An Industry-Oriented Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering - Automation and Communications in Energy and Industrial Systems - Operation and Industry Cooperation Review

A Post-Bologna Master's Degree in Automation and Communications in Energy Systems, aiming to provide a high quality degree specially oriented for the professional environment in the Electrical Engineering Area, was presented at the EAEAIE 2010 Conference [1]. The structure and organization targeted the compliance with the Dublin Descriptors and the recommendations from national and international professional organizations. The master's degree structure and organization, profiles and sets of targeted competences were presented and discussed. The master was formally authorized and started in 2008. It successfully underwent the periodically required academic accreditation from the Portuguese Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education in 2013. At accreditation time it was renamed as “Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering” keeping the two Specialization Areas: “Automation and Communications in Energy Systems” (ACES) and “Automation and Communications in Industrial Systems” (ACIS). In this paper, a through examination of the ten editions of the master is conducted, aiming to present its operation, including the main educational and industrial cooperation results. To date, a total of 141 students have graduated with a total of 78 Internships and 63 Projects. The engaged students, field of study and specific Internships and Projects are detailed and discussed, together with the description of the work carried out to organize accreditation and to comply with the Portuguese Accreditation procedures.