Industrial and Mechanical Engineering (Master)

Engineering

You choose one of seven areas of specialisation. In addition, you can take extra modules in your area of specialisation or supplement your special knowledge by taking modules from other areas of specialisation.

The following areas of specialisation are available:

• General Mechanical Engineering

• Energy and Process Engineering

• Automotive Engineering and Mobile Systems

• Aerospace Engineering

• Material Sciences

• Mechatronics

• Production and Systems Engineering

Economics

There are ten areas of specialisation to choose from, of which you must select two:

• Controlling

• Service Management

• Decision Support

• Financial Management

• Information Management

• Marketing

• Organisation and Management

• Production and Logistics

• Law

• Economics

Integration area

This area bridges the gap between the two disciplines involved in the degree programme, mechanical engineering and economics, and prepares you for a career as an industrial engineer. You can take subjects here such as factory planning, project management and law.

Interdisciplinary specialisation

In our modules for interdisciplinary specialisation, you will acquire methodological and social skills. We offer modules with interdisciplinary and action-oriented courses in which you can acquire additional qualifications and competencies. This way, you get the opportunity to think outside the box during your studies and to underpin your specialised knowledge with important additional qualifications for your professional life. You can also take language courses as part of interdisciplinary specialisation.

Student research project

The goal of the student research project is to promote your ability to work on a scientific basis. In addition to the subject-related work, you will acquire and strengthen your rhetorical skills when presenting the findings of your work. You will also practise your scientific writing skills when working on your project, which will help you to prepare for your Master’s thesis.

Master's thesis

The degree programme is completed by writing a Master’s thesis over a period of six months, which consists of both a written elaboration and an oral presentation of your findings. With your Master’s thesis, you demonstrate that you are capable of writing a scientific paper on your own.

You choose one specialisation from the field of engineering:

• General Mechanical Engineering: If you specialise in general mechanical engineering, you will deal with mechanical and plant engineering as well as the development of innovative products and materials for vehicle technology, energy technology or biomechanics. In research you will find new ways for simulation, construction or modelling. The comprehensive and diverse basic education and—depending on your preferences and interests—insights into highly specialised research and work areas are what make this specialisation so unique. In your later professional life, you will be a sought-after generalist with a broad spectrum of knowledge tackling the fundamental questions of the future.

• Energy and Process Engineering: You are an expert in demand in energy and process engineering—all the more so in times when resources are becoming scarce. Energy and process engineers develop sustainable production processes and carry out research into how new valuable materials can be obtained from renewable raw materials. You will learn the basics of heat and mass transfer and look at manufacturing processes for the smallest particles. The thermal management of buildings and vehicles is also the subject of your studies. Climate protection will be a topic for you, as will the most diverse types of energy conversion, generation and storage.

• Automotive Engineering and Mobile Systems: As an expert in automotive engineering and mobile systems, you will study vehicles as a complex and integral system—from conception, design and simulation to operation. You will get to know the many individual components and gain knowledge about how they work together. You will acquire special knowledge in chassis technology, engine and drive technology as well as body design and construction. You will learn about the legal framework for active and passive vehicle safety as well as how to design vehicles to incorporate such systems. Assistance systems, electromobility, vehicle simulation and applied acoustics are also part of your fields of expertise.

• Aerospace Engineering: In one of the world’s most important key industries, you will be involved in the development, construction and operation of all types of aircraft and spacecraft. In doing so, you will consider external circumstances such as the weather, weightlessness or vacuum as well as ecological aspects. In your later professional activities, you will be involved, for example, in the development of new components such as engines or wings as well as in research into and the use of new materials. You will plan systems and infrastructures for air traffic and find new ways for people to use the airspace.

• Materials Science: In materials science, the properties of materials are optimised in order to create new materials that are used in technical products. Be it smartphones, electric cars, more powerful computers or improved treatment options in medicine—the development of new types of materials often plays a decisive role in fostering important innovations in technology and everyday life. This makes materials science a key discipline in solving issues relevant to society, such as mobility and energy, dealing with scarce resources or environmental and climate protection.

• Mechatronics: The term mechatronics is made up of mechanics and electronics. The name already shows how interdisciplinary this field is: in mechatronics, the areas of mechanics, electrical engineering and information technology combine to form a new, holistic discipline. That is why innovative and complex solutions, which have become an indispensable part of our modern world, can be developed here. Today, almost all high-performance technical systems contain mechatronic components—whether in vehicles, in medical technology or in industrial production lines.

