Qualifying educational objectives of the class: LM-31 Management Engineering
The graduates of the second-cycle (maste- level) degree have to:
- Possess a deep knowledge of all the theoretical-scientific aspects of mathematics and of the other basic sciences and be able to utilise this knowledge to interpret and describe complex engineering problems or problems demanding an interdisciplinary approach;
- Possess a deep knowledge of the theoretical-scientific aspects of engineering, both in general and in depth, as it regards management engineering in which framework they are able to identify, formulate and solve complex problems or problems demanding an interdisciplinary approach using also innovative methods;
- Be able to design, program, plan and manage complex and/or innovative systems, processes and services;
- Be able to design and manage extremely complex experiments;
- Possess field and cross-field knowledge;
- Know about business management (corporate culture) and professional ethics;
- Be fluent in at least one EU language beside Italian, including subject-matter lexicons.
Admission to the second-level degree courses requires the possession of educational qualifications anyhow proving a good command of the general scientific methods and contents of the basic sciences and of the engineering disciplines that are introductory to the characterising ones, envisaged by the regulations of the class of second-cycle degree.
The second-cycle degree courses of this class have to end with a significant design activity closing with an essay proving a good command of these subjects, the ability to operate autonomously and good communication skills.
The main employment prospects for the second-cycle degree of this class are in the field of innovation and development of production, advanced design, planning and programming, management of complex systems as free lance professionals, in manufacturing companies or services and in public administration boards. These second-cycle graduates will be able to find a job in manufacturing companies, service companies and in the public administration equipment supply and management, business and production management, organisation and automation of production systems, logistics, project management and auditing, analysis of industrial sectors, investments assessment, industrial marketing. Universities organise training period and internships in agreement with public and private agencies.
Course specific objectives and description of the learning path
The second-cycle degree course in Management Engineering trains an engineer open to the systemic problems characterising companies’ life. The course is aimed at training an engineer having a solid technological as well as an economic-managerial cultural background. The objective is that of creating a highly-skilled professional profile able of to play an effective role in strategic and technical-operation decision-making (design and management of business models, organisational structures, projects to develop new products/services, financial policies etc…) having an impact on the competitiveness level of businesses and organisations characterised by rapidly innovating contexts as well as by high technological and market complexity.
The course aims at training a graduate having technological as well as economic-managerial skills. However, while the economic-managerial skills are relevant to most of the fields of Management Engineering, the technical ones are characterised by differences that make it difficult to identify a common denominator at a specialised level.
This is the reason why the subjects proposed for the Second-Cycle Degree Course in Management Engineering can be ascribed to two typologies:
- The first one, which is alike for all enrolled students, is characterised by the two different issues that jointly represent the backbone of the economic-managerial and production training;
- The second one allows the student to choose the field in which to complete and then specialise his technical-economic training relying on set of courses covering similar subjects as well distinct subjects characterising the course of the first typology.
So doing the student, starting from a solid common basis linked to economic-managerial and plant-production issues is able, if he accepts the proposals highlighted in the training programme, to characterise his own cultural background in sectors such as that of Information Communication Technology (ICT), finance, production and logistics and management of the environment and of energy resources or, instead, address more strictly engineering sectors.
In the first part, the methodological perspective is taken in due consideration through courses related to the field of statistics, decision-making methods and project management also based on advanced mathematical methods; to the field of economics, which is characterised by courses dealing with business economics and industrial systems economics; to the organisational-managerial area, which is characterised by courses dealing with accounting based on the civil code and auditing, of management of supplies and quality control with the required juridical competencies.
The methodological perspective supplies the student with the required skills on the quantitative methods used by Management Engineering. The economics area supplies the indispensable bases to be able to interpret the working of the economic system at a macroeconomic and at company level. The organisational-managerial area deals with the basic tools of business management. The area of production techniques supplies the necessary skills linked to the materials transformation processes and to work system management and control.
