Study Guide

Descriptions

CURRICULUM

Bachelor of Engineering, Industrial Management (AMK), daytime studies

The graduates of the Degree Programme in Industrial Management are professionals that have a strong combined competence in the field of Technology, business and management as well as digital transformation. Their expertise is sought by industries as to meet the demand with high level engineers that can blend in the functions within organization.
During the four-year degree studies, you will develop strong expertise in intelligent production, quality and operations management, sales, life cycle management of products and services, and team and project leadership while focusing on value creation in the organization.

The close collaboration with other Karelia’s degrees and companies is crucial in you studies as you will take part in several projects and common courses as to enhance your competencies and apply the learning into practical cases. In addition, you will have the possibility to develop your innovation and entrepreneurship skills while studying in a multicultural environment. The degree programme in industrial management will strengthen your educational and successful career opportunity in Finland.

Degree
Degree title: Bachelor of Engineering
Extend: 240 credits / 4 years

Description of competences

The competences of the degrees are described in Karelia as a common and degree-specific competence. The most important combined areas of expertise in mechanical engineering, business, operations management and digitalization are responsible design, intelligent production and the competitiveness of the company, which form the basis of your expertise. In responsible design-related studies, you will learn to take into account the entire life cycle of the product, from manufacturing through use to recycling. Understanding manufacturing technology, production implementation and efficiency, and virtualization are key to the studies of intelligent production. In the company's competitive skills studies, you will learn how to utilise digitalisation in information management, develop supervisor and subordinate skills, acquire the language and communication skills needed for work tasks, and learn the basics of profitable business.

After graduation, you will be working in product development or production planning, production management tasks, sales or purchasing engineer, quality engineer or various project tasks. Other areas of work that employ you include marketing and training tasks. Your employers are mechanical, metal and plastics companies, design agencies and importers. International assignments in Finland and abroad can also be your career option. Your future employers attach importance to strong basic machine expertise and entrepreneurial way of working as well as customer service expertise.

Competence Development and the Content of Studies

The degree in Industrial Management contains common core and complementary/specialization studies enhancing your key competences. The extent of common core studies in Industrial Management is 210 credits and that of elective/complementary/specialization studies 30 credits. The common core studies include 30 credits of practical training and 15 credits of thesis.

In the beginning of your studies, you will become familiar with the basics of both component and software manufacturing as well as sales and marketing. During your second year, you enhance and deepen your knowledge based on the things you learnt during
the first year. You are introduced into more advanced concepts, such as supply chain management, quality systems and tender processes. These (and other) concepts come together in a company project during the spring semester of the second study year.

The third year continues the same way. The ideas, subjects and concepts continue to become more complex and the skills and work standards required from a student are closer to the level required from an engineer at the starting point of a career. The spring of the third year has two projects to be completed. The aim of these projects is to give the student the chance to prove that s/he is a potential employee for companies involved in the projects. These projects combine all previous studies into a real industry case.

The fourth year consists of complementary/specialization studies (15 credits), thesis (15 credits) and practical training (30 credits). There is also the possibility to plan the studies in a way that graduation in three years is possible. This requires that the training is completed during the previous summers and the student is able to get a thesis subject from a company early enough during the third study year. In addition, complementary studies need to be finished in time.

If you are already an entrepreneur or thinking of becoming one, some core and complementary studies, international exchange, practical training and thesis can be combined with your business activities or with the development of your business idea. As a current or future entrepreneur, you have the possibility to get guidance and support in combining studies and entrepreneurship during your studies. Complementary studies will be completed in the autumn semester of the fourth study year. Additionally, you can study complementary courses during summer months.
For international students, we recommend studies in the Finnish language. During your studies you will have an opportunity to develop your Finnish language skills up to level B2 (Common European Framework of Reference). In addition to the language basics, the language learning path includes courses in Finnish for professional purposes, which strengthen your skill set for the Finnish job market.
Participation in Sports Academy training and optional language studies can be spread over several semesters. If the studies mentioned above do not match with your professional objectives, you can discuss other alternatives with your student counsellor.

