Computing & Data Analytics

Faculty General Engineering Courses (18 credits)

Course Code Course Title No. of credits

COMP2121 Discrete Mathematics 6
ENGG1111 Computer Programming and Applications 6
MATH1013 University mathematics II* 6
Total for Faculty General Engineering Courses 18

Discipline Core Engineering Courses (54 credits)

Introductory Courses (24 credits)

Course Code Course Title No. of credits

COMP2119 Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms 6
COMP2123 Programming Technologies and Tools 6
STAT2601 Probability and statistics I 6
STAT2602 Probability and statistics II 6
Total for Introductory Discipline Core Engineering Courses 24

Advanced Courses (30 credits)

Course Code Course Title No. of credits

COMP3250 Design and analysis of algorithms 6
COMP3278 Introduction to database management systems 6
COMP3323 Advanced database systems 6
COMP3407 Scientific computing 6
STAT3600 Linear statistical analysis 6
Total for Advanced Discipline Core Engineering Courses 30

Capstone Experience (6 credits)

Course Code Course Title No. of credits

COMP4804 Computing and data analytics project 6
Total for Capstone Experience 6

Disciplinary Elective Courses (18 credits)

Course Code Course Title No. of credits

STAT3609 The statistics of investment risk 6
STAT3611 Computer-aided data analysis 6
STAT3612 Data mining 6
STAT3613 Marketing engineering 6
STAT3615 Practical mathematics for investment 6
STAT3618 Derivatives and risk management 6
STAT4601 Time series analysis 6
STAT4607 Credit risk analysis 6
STAT4608 Market risk analysis 6
Complete three disciplinary elective courses for a total of 18 credits 18

*Students can be waived for taking “MATH1013 University mathematics II” should they completed “MATH1851 Calculus and
Ordinary Differential Equations” and “MATH1853 Linear Algebra, Probability & Statistics”.

Pre-requisite for “MATH1013 University mathematics II”:

• Level 2 or above in HKDSE Mathematics plus Extended Module 1; or
• Level 2 or above in HKDSE Mathematics plus Extended Module 2; or
• Completed “MATH1011 University mathematics I”

Elective Courses (90 credits)

At least 90 credits of elective course(s) offered by departments within or outside the Faculty of Engineering.

Note: Students can take Research Postgraduate courses as disciplinary elective course subject to the approval of the
Programme Director.
Reference Table for BEng in Engineering Science (Computing and data analytics)

Year Language Common General Engineering/ Disciplinary Elective Total

Core Core/Capstone Experience Electives Courses
1 6 24 30 0 0 60
2 0 12 12 0 36 60
3 6 0 30 18 6 60
4 6 0 6 0 48 60
Total 18 36 78 18 90 240

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Candidates will be required to do the coursework in the respective courses selected. Not all courses are offered every semester.

The course descriptions for BEng in Engineering Science (Computing and data analytics) are as follows:

COMP2119. Introduction to data structures and algorithms (6 credits)

Arrays, linked lists, trees and graphs; stacks and queues; symbol tables; priority queues, balanced trees; sorting algorithms;
complexity analysis.

Prerequisite: CSIS1117 or COMP1117 or ENGG1002 or ENGG1111 or ENGG1112

Pre-/Co-requisite: CSIS1122 or CSIS1123 or COMP2123
Assessment: 40% continuous assessment, 60% examination

COMP2121. Discrete mathematics (6 credits)

This course provides students a solid background on discrete mathematics and structures pertinent to computer science. Topics
include logic; set theory; mathematical reasoning; counting techniques; discrete probability; trees, graphs, and related
algorithms; modeling computation.

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

COMP2123. Programming technologies and tools (6 credits)

This course introduces various technologies and tools that are useful for software development, including Linux, C++ STL, the C
language, shell scripts, python and xml. Learning materials will be provided but there will be no lecture. This strengthens the
self-learning ability of the students.

