based on a first cycle of three years followed by a second cycle of two years - also termed a Bachelor, and a Master level.

The Faculty runs courses in three main areas, engineering (computer and communications engineering), computer science and artificial intelligence, and computer information systems.

The first three years are intended to train a graduate to a level where he or she can be productive and competent in the area in which he or she graduates. The three degrees give suitable competencies in each of the areas thereby allowing any ICT firm wishing to employ the graduate, the possibility of finding a person with a background that would render him/her productive within a short time.

At the same time, the degree programmes overlap enough to give the student the capability to move from one ICT area to another if he or she is willing to put in the necessary effort.

This year saw the start of the second cycle degrees, one of which is the M.Sc. in telecommunications, over a period of two years full time. The course covers advanced topics in telecommunications, signal processing, and multimedia and span from theory to practical applications. About 50 per cent of the original cohort that successfully completed the first cycle are participating in the M.Sc. in telecommunications.

The aim of the second cycle is to produce students who can take up research positions and develop products in an industry where applications and respective markets are dynamic, and where firms need to adapt continuously to new environments. Students following the course have the possibility to graduate with a postgraduate diploma after the first year of the second cycle. This allows first cycle students who followed the communications and computer engineering degree course to become eligible for the engineering warrant.

In most European countries requiring a warrant to practise a profession, the second cycle is the academic level necessary for warrant eligibility. One hopes that in order to enhance the academic background of warrant holders, this trend will in future also be considered by the local competent authorities.

(Prof. Micallef is the head of the Communications and Computer Engineering Department in the Faculty of ICT at the University of Malta.)