Gain a broad understanding of mechanical design and production processes by focusing on the methodological design of engineering products, processes and production facilities.
What does it take to successfully develop new products, machines, production processes and factories in today’s manufacturing industry? Of course, knowledge of state-of-the-art production methods, like 3D printing or advanced laser material processing, is key. But it is definitely not the only factor to consider. It takes a bigger understanding of the whole design and production process, and facility to see where improvements are needed. How can you make sure that a production process is well-designed, functional and efficient? And how do you design something in a way that it is easily producible? The specialisation in Design & Manufacturing focuses on the methodological design of engineering products, processes and production facilities.
What is Design & Manufacturing?
This specialisation covers three major pillars: design, production and production management. As a mechanical engineer, you will learn to understand and implement (high-tech) manufacturing techniques. For example, how can additive manufacturing techniques (3D printing) be used for the generation of hydrogen, paving the way for the renewable energy transition? And what are the benefits of composite materials and under which conditions should they be implemented? But more than that, you will focus on the design of the production process and manufacturing facilities as a whole. For example, how can you organise a factory in such a way that systems are better aligned? And how can you make sure that a proposed change matches the organisation in question? In this specialisation, you will learn to deal with the breadth of these challenges by gaining a methodological approach to manufacturing methods.
Examples of courses you might follow during this specialisation:
- 3D printing is one of the latest methods in production processes and has many different variations, all with their own material, design methods and economical usage scenarios. The course 3D Printing will give you an overview of the main methods and teaches you to evaluate what type of 3D printing process fits a certain application.
- The course Design of Production & Inventory Systems deals with the design of a shop floor and supply chains based on production demands and production forecasts.
- Products and production systems are becoming more complex: next to the standard mechanical components, every product now also has a PCB, screen, and sensors. The course Systems Engineering helps you to focus on the design of industrial systems and complex (mechatronic) products as a whole.
If you are interested in gaining hands-on skills, working in multidisciplinary teams, and engaging your research with the industry directly, this specialisation is right for you. Thanks to close ties with the industry, you will get to work on real-life cases and help industries with designing improvements in terms of efficiency, sustainability, cost-reduction, et cetera. You might, for example, explore how to deploy unmanned vehicles (i.e. automatic transport units) in a large production environment, or how a manufacturing process can be tailored to individual customer requirements while still maintaining speed and efficiency. Or what about using a digital twin as a replica of an automated production system that you can use for e.g. simulating (test) scenarios and predicting failures?
What will you learn?
As a graduate of this Master's and this specialisation, you have acquired specific, scientific knowledge, skills and values, which you can put to good use in your future job.
Other master’s and specialisations
Is this specialisation not exactly what you’re looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. Or find out more about these other master's: