Course Content
Strong interdependencies between engineering and the economy, and the development of work processes with a high division of labour in all areas of the economy lead to ever more complex problems in the relationship between engineering and business. In addition to knowledge of the subject matter itself, it is also necessary to understand the specialist language used by engineers and business managers and also how they think. This requirement becomes even more important when looking at how the rigid structures of some companies can be turned into flexible, international and customer-oriented organisations, ones in which the fields of work can be designed to transcend specialist fields, countries and functions.
In industry today, project and personnel management, business to business marketing and controlling (IT & reporting) are closely linked to production. The ISWI course (International Joint Degree Programme in Business Administration and Engineering) therefore covers the main subject areas of these fields with basic training in business, engineering and science.
Theoretical understanding will be augmented with and applied to practical case studies - which will be worked on in international teams - projects and the Bachelor thesis.
The special feature of this course is its international orientation:
- This is demonstrated by the fact that several modules are taught in English. Foreign students from our partner universities abroad take part in these courses and collaborate with the German students to find solutions to the problems and case studies.
- Each student also spends one year abroad, which is an integrated and obligatory part of the course. The year abroad consists of one semester studying abroad at one of over 80 of our faculty’s partner universities and institutes of higher education, which are spread all over the world, and a one-semester internship. Before the year abroad there are some preparatory sessions with ‘intercultural coaches’ – this is part of the soft skills training provided by the degree course.
The course’s interdisciplinary nature with both technical and business subjects, the soft skills element and the full year spent in a foreign country means it promotes the qualities demanded by the Verband Deutscher Wirtschaftsingenieure (VWI, German Association of Industrial Engineers) - teamwork skills, methodological competence and experience abroad. And these are critical for students’ success when they later handle complex management issues.