Education
The cluster Information driven Product Development & Engineering is profoundly active in education. The cluster provides modules and courses for many educational programmes, especially for Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering and Industrial Engineering and Management. Whereas courses topics range from production techniques and consumer product development, via 3D modelling and mechatronics to sustainable packaging, virtual reality and intellectual property, the underlying rationale always focuses on providing knowledge, tools and techniques to support and improve decision making in development and engineering projects.
Education & Research
Our educational paradigm is quite specific: we see learners as academic professionals, albeit with a bit less experience than the people that teach them. In other words: as teachers and researchers, we merely have a headstart over the students that follow our courses and participate in our research projects. Consequently, we aim to working in a learning and research environment where there is no a priori distinction between education and research. After all, what is 'merely labour' for a researcher can simultaneously be an exiting opportunity for learners to associate with unexplored expertise.
(Thesis) Assignments
Every year, staff members of IdPDE are study leaders for dozens of BSc. and MSc. thesis projects (mainly ME and IDE). In all thesis projects, students are challenged to integrate academic research and (industrial) practice, in relation to one of the ongoing research projects, or related to the field of expertise of one of the staff members. Also for smaller assignments (e.g. scientific challenge minor, capita selecta courses etc.), every year many projects are initiated.