This course will provide an in-depth treatment of the recent and emerging trends in computer systems engineering. A primary aim of this course therefore will be to educate students in the art of critical thinking: the ability to argue for and/or against a particular approach or idea. This will be done by having students read and critique a set of papers each week.The course will cover areas such as operating systems, database systems, file systems, parallel and distributed systems and networking. In addition, candidates will be required to make presentations which aim to advocate or criticize reviewed literature.