A water tower to introduce electronic engineering and computer science

During the fourth semester, just before they have to choose among one of the engineering disciplines taught at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, students are confronted with four different practical problems, one per discipline. These problem based learning courses are intended to familiarize students with the most typical aspects of each discipline, in order to facilitate a conscious choice. This paper describes the project related to “Electronics and Information Technology” that essentially focuses on computer based process control and gives a summary of the experience accumulated with the project over three years.