Practicals in networks and circuits

The practicals ‘Elektrotechnische Grundlagen’ and ‘Messtechnik’ (second semester) and ‘Leistungselektronik und Messtechnik’ (third semester) currently offered in the D-ITET PPS series (projects, practicals, seminars) will be updated technically and pedagogically and aligned with the new Networks and Circuits lecture. Nowhere in ETH’s Electrical Engineering study programme today has the attempt yet been made to convey the fundamentals of electrical engineering via the three comprehensively aligned vehicles lecture, exercises and practicals. Practicals will not comprise conventional carrying out of pre-planned experiments and completion of prepared protocols, but may consist of project-related and problem-oriented exploration of electrical phenomena.

• Modern working environment with a comprehensive range of measuring and laboratory equipment
• Interesting and stimulating experiments
• Attractive and easily understandable experiment documentation
• Close supervision by assistants and doctoral students (interaction instead of independent-study experiments with no possibility to ask questions)

Experiments are aligned with current electrical engineering themes (solar energy, wireless energy transfer) and closely related to the foundation lecture, and all parts are structured such that basic functions are immediately clear and comprehensible (transparency instead of ‘black box’ approach). To conduct the experiments a modern industry-style laboratory environment has been created which, in contrast to the sometimes museum-like character of many lab exercises in the lower semesters, represents a research-related environment with much to recommend it.

Some individual elements of the experiments will be transferred to an additional part for more experienced students, to avoid overtaxing and demotivating students who are not yet familiar with the lab environment or the measuring apparatus.

Student feedback was very positive: the evaluation showed ‘general satisfaction’ levels of 4.4 out of 5. Students liked the modern lab environment and the close supervision of assistants and felt that these helped them to experience in practice and consolidate the theories learned.

• Create lab teams with a maximum of 3 students (ideally 2)
• 1 assistant should supervise a maximum of 3 lab teams (ideally 2)
• Use modern measuring apparatus / industry-style lab environment
• Set up experiments without any hidden parts, according to the concept that functions should be transparent, i.e. clear just from observation