This program gives you the skills to adopt changes in an industrial environment in a responsible and efficient manner, through established concepts in manufacturing, quality, and innovation.
Linköping University has been a pioneer in industrial engineering and management education since the 1970s. Thanks to our dedicated and experienced teachers, we can offer you interesting challenges and personal development to help you reach success. Besides lectures and laboratory work, we expect you to actively participate in projects, writing papers, essays, and reports and presenting minor research tasks. This is demanding, and for good reason. We take education seriously and want your time with us to be as meaningful as possible.
Three profiles
This program builds on your prior knowledge in engineering and mathematics and integrates it into an industrial engineering and management context. You will learn how to analyze the processes of tech companies to help steer them in the right direction by applying well-known methods and principles. The first semester has core courses in project management and organization, production planning and control, lean production, quality, and environmental engineering.
From the second semester onwards, you follow one of these profiles:
Innovation Management
Rapid change is the new normal, and the pace of innovation is bound to accelerate even further. All innovations have to be managed, however, most innovations follow a generic process. This profile focuses on the development and commercialization of resource-efficient products and solutions. You follow subjects in management systems and sustainability, innovation management, industrial ecology, leadership and organization, and business planning and entrepreneurship.
Operations Management
Provides a holistic view of operations management in manufacturing and service industries. You gain knowledge about approaches for creating, developing, and sustaining an effective organization that provides maximum benefits to its customers, with profitability as the starting point. Courses address the management of available resources, in particular with regard to the integration between materials and capacity. You learn about established strategies, planning principles, and methods such as Planning and Control, Agile and Lean Production, Theory of Constraints (TOC), and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII).
Quality Management
A set of concepts and practices characterized by core principles like customer focus, process management, continuous improvement, the participation of everyone, fact-based decisions, and committed leadership. A key question is how an organization can improve its processes to provide maximum benefits to customers through the best use of available resources. This profile provides insight into approaches for creating and sustaining an effective organization, such as Six Sigma quality, quality and process development, and service development.
In addition to profile-specific courses, the program has mandatory courses in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and science and research methodology. Each profile concludes with a 12 ECTS project within the field of your chosen profile, in groups of 5-6 students. This real-world case prepares you for the master thesis in the final semester. This thesis is usually written together with another student and in close collaboration with a company, either a small local business or a global industrial corporation such as Ericsson or Scania.
Syllabus
Purpose
- An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University is able to identify, analyze, solve, and communicate complex interdisciplinary problems in the industry, with a focus on integrating engineering and management knowledge and skills.
- The master’s program in Industrial Engineering and Management will become one of the leading international master's programs in the field. The courses in the program shall be on a level comparable to similar courses provided within other relevant, excellent international education programs.
- The master’s program in Industrial Engineering and Management will be the obvious choice for students who have a Bachelor of Science degree in an engineering subject and who have the ambition to increase and deepen their knowledge in industrial engineering and management, especially related to innovation management, operations management, and quality management.
Aim
After the completion of the master's program the student is expected to have acquired the following knowledge and skills:
Disciplinary knowledge and reasoning
An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University is able to manage complex interdisciplinary problems related to innovation, operations, and quality management. From a thorough technical-economical-mathematical-management basis, an MSc is able to identify, analyze, solve, and communicate problems related to innovation, operations, and quality management.
Students with a Bachelor of Science degree in an engineering subject entering the program have already studied in-depth courses within a certain engineering discipline, e.g. mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, or computer science, including at least 30 ECTS credits in mathematics and/or applied mathematics. In the master's program, this engineering knowledge is integrated with organization management, operations strategy, leadership, operations planning and control, quality management, and project management in order to be able to manage complex industrial problems. Consequently, an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management is able to describe, formulate, and analyze industrial problems by using mathematical tools and technological applications.
In addition to general, compulsory courses in these fields, the student has in-depth knowledge within one of the program’s profiles. Within the chosen profile, the student is able to:
- analyze complex problems based on relevant theory and practical knowledge
- relate and synthesize different theoretical perspectives and develop their own models of analysis
- apply academic principles, models, and methodologies in industrial firms
- critically assess methods, procedures, and practices that are applied in technology-based firms
Current research and new research results are integrated into courses at the end of the program, starting with a compulsory course covering research methodology, scientific writing, referencing techniques, and ethics. Each profile ends with a project course where the students apply previous knowledge in a structured and methodical way in order to carry out improvement projects, gaining in-depth practical understanding and experience from different kinds of businesses.
Personal and professional skills and attributes
An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management has the individual and professional capability and attitude to take a leading role in dynamic industrial environments and is able to identify, formulate and examine complex engineering problems in a systematic way, both quantitatively and qualitatively. By using relevant literature and performing quantitative as well as qualitative empirical studies, an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management readily adopts new knowledge. Quantitative empirical studies based on hypotheses can be tested in experiments as well as through statistical analyses. Qualitative studies include case studies that can be used to create theoretical constructs and propositions.
An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management can identify, analyze and develop complex systems by defining the system’s boundaries and properties, considering the whole system as well as subsystems, and describing and examining the interaction between the different parts in the system including its important context variables. The students are trained to take initiative, work independently, creatively and apply critical thinking. Self-knowledge and a will to develop personally throughout life are important, and so is planning of time and resources in an efficient and effective way, taking responsibility, being reliable, and acting professionally. This includes being active in career planning and keeping up to date with the profession’s current developments.
Interpersonal skills, teamwork, and communication
An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management is trained to collaboratively work on complex tasks. Interpersonal skills, teamwork, and communication are therefore of utmost importance. The students are trained to work together with other people in projects and groups. This includes contributing to group effectiveness by actively taking part, creating clear roles and responsibilities, actively sharing knowledge, and collaboratively achieving goals. An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management can start, plan, manage and lead different types of projects and integrate the work of people from different specializations.
Furthermore, an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management is able to communicate, orally and in writing, in a correct, inspiring way orientated towards achieving goals. Effective communication is comprised of both task-related and relationship-oriented skills. As the program is given in English, an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management is proficient enough in English to take into account the state-of-the-art knowledge within the field and, based on this knowledge, understand, analyze, compare, and reflect on complex engineering problems, in written text and orally.
Planning, execution, and presentation of research or development projects with respect to scientific and societal needs and requirements
An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management has deep knowledge of systems in innovation, operations, or quality environment, including different external factors in society, and understands the business conditions for industrial research and development projects and processes. This includes, for example, the ability to manage
- implementation processes by testing, validating, and verifying activities, including an understanding of change processes,
- operation and service of technically advanced systems, or
- innovation and introduction of new technology
An MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management has knowledge about suitable development processes for different kinds of research or development projects and is able to participate and actively contribute to all phases of research or development projects, including identification of needs, structuring, planning, execution, and presentation of projects. A compulsory course in corporate social responsibility contributes to the students’ understanding of the importance of technology in society, including economic, social, and sustainable development.
Research
Operations Management and Finance
A research group in Production Economics explores the boundary between engineering and management by developing theories and applications to optimize the use of resources within manufacturing and service industries.
Logistics and Quality Management
The Division of Logistics and Quality Management strives to be the most demanded expert and to educate the country's most popular students in logistics and quality management.
Project, Innovations, and Entrepreneurship
The division is involved in research, undergraduate and graduate education, and collaboration with industry and public sector organizations in the fields of project management, innovation, and entrepreneurship.