ENEL220-26W (C) Whole Year 2026

Circuits and Signals

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 16 February 2026
End Date: Sunday, 8 November 2026
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 15 March 2026
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 23 August 2026

Description

Circuit laws and theorems. Transients and steady state behaviours of resistive, capacitive and inductive circuits. Laplace transforms. Fourier transforms and series. Linear system behaviour.

Topics covered include:

• Fundamentals of charge, voltage, current and power;
• ideal sources;
• current-voltage relationships for basic components;
• modelling of real components;
• Kirchhoff’s voltage and current laws;
• series and parallel combinations;
• nodal and mesh analysis;
• properties of linear networks;
• Thévenin’s theorem, Norton’s theorem, maximum power transfer theorem;
• superposition;
• capacitor and inductor modelling;
• source-free response of RLC circuits;
• 1st and 2nd order RLC circuits, initial conditions, forced response, complete response;
• phasors;
• the Laplace transform;
• frequency response;
• high pass, low pass, bandpass, and bandstop filters;
• complex frequency, pole-zero and Bode plots, resonance;
• trigonometric form of Fourier series, complex form of Fourier series, Fourier transform techniques.

Learning Outcomes

  • At the conclusion of this course you should be able to:

  • LO1: Apply circuit analysis methods to determine current flows, voltage distributions, and power absorption for direct-current (DC) and alternating-current (AC) circuits (WA1)

  • LO2: Model circuit components and sources using mathematical techniques and apply numerical simulations using modern circuit simulation packages to solve these models (WA1, WA5)

  • LO3: Use different methods, laws, rules and theorems to analyse, troubleshoot, simplify and design complex electrical circuits, accounting for transient, dynamic behaviour and the frequency response of these circuits (WA1, WA2, WA3, WA4)

  • LO4: Communicate circuit behaviour effectively to aid circuit and filter design using analytical and visual techniques (WA10)

  • LO5: Identify the applications and limitations of current and emerging components and analysis techniques in the design of electrical circuits (WA3, WA5, WA12)
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

      Employable, innovative and enterprising

      Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Prerequisites

Subject to the approval of the Faculty of Engineering Dean (Academic)

Timetable 2026

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 17:00 - 18:00 E9 Lecture Theatre (17/2-24/3, 21/4-26/5)
A3 Lecture Theatre (14/7-18/8, 8/9-13/10)
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
13 Jul - 23 Aug
7 Sep - 18 Oct
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 16:00 - 17:00 Rehua 009
16 Feb - 22 Feb
2 Mar - 8 Mar
16 Mar - 22 Mar
20 Apr - 26 Apr
4 May - 10 May
18 May - 24 May
13 Jul - 19 Jul
27 Jul - 2 Aug
10 Aug - 16 Aug
7 Sep - 13 Sep
21 Sep - 27 Sep
5 Oct - 11 Oct
Presentation A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 13:00 - 17:00 Elec 110 Electrical Machines Lab (16/2)
Elec 109 Automation Lab (16/2)
16 Feb - 22 Feb
Presentation C
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 09:00 - 10:00 Elec 110 Electrical Machines Lab
13 Jul - 19 Jul
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 16:00 - 17:00 Rehua 009
23 Feb - 1 Mar
9 Mar - 15 Mar
23 Mar - 29 Mar
27 Apr - 3 May
11 May - 17 May
25 May - 31 May
20 Jul - 26 Jul
3 Aug - 9 Aug
17 Aug - 23 Aug
14 Sep - 20 Sep
28 Sep - 4 Oct
12 Oct - 18 Oct

Course Coordinator

Alan Wood

Lecturer

Matthew Kokshoorn

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Assignment 1 6.5%
Test 30%
Assignment 2 6.5%
Weekly Quizzes 12%
Exam 45%

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Hayt, William H. et al; Engineering circuit analysis ; Ninth edition; McGraw-Hill Education, 2019 (The 7th and 8th Editions are also okay).

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Scaling of marks:
In order to maintain consistency across courses and fairness for students, scaling of raw marks occurs. In the Faculty of Engineering, target course GPAs are calculated based on the performance of the cohort of students in their courses in the previous year. Scaling of the raw total course marks is normally performed so that when converted to grades (using UC Grade Scale) the outgoing GPA is in line with the target GPA for a course. Scaling up or down can occur.
The Grading Scale for the University:
https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/study-support-info/study-related-topics/grading-scale

Artificial Intelligence Tools:
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for each of the assessments in ENEL220 is summarised below. No AI use is allowed in the tests and exam because these are closed-book invigilated assessments. Students are always responsible for the accuracy of the submitted works, regardless of which tools are used.

Assessment Item and Permitted use of AI:
Quizzes:  Generative AI tools are not restricted for this assessment.
Assignments:  Generative AI Tools Are Permitted for Certain Parts of This Assessment
Tests:   Generative AI tools cannot be used for this assessment.
Exam: Generative AI tools cannot be used for this assessment.

Generative AI Tools Are Permitted for Certain Parts of This Assessment:
In these assessments (Assignment), you are permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for the purpose of proof reading and editing the document, and for gathering and summarising knowledge. No other use of generative AI is permitted. To assist with maintaining academic integrity, you must appropriately acknowledge any use of generative AI in your work. Please include a Statement of AI use (if no AI tool has been used, then this must also be stated) and a listing of all prompts provided to the AI tool, clearly indicating which AI tools were used and how they contributed to your assessment.

Late submission of work

Lateness Penalties:
For the Assignment, a lateness penalty of 10% (in absolute terms) per day or part day late will be deducted from the original mark. For example, an assignment with a nominal mark of 83% submitted 0-24 hours late will receive a mark of 73%, and submitted 24-48 hours late will receive 63%.

Mahi ā-Ākonga | Workload (expected distribution of student hours, note 15 points = 150 hours):

Contact Hours

Lectures: 36 hours
Tutorials: 12 hours
Workshops: 0 hours
Laboratories: 0 hours

Independent study

Review of lectures: 30 hours
Tutorial preparation: 10 hours
Test and exam preparation: 40 hours
Weekly quiz: 12
Assignments: 10 hours

Total 150

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,190.00

International fee $6,488.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Electrical and Computer Engineering .

All ENEL220 Occurrences

  • ENEL220-26W (C) Whole Year 2026