• Production and Systems Engineering: How are machines manufactured? What happens during the life cycle of a production engineering plant? How can we optimise and monitor processes? These questions and their solutions are central components of the Production and Systems Engineering area of specialisation. As an engineer in this field, you will deal with large production lines and processes and ensure smooth, automated processes within companies.

In addition, you decide on two specialisations in the field of economics:

• Controlling: This is about the concepts of corporate accounting, planning and control, e.g. decision-oriented cost accounting systems, operational controlling, strategic controlling, performance and balance sheet analysis. How can we measure success? How can we detect deviations or negative effects (at an early stage)? What are the requirements for decision-oriented cost accounting systems? How can we influence costs from a strategic point of view?

• Service Management: Service management deals with current issues in the management of service businesses and the marketing of services. How can we successfully provide services? How can we market them? What is special here compared to the sale of physical products?

• Decision Support: Students will learn about the function of information systems in supporting decisions (decision support). They are thus able to map processes from logistics and transport in decision and information models.

• Financial Management: Questions of raising and using capital are addressed here. This leads to the following topics, for example: investment theory, financing theory, risk management, international financial management and portfolio management.

• Information Management: Information management refers, among other things, to the targeted collection of information from economic markets, its processing and dissemination in customer-oriented services (customer e-service).

• Marketing: How does business-to-business (B2B) marketing differ from business-to-customer (B2C) marketing. What are the different case types in industrial marketing: number of demanders vs. number of suppliers? How can I promote my products? Topics of the specialisation: buyer behaviour and market research, management of the four marketing instruments (product, pricing, distribution and communication policy), strategic marketing, international marketing, industrial marketing as well as online marketing and e-commerce.

• Organisation und Management: How can you motivate employees to perform better? When do teams work effectively? How should teams be put together? What are the strategic factors and how can they be influenced so that businesses are successful in the long term? In this module, students explore topics such as knowledge management, teams and networks, human resource management, strategic business management and organisation.

• Production and Logistics: How can we plan, control and run production? What aspects do we need to take into account when making decisions along the logistics chain? How do we have to design a company’s planning system? These are partly daily questions that occur in industrial companies. Topics covered in the specialisation module are: modelling of production systems, production planning and control, plant management, quality management, logistics, supply chain management, circular economy.

• Law: Different areas of law are covered: civil law, antitrust law, energy law, media law, commercial law, capital market law, administrative law, etc.

• Economic Geography: You will learn about the importance of the spatial dimension for economic activities: location decision for businesses, regional development and growth, agglomerations and urban areas, trade as well as transportation costs.

• Economic Policy Analysis: You will get to know instruments of economic data analysis: panel and time series analysis, methods for determining causal effects as well as procedures for determining economic costs and benefits in infrastructure projects.

Those who have gained experience abroad and speak a foreign language are particularly sought after by the economy. Today, large companies operate globally, research projects are carried out in international teams and specialised literature is written in English. It is therefore important that you take advantage of your studies to gain experience abroad and to professionalise your foreign language skills.

Within the framework of our international university partnerships, we offer you many opportunities to study abroad.

Student exchange programmes:

• Europe: more than 100 ERASMUS partner universities, e.g. in Sweden, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Greece

• America: partner universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, USA and Canada

• Asia: partner universities in India, China, Japan and South Korea

In addition, you can complete an internship in a company abroad.

In our dual degree programmes, you can acquire a second university degree from a university abroad without extending your study time. There is cooperation with the following universities regarding a double degree programme:

• USA: University of Rhode Island

Studying abroad [in German only]

The engine of technical progress

Engineers are the engine of technical progress. They drive innovation and develop solutions for issues of global importance such as climate protection and energy transition, feeding the world’s population, mobility and security. There is a high demand for well-trained, qualified specialists with a broad and at the same time deep (basic) knowledge, and currently far exceeds the number of graduates. With a Master of Science degree in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, you can choose from a variety of careers in industries such as the following:

• consulting companies,

• power engineering,

• automotive engineering,

• precision engineering,

• aviation industry,

• medical technology,

• microtechnology.

You can find jobs in almost all sectors and industries, from research and development to production, sales, administration and management. In addition, you have the opportunity to do a doctorate at a university.