Work-Related Learning

In your studies, you will get to know working life in a wide variety of ways. During your studies, you will participate in internships that deepen and expand your professional skills. As your studies progress in the third and fourth years, you will carry out various assignments for working life partners during the courses. Learning in a unique learning machine workshop is part of your studies.
The strong business-oriented research, development and innovation activities of industrial management in smart production are closely related to studies, for example through learning assignments, internships or thesis. You carry out the thesis as an assignment to a company in the field, and it often also leads to employment.

Pedagogical choices

The teaching is mainly carried out as contact teaching. In addition to the lectures and exercises, you manufacture in our laboratories the parts and equipment that you have designed yourself alone or in a group under the guidance of a teacher and a laboratory engineers. Your studies also include online lectures, weekly assignments on an independent or group basis, working life visits, and company assignments.
In our learning machine workshops, you will study welding, machining, measurement and robotics in practice. You have an active and responsible role as a learner as part of our community. Teachers support your learning throughout your studies.

Flexible Course Implementations

Flexible implementation of studies is supported through a personal learning plan. Recognising and accreditation of prior learning and learning at work will increase the opportunities for flexibility in your studies. Speeding up studies also requires studying during the summer semester and utilising the online teaching offerings of other higher education institutions. It is a good idea to start an escalation with the guidance counsellor already in the first year of the studies. Complementary studies can also include studies from Karelia's other education courses and other higher education institutions in accordance with your personal learning plan.

Internationalization

You can apply to study at Karelia Partner University or complete your internship abroad. The main partners in Industrial Management are in USA, Germany and the Netherlands. We recommend that you schedule the exchange period for the spring of the second academic year, but you can also discuss and receive support from the guidance counsellor and the international coordinator. For international exchanges, you can receive a grant. Participation in Karelia's extensive international development activities is one way to gain international experience during studies. You can also strengthen your international expertise by acting as a tutor for international students. Studying together with exchange students is a good opportunity for domestic internationalisation. Language and communication studies in core competence studies provide a good basis for your internationalization.

Assessment

The assessment is based on the competence requirements and learning objectives of the degree. Your competence will be assessed in a versatile manner during the studies, which will support the development of your competences. You will be trained to give and receive feedback during your studies. The evaluation will utilise, where applicable, the students' self-assessment and peer review, and feedback from companies will also be used in working life cooperation. Evaluation and feedback guide the student forward towards the requirements of the future profession. The evaluation is carried out on a course-by-course basis in accordance with Karelia's common criteria.

Career Opportunities and Guidance

An engineer with the Industrial Management degree has good career opportunities. There are jobs available in more than one field. Your studies are aimed especially at the development of skills needed in the design, development and management of products development, manufacturing, operations and quality management in different sectors as well as Business and leadership roles in the industry.

There are international companies and several growing SME’s in the region that use English as their common corporate language and that cooperate with us. Your training is closely related to both manufacturing and software industry, which gives you a vast array of opportunities for the beginning of your engineering career. Your prospective job title may be, for example:

- Quality Engineer/Specialist/ Manager
- Lean Specialist
- Production Engineer/ Manager
- Project Designer/ Manager
- Sales Engineer/ Manager
- Procurement Engineer/ Sourcing Engineer
- Supply chain analyst/Manager
- Product Manager
- Logistics Engineer/ Manager
- Service Expert.
- Etc.

Changes in working life and one's own career development require continuous learning after completing the degree. A significant part of learning takes place in connection with work, but it can be enhanced through training. You can supplement your own competence with open university of applied sciences studies or with a master degree of applied sciences. Completing a master's degree opens up opportunities for you, for example, for managerial tasks, demanding expert and development tasks or a teacher. The teacher tutor and guidance counsellor will support you in your career planning throughout your studies.