
Since product design and development are considered transdisciplinary, they require profound knowledge of design methods, manufacturing tools, production processes, ergonomics, aesthetics and sustainability. Skills in these areas help to respond to market demands rapidly and produce justifiable and usable products on a competitive market.
The Master's Programme in Industrial Design Engineering provides students with knowledge of innovative design, manufacturing methods, human factors, creative problem solving, advanced materials, industrial and business challenges, and environmental considerations. This knowledge is needed at different stages of product development to meet the needs of industries, support product users, and respond to environmental issues.
This Master's programme is a unique study opportunity in Finland, combining knowledge of and working methods in production engineering, industrial design and material development. It emphasises a combination of design skills and engineering qualifications through project courses in which students apply their knowledge to practice. Projects are carried out in close cooperation with Finnish and European industries. As a result, this programme is a popular major subject that has seen a rapid growth in applicant numbers nationally and internationally.
The Master's Programme in Industrial Design Engineering employs massive open online courses (MOOCs), enabling students to complete nearly half of their studies remotely. The online courses and internet-based exercises are a flexible and dynamic way to complete studies.
The course applies a hybrid of online and contact teaching: nearly two thirds of the teaching sessions are conducted remotely online. The contact lessons are usually not mandatory, and teachers may provide teaching material to students online. Course presentations, seminar days, meetings and laboratory visits are agreed on flexibly with the lecturer in charge of the course.
Study objectives
During the programme, you will acquire diverse knowledge of designing anything from a simple stationary product to a sophisticated one, such as a vehicle, and learn to consider the production processes and manufacturing possibilities.
You will acquire:
- competence in areas such as innovative design, manufacturing methods, human factors, creative problem solving, advanced materials, industrial and business challenges, and environmental considerations. You will learn to understand different aspects of design for manufacturing, sustainability and creativity in design as well as the importance of consumer behaviour, development trends and value addition through new industrial techniques;
- multidisciplinary project work skills to cooperate with experts from other fields, such as engineers, marketers, procurers, and project managers; you will participate in theoretical and methodological courses integrated into projects with regional companies and learn to see problems from multiple perspectives and solve them optimally with innovative production processes, consumer products, interactions and processes;
- professional skills to develop and design new products and services effectively on the global industrial scale; you will gain skills in concept visualisation, CAD modelling, product development, and technological and commercial perspectives, and in-depth knowledge of the selection of materials in production, design methods, sustainability and manufacturing aspects;
- a professional network by learning about practical issues in design, production processes and applied projects in close collaboration with Finnish and other European companies.
Degree structure and studies
The Master's Programme in Industrial Design Engineering is a two-year programme. It leads to the degree of Master of Science in Technology, M.Sc. (Tech.), which is 120 ECTS credits.
The programme includes core and advanced specialisation studies as well as a Master's thesis.
Most of the lectures and exercises take place online on the Moodle platform. Contact teaching mainly takes place on the Lahti campus, but some seminars and presentations are held on the Lappeenranta campus.
The course includes a few in-class lectures. The laboratories and other facilities of the Department of Mechanical Engineering are located in Lappeenranta, but some facilities are also available in Lahti. This programme is well suited for people with a full-time job.
Career prospects
The demand for industrial design engineering experts is growing due to new technological developments and their importance in the development of our society.
As a graduate of the programme, you will have diverse possibilities for a career in companies' design departments as an industrial designer, brand manager, product designer, production manager, design engineer, interaction designer or packaging designer, in research or even in a design firm of your own.
Subscribe to our newsletter
The LUT newsletter is your guide to what's happening on campus and in the student community, delivered directly to your email each month.
Be curious – be one of us.