Industrial Engineering

Graduates of our Industrial Engineering programme work successfully at the interface between technology and business. Thanks to their dual qualification, they are able to comprehend interdisciplinary contexts and make them understandable for decision-makers. Employers greatly appreciate the combination of technical know-how and a business approach to quality, time and costs.

The demand for industrial engineers has remained high for many years. As a rule, they are in demand where solutions to problems need to be addressed simultaneously from both a technical and a business perspective. In the course of the programme, the following key skills are taught, which can be applied in almost all companies:

Value creation: The ability to integrate different requirements and optimise processes, design of service delivery processes, process management and cost analysis, identification of rationalisation potential, implementation of productivity improvement programmes and efficiency projects, successful implementation of change projects.

Innovation management: Technology management, bundling of individual and organisational creativity potential.

Design and development of quality and service systems: Design of quality and service management systems, implementation of quality and service audits.

Interface design: Analysis, design and optimisation of business relationships with upstream and downstream stakeholders in the value chain.

1. Higher education entrance qualification

Admission to the programme is conditional on a higher education entrance qualification.

You require one of the following:

• Higher education entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulreife)

• General higher education entrance qualification: German Abitur

• An entrance qualification recognised as equivalent

In the case of the entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences, a differentiation is often made between the academic part and the practical part. The academic part is completed at school. The practical part can be a completed training course (e.g. apprenticeship) or a 6 or 12-month guided work placement. As a rule, which type of work placement you require in order to be entitled to study is indicated on your certificate. If you are unsure, please contact your school.

If you have obtained your entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences in a federal state other than North Rhine-Westphalia, please check your certificate to see if it is also valid here.

2. Subject-related work placement:

Not required.

In the first two years, the Industrial Engineering and Business Informatics programmes teach broad, basic, function/method-oriented knowledge. The fundamentals of business administration and the respective technical specialisation are flanked by integrated subjects that help to dovetail engineering and economics topics. Building and expanding your expertise in the area of interdisciplinary and intercultural communication are achieved through parallel language courses and training in soft skills.

In the first year of the programme, the fundamentals of business administration and the chosen technical specialisation are taught. In the area of business administration, key topics are marketing, value chain management, investment and finance as well as commercial law. In the technical disciplines, the focus lies on the fundamentals of mathematics, computer science and the natural sciences as well as first application-oriented topics such as design, mechanics and programming.

In the second year, the economics base is broadened to include corporate accounting and macroeconomics. In the technical disciplines, students further develop their skills in application-oriented subject areas.

The third year is devoted to a specialisation. Depending on their individual abilities, interests or aptitudes, students specialise in specific business administration and technical subjects. This allows them to prepare specifically for their preferred career path.

The programme contains a practical phase (compulsory work placement) in the seventh semester lasting at least ten weeks. Here, you apply the knowledge you have acquired during your studies in corporate practice. Key advantages of the practical phase are contact to interesting companies and an easier transition from university to career.

The programme ends with your bachelor’s thesis, where you work on a topic independently, in a scientifically sound manner and within a prescribed time period of ten weeks. You can focus on one or more of the core areas of the industrial engineering or business informatics programme, whereby the way in which you present your topic should make the integrative study approach clearly recognisable.