The courses included into the second part, structured in such a way as to distinguish a set of neatly separated cultural profiles connected to the main sectors of engineering such as the industrial and the information one including also new sectors such as that the economic-financial one. Each profile proposes technological subjects strictly pertaining to this sector as well as economic-organisational and cultural subjects that can be applied in this same sector. Consequently, as it regards the area related to Information Communication Technology (ICT), the proposed subjects are about computer security, management of innovation in the field of ICT and computer-based decision-making techniques. In the field of finance it is proposed a path based on subject related to company finance, financial engineering and analysis of the financial risk based on legal competences. The sectors of production and logistics include subjects related innovation management and product development respectively, the process analysis and business planning, for the second one. As it regards the sector of environment management and energy resources, the subjects deal with the management of energy systems, environmental and energy sustainability and the technologies for the environmental management of production sites. Finally, as it regards the strictly design sector the course includes subject dealing with mechanical design. Each one of these profiles envisage a mathematic-computing support based on advanced numerical and symbolic survey techniques. Within the educational provision of this specific sector a lot of attention is devoted to integrative activities such as stages and visits to companies, seminars, discussion of case studies.
Expected learning results expressed through the European study titles descriptors (Min. Decree 16/03/2007, art. 3, paragraph 7)
Knowledge and understanding
The second-cycle graduate in Management Engineering must have acquired knowledge and comprehension skills that enlarge and enhance those that are typically associated to the first-cycle degree and that allow to conceive and apply original ideas, often drawn from field experimentation and/or research work. Upon completion of his training path, the student will have acquired advanced knowledge and interdisciplinary comprehension skills in the main fields of management engineering, as for instance:
- Capacity to see company activities in an integrated way and as a single and complex system;
- Capacity to deal with the solution of complex problems using a logical-quantitative approach;
- Capacity to model events related to company operational processes;
- Knowledge of methods of design, management and development of production and logistical systems;
- Knowledge of the possibilities offered by the information systems used in the company.
The acquisition of this expertise and comprehension skills will be achieved through several tools and means: (i) paying attention to the transfer of theoretical knowledge background as well as to the methodological approach to problems during the training provision; (ii) emphasizing design aspects and operational problems during exercises; (iii) in order to enhance the understanding of specific issues and improve the knowledge of the industrial/professional context, during the more advanced courses contributions from professionals working in national and international companies/professional agencies of the territory are envisaged; (iv) in several courses texts and documentation in the English are adopted and some of these courses are delivered in English; (v) a significant period of time is devoted to personal study and deepening that is promoted thanks to the availability of specialised materials and texts supplied by the Faculty.
The assessment of the knowledge and comprehension skills is carried on in an organic way in the framework of all the tests envisaged by the study course: written and oral exams during which theoretical as well as processing, also at design level, skills will be assessed. As it regards the comprehension skill in particular, an important occasion for acquisition as well as for assessment will be represented by a close exchange with the professor during the preparation of the second-cycle graduation thesis.
Applying knowledge and understanding
The second-cycle graduates in Management Engineering will have to be able to apply their knowledge, comprehension skills and abilities to solve problems linked to new or non familiar issues, set in wider (or interdisciplinary) contexts related to their own study field. Actually, one of the aims of the course teaching approach is that of favouring an active role on the students’ part as well as their autonomous reasoning. Consequently, the graduate will be able to apply, also integrating various knowledge, for instance to: (i) optimize the articulated and varied resource system for production purposes; manage, jointly with other parties, a complex system, such as a goods and services production system; (iii) design the production structure and manage its human component.
The graduates will have to able to use these applicative capabilities even in new and emerging areas of the specialisation field such as, for instance: (i) enhancement of company competitiveness in the globalisation era; (ii) shift of industrial energy consumption to renewable sources; (iii) advanced information and communication technology corporate applications. The acquisition of these abilities to apply knowledge and comprehension will take place mainly through exercises linked to the courses in which, once they acquire conceptual tools, the learners will have to face ever more complex cases for which they will have to propose complete project or management solutions event through the use of simulation and calculation software packages. The educational final achievement will then be the work done preparing the second-cycle graduation thesis which represents the starting point for the adjustment and assessment the acquired abilities, also by adding further ideas linked to innovation and research issues.
