Elective Area

The elective area begins in the 5th semester with the main course of study. Its structure and scope of 155 credit points create excellent opportunities for individual in-depth study and specialization.

Table of contents

1. 1. Basic Structure
      1. Modules
      2. Fields
      3. Profiles

Basic Structure

• The modules of the elective area are assigned to fields and profiles.
• The fields form the skeleton of the elective area. Various soft credit point thresholds apply here.
• The profiles are optional, allowing for further accentuation of your study.

Modules

The full list of elective modules is available in the table

• Modules of the Elective Area [link follows]. 

That table also shows which fields and profiles the modules belong to. Due to their fitting content, some modules appear in several fields and/or profiles simultaneously - see the ones marked green or red in the basic structure diagram. These modules are assigned primarily to the thematically closest profile and secondarily to one or more other profile(s).

The content and qualification objectives and the modules' teaching and examination forms are described in detail in the

• Module Handbook (Annex 1 to the study regulations) [link follows].

Fields

The Diplom program in Industrial Engineering and Management comprises the seven fields Business Administration and Economics, Business Information Systems, Engineering, Methods and Procedures, Presenting and Discussing, Research Design, and Supplementary Qualifications.

Covering the various qualification objectives of the program, the fields are designed to provide ample freedom of choice. In particular, the credit points to be earned in the fields are not rigidly specified; you only have to observe the following minimum point limits when selecting modules:

• 45 credit points in Business Administration and Economics and/or Business Information Systems,
• 45 credit points in Engineering,
• 15 credit points in Methods and Procedures,
• 5 credit points in Presenting and Discussing.

In addition, 10 credit points must be achieved in Research Design in conjunction with your Diplom Thesis.

You acquire the remaining 35 credit points freely across these fields or in the Supplementary Qualifications. This flexibility makes it easy to tailor your studies to your interests.

Profiles

Groups of modules fitting well together thematically and complementing each other form profiles. You can use these profiles to further shape and highlight your study focus.

The Diplom Industrial Engineering and Management offers the following profiles:

Business Administration and Economics

• Accounting and Finance,
• Learning and Human Resources Management,
• Management and Marketing,
• Operations and Logistics Management,
• Public and International Economics,
• Sustainability Management and Energy Economics.

Business Information Systems

• Advanced Data Analytics,
• Business Processes and Systems.

Engineering

• Work Systems and Organization: Special issues in mechanical engineering dealing with work organization, occupational safety, ergonomics, and human resource management,
• Civil Engineering: Special issues in civil engineering, dealing with building materials, construction operations, hydraulic engineering, geotechnical engineering, steel and timber construction, solid construction, and the statics and dynamics of structures,
• Biomedical Engineering: Special issues from electrical and information engineering, dealing with the principles and systems of imaging and the application and evaluation of biomedical engineering,
• Electrical Power Engineering: Special issues in electrical and information engineering dealing with specific principles and methods of electrical power supply, high voltage and high current engineering, electrical machines and drives including power electronic components,
• Electrical Instrumentation and Microtechnology: Special issues from electrical and information technology, dealing with specific competencies in the design, construction and manufacture of electronic components and devices as well as technologies of electronics and methods of quality assurance as well as basics of biomedical engineering,
• Power Engineering: Specific issues from mechanical engineering dealing with the fundamentals of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, combustion, heat and mass transfer, building energy technology and heat supply, refrigeration technology, and energy machines and systems,
• Wood and Fiber Materials Engineering: Special problems in mechanical engineering dealing with the fundamentals and processing of wood and fiber materials,
• Hydroscience: Special issues in hydroscience dealing with hydrology and meteorology, waste management and contaminated sites, and municipal and industrial water management,
• Information Technology: Special issues in electrical and information engineering, dealing with circuitry, communications engineering, high-frequency engineering, and communications networks,
• Food Engineering: Special issues from mechanical engineering, dealing with technological implementations in the context of the production of various foodstuffs, taking into account material and technical principles,
• Lightweight Construction and Plastics Technology: Special issues from mechanical engineering dealing with lightweight construction, plastics technology and fiber composites.
• Aerospace Engineering: Special issues from mechanical engineering that deal with the basic framework of aerospace, the principles of aerospace vehicle design, and the methodological principles of aerospace,
• Product Development: Special issues in mechanical engineering dealing with the design and construction of machines,
• Production and Logistics: Special issues in mechanical engineering dealing with production and material flow technology and factory and material flow planning in the context of production planning and business administration,
• Production Engineering: Special issues of manufacturing and production of products of the mechanical engineering related to the tasks of production planning of manual and automated processes, to process applications and their development and design, and to the tasks of controlling and safeguarding industrial production,
• Textile Mechanical Engineering and High-Performance Materials Engineering: Special issues in mechanical engineering dealing with properties, processing and products of textile materials, testing technology, textile engineering processes and machinery, and garment manufacturing technology,
• Processing Machinery and Technology: Special issues from mechanical engineering that deal with processing procedures, especially for mass-produced goods, the machines and systems used in this process, and the packaging technology used, especially against the background of optimization,
• Traffic Engineering: Special issues in traffic engineering dealing with the fundamentals and in-depth subject areas of automotive engineering, railroad vehicles and railroad technology, railroad systems and public transport, aviation and logistics, traffic planning and road traffic as well as traffic telematics.

Methods and Procedures

• Econometrics,
• Operations Research,
• Statistics.

Supplementary Qualifications

• Business Education and Management Training,
• Health Management,
• Transportation Economics.

In addition, you may choose from a wide range of offers in Foreign Languages.

Profile Choice

There is no obligation to decide for any profile! Instead, you select your elective modules in fulfillment of the fields' minimum point thresholds. Once you have completed sufficient modules belonging to a profile, you can have it certified as a Major or a Minor:

• A Major requires modules of the profile amounting to at least 30 credit points, of which at least 20 credit points are from primary modules.
• For a Minor, modules of the profile amounting to at least 20 credit points are sufficient, with at least 15 credit points from primary modules. 

You can, therefore, acquire several majors and/or minors or do without them altogether.

For modules listed in several profiles, you decide which profile it should be assigned. The module then counts to the field to which the selected profile belongs.