Prerequisite: CSIS1117 or COMP1117 or ENGG1002 or ENGG1111 or ENGG1112

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

COMP3250. Design and analysis of algorithms (6 credits)

The course studies various algorithm design techniques, such as divide and conquer, and dynamic programming. These
techniques are applied to design highly non-trivial algorithms from various areas of computer science. Topics include: advanced
data structures; graph algorithms; searching algorithms; geometric algorithms; overview of NP-complete problems.

Prerequisite: CSIS1119 or COMP2119 or ELEC1502 or ELEC1503 or ELEC2543

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

COMP3278. Introduction to database management systems (6 credits)

This course studies the principles, design, administration, and implementation of database management systems. Topics
include: entity-relationship model, relational model, relational algebra, database design and normalization, database query
languages, indexing schemes, integrity and concurrency control. This course may not be taken with BUSI0052.

Prerequisite: CSIS1119 or COMP2119 or ELEC1502 or ELEC1503 or ELEC2543

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

COMP3323. Advanced database systems (6 credits)

The course will study some advanced topics and techniques in database systems, with a focus on the system and algorithmic
aspects. It will also survey the recent development and progress in selected areas. Topics include: query optimization, spatial-
spatiotemporal data management, multimedia and time-series data management, information retrieval and XML, data mining.

Prerequisite: CSIS0278 or COMP3278

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

COMP3407. Scientific computing (6 credits)

This course provides an overview and covers the fundamentals of scientific and numerical computing. Topics include numerical
analysis and computation, symbolic computation, scientific visualization, architectures for scientific computing, and applications
of scientific computing.

Prerequisites: CSIS1117 or COMP1117 or ENGG1002 or ENGG1111 or ENGG1112; and CSIS1118 or ENGG1007 or

COMP2121
Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

COMP4804. Computing and Data Analytics Project (6-credits)

Students during the final year of their studies undertake a substantial project, taking it from initial concept through to final
delivery, and integrating their knowledge and skills on computing and data analytics.

Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

ENGG1111. Computer programming and applications (6 credits)

This course covers both the basic and advanced features of the C/C++ programming languages, including syntax, identifiers,
data types, control statements, functions, arrays, file access, objects and classes, class string, structures and pointers. It
introduces programming techniques such as recursion, linked lists and dynamic data structures. The concept and skills of
program design, implementation and debugging, with emphasis on problem-solving, will also be covered.

Target students are those who wish to complete the programming course in a more intensive mode in 1 semester. Students with
some programming knowledge are encouraged to take this course.

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

MATH1013. University mathematics II (6 credits)

This course aims at students with Core Mathematics plus Module 1 or Core Mathematics plus Module 2 background and
provides them with basic knowledge of calculus and some linear algebra that can be applied in various disciplines.

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment; 50% examination

STAT2601. Probability and statistics I (6 credits)

The discipline of statistics is concerned with situations in which uncertainty and variability play an essential role and forms an
important descriptive and analytical tool in many practical problems. Against a background of motivating problems this course
develops relevant probability models for the description of such uncertainty and variability.

Assessment: 25% continuous assessment, 75% examination

STAT2602. Probability and statistics II (6 credits)

This course builds on STAT2601, introducing further the concepts and methods of statistics. Emphasis is on the two major areas
of statistical analysis: estimation and hypothesis testing. Through the disciplines of statistical modelling, inference and decision
making, students will be equipped with both quantitative skills and qualitative perceptions essential for making rigorous statistical
analysis of real-life data.

Assessment: 25% continuous assessment, 75% examination

STAT3600. Linear statistical analysis (6 credits)

The analysis of variability is mainly concerned with locating the sources of the variability. Many statistical techniques investigate
these sources through the use of 'linear' models. This course presents the theory and practice of these models.

