Industrial Design

The content of the Master’s degree programme builds on knowledge acquired during the Bachelor’s course in Industrial Design. The subject areas include design research, transformation design, interface design, mobility design, eco-design, generative design, production engineering and design management, alongside skills in business and management, processes and methodology. A mandatory internship semester offers our students a chance to make the contacts they need to launch their professional careers or set up their own business.

Student projects

Interdisciplinary projects are a key element of both our Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes. These take into account both our students’ individual interests and their future careers, giving them the best possible support for their entry into the world of work. Projects such as those recently carried out with cooperation partners Audi, Bosch, Melitta, VW, Borealis, MAN and BMW offer ideal opportunities to establish contacts with potential employers or clients. We also place special emphasis on our graduates’ portfolios.

Additional skills

Commercial expertise is crucial for a successful career, whether as a start-up design studio or managing a design department. The course therefore also includes aspects of business management, marketing and innovation management. You’ll also become more proficient in the areas of advanced design, interface and usability.

Master’s thesis

We pay particular attention to scheduling the comprehensive Master’s thesis: the topic is picked in the course of a seminar before starting the internship in the third semester. This means the Master’s thesis can be combined with the internship and finally completed in the fourth semester.

Students can choose a specialisation or switch between specialisations.

Mobility Design

The Master’s degree programme in Industrial Design offers a specialisation in Mobility Design, giving students the opportunity to create innovative design projects such as cargo bikes, rescue drones, autonomous vehicles, intelligent transport systems and more. The projects are supervised by transportation designers with international experience and carried out in cooperation with renowned companies. It is also important to us that our students learn how to use the traditional tools of transportation design. They include handling modelling clay (a standard modelmaking technique in transportation design), producing tape renderings (a representation technique using adhesive tape) and applying 3D modelling programs used in transportation design.

Eco-Innovative Design

Using resources and energy responsibly helps counteract the destruction of our environment. We therefore explore in depth topics around the environment and innovative product design. From the very start, when initially reflecting on new products, you will consider topics such as recycling, energy consumption, supply chain and ethical production conditions. Experts from the field of innovation and sustainability will help you translate your ideas into reality.

Master’s Thesis

Our students often produce their Master’s thesis in industrial design in cooperation with well-known companies. They make a start on their thesis during their internship, where they compile topics with a high degree of innovation together with the company. Firms often offer our students a great deal of support producing their thesis, even helping with modelmaking. In recent years students have cooperated with BMW, Smart, Porsche and Audi, for example.

Study mode

The Master’s in Industrial Design is a full-time course where attendance is compulsory. The majority of the classes are held Monday to Friday. Where external lecturers deliver a block of classes, teaching units may also take place on Saturdays. In addition we arrange public guest lectures, symposia and exhibitions outside regular class times. Students’ attendance at these events is also compulsory. To supplement the regular tuition, students are required to complete seminar work, design work, reports as well as modelmaking and self-study in all subjects. Projects are sometimes conducted in groups.

Example full-time course:
During the semester classes take place between 8:30 and 17:00 Monday to Friday. Individual units are occasionally held outside these times and are announced with plenty of notice. We do not offer e-learning.

Self-study

One ECTS point in the curriculum represents 25 full hours (of 60 minutes) of workload for our students. 30 ECTS in a semester corresponds to a total of around 750 hours per semester.

Attendance

At FH JOANNEUM attendance is compulsory at all classes. A doctor’s note must be submitted if students miss three days of lectures. If a student is absent for more than 20 percent of a course within a semester, that subject cannot be marked. Consequently the student also fails this subject.