Strong interdependencies between engineering and the economy, and the development of work processes with a high division of labour in all areas of the economy lead to ever more complex problems in the relationship between engineering and business. In addition to knowledge of the subject matter itself, it is also necessary to understand the specialist language used by engineers and business managers and also how they think. This requirement becomes even more important when looking at how the rigid structures of some companies can be turned into flexible, international and customer-oriented organisations, ones in which the fields of work can be designed to transcend specialist fields, countries and functions. In industry today, project and personnel management, business to business marketing and controlling (IT & reporting) are closely linked to production. The ISWI course (International Joint Degree Programme in Business Administration and Engineering) therefore covers the main subject areas of these fields with basic training in business, engineering and science. Theoretical understanding will be augmented with and applied to practical case studies - which will be worked on in international teams - projects and the Bachelor thesis. The special feature of this course is its international orientation: This is demonstrated by the fact that several modules are taught in English. Foreign students from our partner universities abroad take part in these courses and collaborate with the German students to find solutions to the problems and case studies. Each student also spends one year abroad, which is an integrated and obligatory part of the course. The year abroad consists of one semester studying abroad at one of over 80 of our faculty’s partner universities and institutes of higher education, which are spread all over the world, and a one-semester internship. Before the year abroad there are some preparatory sessions with ‘intercultural coaches’ – this is part of the soft skills training provided by the degree course.

The course’s solid coverage of business matters means graduates of this course will demonstrate the same level of ability in these areas as a straight business graduate. Industrial engineers are traditionally employed in industry. They are typically involved with the process functions of product development and marketing, like purchasing and inventory management, production and sales/ customer consulting as well as company-wide fields like organisation management, personnel, data processing, logistics, accounting/controlling, and quality and environmental management. Industrial engineering graduates who complete an international course will have double the competitive advantage in these increasingly globalised specialist fields and functions. The ever burgeoning costs and the hunger for profits of transnational and technologically orientated service companies - working in anything from traffic management, communications, energy production and supply, to water supply and sanitation – mean the demand for industrial engineers who have completed this course is also increasing. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary strengths of industrial engineers make them particularly suited for the large and expanding field of management consultancy.