Assessment: 25% continuous assessment, 75% examination

STAT3609. The statistics of investment risk (6 credits)

Most investments involve some risk. The decision to invest or not is usually made against a background of uncertainty. Whilst
prediction of the future is difficult, there are statistical modelling techniques which provide a rational framework for investment
decisions, particularly those relating to stock markets and the markets for interest rates, commodities and currencies. Building
upon research, both in Hong Kong and abroad, this course presents the prevailing statistical theories for prices and price-
change in these vital markets.

Assessment: 30% continuous assessment, 70% examination

STAT3611. Computer-aided data analysis (6 credits)

This is a computer-aided course of statistical modelling designed for students who have taken STAT3600 Linear Statistical
Analysis and like to see theory illustrated by practical computation. Real data sets will be presented for modelling and analysis
using statistical software SAS for gaining hands-on experience. The course aims to develop skills of model selection and
hypotheses formulation so that questions of interest can be properly formulated and answered. An important element deals with
model review and improvement, when one's first attempt does not adequately fit the data.

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

STAT3612. Data mining (6 credits)

With an explosion in information technology in the past decade, vast amounts of data appear in a variety of fields such as
finance, customer relations management and medicine. The challenge of understanding these data with the aim of creating new
knowledge and finding new relationships among data attributes has led to the innovative usage of statistical methodologies and
development of new ones. In this process, a new area called data mining is spawned. This course provides a comprehensive
and practical coverage of essential data mining concepts and statistical models for data mining.

Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

STAT3613. Marketing engineering (6 credits)

This course is designed to provide an overview and practical application of trends, technology and methodology used in the
marketing survey process including problem formulation, survey design, data collection and analysis, and report writing. Special
emphasis will be put on statistical techniques particularly for analysing marketing data including market segmentation, market
response models, consumer preference analysis and conjoint analysis. Students will analyse a variety of marketing case studies.

Assessment: 50% continuous assessment, 50% examination

STAT3615. Practical mathematics for investment (6 credits)

The main focus of this course is built on the concepts on financial mathematics. Practical applications of these concepts are also
considered.

Assessment: 25% continuous assessment, 75% examination

STAT3618. Derivatives and risk management (6 credits)

Nowadays all risk managers must be well versed in the use and valuation of derivatives. The two basic types of derivatives are
forwards (having a linear payoff) and options (having a non-linear payoff). All other derivatives can be decomposed to these
underlying payoffs or alternatively they are variations on these basic ideas. This course aims at demonstrating the practical use
of financial derivative in risk management. Emphases are on pricing and hedging strategies, and the concept of no-arbitrage.

Assessment: 25% continuous assessment, 75% examination

STAT4601. Time-series analysis (6 credits)

A time series consists of a set of observations on a random variable taken over time. Time series arise naturally in climatology,
economics, environment studies, finance and many other disciplines. The observations in a time series are usually correlated;
the course establishes a framework to discuss this. This course distinguishes different type of time series, investigates various
representations for the processes and studies the relative merits of different forecasting procedures. Students will analyse real
time-series data on the computer.

Assessment: 40% continuous assessment, 60% examination

STAT4607. Credit risk analysis (6 credits)

For a commercial bank, credit risk has always been the most significant. It is the risk of default on debt, swap, or other
counterparty instruments. Credit risk may also result from a change in the value of an asset resulting from a change in the
counterparty's creditworthiness. This course will introduce students to quantitative models for measuring and managing credit
risk. It also aims to provide students with an understanding of the credit risk methodology used in the financial industry and the
regulatory framework in which the credit risk models operate.

Assessment: 40% continuous assessment, 60% examination

STAT4608. Market risk analysis (6 credits)

Financial risk management has experienced a revolution in the last decade thanks to the introduction of new methods for
measuring risk, particularly Value-at-Risk (VaR). This course introduces modern risk management techniques covering the
measurement of market risk using VaR models and financial time series models, and stress testing.

Assessment: 40% continuous assessment, 60% examination