Information Engineering (INF)

The INF curriculum provides graduates with a secure and fruitful career, with the satisfaction of being at the center of the demanding development activities of a future society of knowledge, technology and science, in which the conquests of human skills spread and help the whole world, trying to make it better, and with the support of information technologies.

The objectives of the INF programme are:

• operating with fundamentals of computer science, hardware, software and communication design, in local and distributed Internet environments;
• knowledge of programming technologies and environments in solving complex and distributed problems through applications of computer science and engineering;
• preparing graduates for future technologies in the Internet of Things paradigm through knowledge of electronic devices, circuits, signals and tools for designing systems of the future as new solutions to complex and distributed problems.

Skills provided by the study programme:

• Use of the basics of electronic devices, circuits and instrumentation.
• Applying, in typical situations, the basic methods of processing electrical and non-electrical signals, implementing procedures of medium complexity on signal processors.
• Understand and use fundamental concepts in the field of communications and information transmission.
• Application of fundamental knowledge, concepts and methods concerning computer systems architecture, microcontrollers, programming languages and techniques.
• Design and use of computer systems and computer networks.
• Development of complex software systems: database systems, parallel and distributed systems, multimedia systems, human-machine interfaces.
• Advanced information processing: pattern recognition, image and speech analysis and processing, computational intelligence.
• Methodical analysis of the problems encountered in the activity, identifying the elements for which there are established solutions, thus ensuring the fulfillment of professional tasks.
• Flexible adaptation, at user level, to new systems and technologies in the field, within work teams with well-defined tasks.

Curriculum

In the 1990s, Professor Adrian Murgan initiated the programs of Information Engineering (II) for specialists in complex applications programming and of Computer Systems Engineering (CSE) for specialists in systems programming, in addition to the activities of information theory, applied electronics, image processing, artificial intelligence and medical electronics, traditional in the area of activities of the department.

The INF programme is the natural successor of these concerns, in the Bologna paradigm, in line with the change of the old name of the Department of Applied Electronics (the one founded by Professor Alexandru Spătaru in the early years of national television - the 1950s) to the new name of today's Department of Applied Electronics and Information Engineering (EAII). The adoption of the Bologna system has reduced the initial 5-year duration of education to the current 4-year INF bachelor programme, with the possibility of further training in 2 years with strict specialisation by pursuing master studies on several other programmes in the field.

The curriculum of the Information Engineering degree programme has been designed with a broad scope, using programmes from elite universities with similar specialisations as models. Fundamental training in the field is provided through disciplines such as: Data Structures and Algorithms (semester 2), Object-Oriented Programming (4), Signals and Systems (4), Decision and Estimation in Information Processing (4), Circuit Analysis and Synthesis (5), Digital Signal Processing (6), Digital Integrated Circuits (4), Microprocessor Architecture (4), Computing Systems Architecture (5), Analog and Digital Communications (6), Communication Systems (6), Network and Internet Architectures (6), Computer Networks (7).

Specialisation in the INF programme is achieved in semesters 6-8 through subjects such as Internet Programming Technologies (6), Operating Systems (6), Software Engineering (7), Database Design (7), Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence (7), Image Processing (7), Image Analysis (8), Integrated Computational Intelligence (8), Optimisation Techniques in Programming (8), Parallel Computing (8), Distributed Programming (8).

The specific disciplines of the Computer and Information Technology field are those directly related to software techniques (Computer Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, Operating Systems, Software Engineering, Internet Programming Technologies, Optimization Techniques in Programming, Database Design, Distributed Programming, Parallel Computing).

Related disciplines on artificial intelligence areas are those related to complex applications (Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, Image Analysis, Image Processing, Embedded Computational Intelligence).

Associated disciplines on computing equipment are those related to electronic devices and circuits (Electronic Devices, Fundamental Electronic Circuits, Analog Integrated Circuits, Digital Integrated Circuits, Microprocessor Architecture, Microcontrollers).

General subjects are related to electrical engineering (Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering I and II), systems theory (Signals and Systems, Circuit Analysis and Synthesis, Digital Signal Processing), information transmission (Information Transmission Theory, Decision and Estimation in Information Processing, Computer Networks), data acquisition and processing systems (Measurement in Electronics and Telecommunications, Fundamentals of Data Acquisition Systems, Electronic Measurement Instrumentation), etc.

The course content follows the syllabi of similar courses taught at prestigious universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vrije University Amsterdam, Cambridge University, Berkeley University, etc.

The INF programme has sufficient material resources to support the teaching programme, concentrated in well-equipped laboratories with fast computing and connectivity equipment, other specialised hardware equipment, high-performance software packages. The INF programme has well-trained human resources, coordinated by professors with a wealth of experience in computer science, programming, signals and systems science, artificial intelligence and applied algorithms, and a certain dedication to passing on their knowledge to young future specialists and even future collaborators.

Several research laboratories dedicated to teaching and scientific activities are active within the program (LSCIN - Laboratory of Naturally Inspired Computing Systems, ISC - Laboratory of Computer Systems Engineering, B332 - Laboratory of Parallel and Distributed Programming, B124 - Laboratory of Computer Systems Architecture and Peripheral Equipment, etc.).

Throughout the teaching process, students can be integrated into teams led by professors with excellent achievements in the programme's specialisations, through which they can participate in scientific exchanges, conference presentations, mobility at associated universities, within the framework of collaborations in national or European ERASMUS+ projects.

Graduates of the bachelor's cycle can be employed as engineers in various specialisations such as computer system programmer of complex software applications, computer and systems designer, computer systems designer, system software designer, software system analyst, network and data communication systems, designer and developer of distributed applications, embedded applications, computer system administrator, computer system, website, database, computer network, electronic engineer in transport, telecommunications, specialist in testing, maintenance, quality information systems, teacher, researcher in information engineering, etc.