About the Course

Overview

In recent years, the amount of digital image information to be stored, processed and distributed has grown dramatically. This trend is boosted by the increasing use of multi-media content for the internet, the advent of satellite television, and the generalisation of the use of digital images, in video surveillance, biomedical and e-health systems, and remote sensing to list but a few. This creates new, pressing challenges, and automated management tools are key to enable the organisation, mining and processing of these important knowledge resources.

The breadth of relevant specialised disciplines (image and signal processing, artificial intelligence, statistical data analysis), and the broad range of applications are reflected in this cutting-edge formation. The MSc in Vision Image and Signal Processing is designed to equip students from various core disciplines, with a comprehensive set of tools, theory and skills that form the basis of Image and Signal Processing and Computer Vision. They are given ample opportunities to develop expertise and experience, including exposure to the world-wide network of industrial and academic collaborators of Heriot Watt researchers in Vision, Image and Signal Processing.

The MSc in Vision Image and Signal Processsing is based on state-of-the-art research and development in vision, image and signal processing, underpinned by advanced level principles and tools for the intelligent analysis and exploitation of digital signals. Students undertake a total of eight compulsory taught core modules. Great flexibility is offered, through the different projects accompanying the taught courses, for students to further their knowledge in different fields or applications. This is supported by the buoyant research in underwater, biomedical, communications, security and defence, of the VISP research group (Oceans Lab, Vision Lab, Texture Lab). The Oceans Lab and Vision Lab are also part of the Edinburgh Research Partnership and work in close collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.

Course Structure

The course contains the following core modules:

• Semester 1
• Software Engineering 1
• Digital Signal Processing
• Data Mining and Machine Learning
• Research Methods Critical Analysis and Project Planning
• Semester 2
• Image Processing
• Software Engineering  2
• Numerical Computation and Statistics
• Project Phase 1
• Summer
• Masters Dissertation

Duration

Normally 1 year, with part-time participation possible, typically over 2 years.

Entry Requirements

A First or Second Class Honours Degree in an engineering discipline or in the physical or chemical sciences. The degree can be from a British or overseas university. Different degrees, together with relevant industrial experience, will be considered.

Employment and Industrial Links

Graduate Destinations

Digital information and images are everywhere, and their exploitation and management is a pressing need for many industries in the “knowledge based economy”. The integration of key skills and tools at post-graduate level, and the emphasis on hands-on experience, will provide graduates with a unique blend of expertise and know-how suitable for solving problems at the design and application level. It makes them very attractive to a variety of industrial and research based organisations, in sectors ranging from telecoms, e-health, defence, to off-shore and manufacturing.

Industrial Project Opportunities

Industrial Project Opportunities are available but not guaranteed for all students

Facilities and Research Environment

This course is part of the wider Edinburgh Research Partnership Joint Research Institute (JRI) in Signal and Image Processing.  Our mission is to conduct advanced signal and image processing algorithm research that will yield major performance improvements in signal detection, processing and display across a wide range of existing and potential applications.  The research outputs from this JRI will impact a wide range of applications from communication, radar and medical imaging systems through to many different types of sensing and coding systems.

About the Course Director

Dr Yvan Petillot is a reader at Heriot-Watt University. His  areas of interest are image understanding, sensor fusion and underwater robotics. He is an active member of the Oceans System Laboratory and the Signal and Image Group. He is also a director of SeeByte Ltd, a Spin-out of the Oceans Systems Laboratory commercialising robotics and vision based technologies developed in the Oceans Systems Laboratory. He holds  a French Engineering degree in Telecommunications (Grandes Ecoles) with a specialisation in Image and signal processing from ENSTBr. He  also holds an M.Sc. in optics and signal processing and a Ph.D. in optical image processing.