Instrumentation and Control Engineering by Flexible Open Learning

Instrumentation and Control Engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the measurement and management of physical quantities in industrial processes. From monitoring the temperature and pressure of a chemical reactor to controlling the flow of fluids in a water treatment plant, the ability to detect, measure, and regulate process variables is fundamental to the safe and efficient operation of manufacturing, energy, and utility systems. The discipline combines sensor technology, signal processing, control theory, and electronics, and is increasingly central to the automated and digitally managed industrial environments of the present and future.

At Teesside University, this programme is delivered part time and entirely via distance learning, with all learning materials accessed through the Virtual Learning Environment. This makes it accessible to students who are already working in industry and wish to develop or formalise their engineering knowledge alongside employment. You will study modern techniques for detecting and measuring variables in industrial processes, developing an understanding of how measurements are made accurately and reliably, and how commercial instruments for analytical and chemical composition measurement are designed and calibrated.

Control theory and its application to real process systems are also covered, giving you both the theoretical principles and the practical context in which they are applied.

Graduates and completers of instrumentation and control engineering programmes work as control and instrumentation engineers, process engineers, automation specialists, and systems engineers across the oil and gas, chemical processing, pharmaceuticals, water, energy, and manufacturing sectors. The combination of measurement science and control theory is increasingly valued as industrial processes become more automated and data-driven. Many students pursue professional engineering qualifications alongside or after their degree, working towards incorporated or chartered status through the relevant engineering institutions.