The assessment of the acquired abilities is carried out: during mid-term exams, exercises that entails carrying out specific tasks in which the learner proves his mastery of issues, tools, methodologies and critical autonomy; during regular assessments of the projects through discussions with the professor; during the exams through written papers and oral tests and project discussions and, finally, in preparing and defending the graduation thesis that, in many cases, is associated to a training period spent in external companies/professional offices/agencies.
Making judgements
The second-cycle graduates in Management Engineering must be remarkably highly-skilled in integrating knowledge and managing complexity as well as formulating judgements based on limited or incomplete information or characterised by a high degree of uncertainty, including awareness of the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their own knowledge and judgements.
The study path proposed to the student for the degree course in Management Engineering leads the learner to reach an increasing degree of autonomy of judgement in activities related to the questions being studied or to the project proposals in order to: (i) identify the required information and data through bibliographical searches and on databases; (ii) select information and data to be used using a critical approach; (iii) analyse the results obtained through the surveys carried on using computer tools or laboratory-based experimental tests; (iv) make a critical appreciation of the use of new or emerging technologies; (v) develop an open, critical approach, an approach oriented by the selection of the best solution to solve complex and articulated problems while being aware of the ethical and social implications of the outcomes of one’s own work.
Some examples of these activities regard the assessment of complex investments, taking into account working security questions, management of the production environmental sustainability. The educational objective will be attained also favouring meetings and interviews with representatives of the working world, promoted through seminars, attendance to conferences, guided visits to companies/professional offices/agencies, presentation and study of specific company/industrial cases on which they will be asked to formulate preliminary assessments, proposals for interventions, analysis of expected results.
The check of the acquisition of autonomous judgement skills will be carried out step by step through the exams, especially those linked to project activities in which the choices made will have to be appropriately motivated and discussed while taking into account possible alternatives. The preparation and discussion of the final second-cycle degree thesis will be the privileged occasion in which the skills developed for a critical appreciation of the contest, the definition of the objectives, formulation of solutions, assessment of alternatives, assessment of implications, will find an occasion to be summarised into a full-comprehensive work, but also witnessing the personal responsibility of the learner in the presence of a teacher and of an exam commission.
Communication skills
The second-cycle graduate in Management Engineering will have to be able to communicate, in a clear and unambiguous way, their conclusions as well as their knowledge and embedded rationale to a specialised and to non specialised listeners.
The second-cycle graduate n Management Engineering will have to be able to: (i) suitably place his own work in wider contexts and motivate his choices in a comprehensible and convincing way; (ii) transfer his knowledge exploiting also the most advanced methodologies and technologies of presentation and documentation and adjusting his communication strategy to the objective of the communication and to the needs of the listener; (iii) effectively cooperate in homogenous and heterogeneous working groups activities; (iv) easily establish social and professional relationships effectively communicating in writing and orally in international settings having a good command of the English language and of other foreign languages, apart from Italian; (v) coordinate and participate in project teams and training staff working in industries/professional offices/territorial agencies etc.; plan and supervise staff training sessions.
These objectives will be attained and continuously checked while carry out the normal training activity encouraging the active participation of the students in the lessons and exercises, during the exams that mainly consist in both oral and written tests, by carrying out team work that require the preparation of papers presented during seminars and the preparation of written reports. The students will be stimulated to communicate, motivate and valorise, in front of their teachers and colleagues, their own project options and assessments made through group discussions using also written and graphical communication tools. In particular, they will have to prepare organic accompanying sheets to their project reports capable of summarising technical aspects as well as communicating and motivating their decisions in a language that could be understood also by a non specialist. Any activities carried out in Italy or abroad and training periods spent abroad will significantly contribute to developing communication skills. In order to develop the knowledge of foreign languages of the second-cycle graduate a certain amount of training credits could be devoted to this activity. Finally, the final exam entails the discussion, in front of a commission, of a thesis autonomously developed under the supervision of a teacher. In this case, the elements that will be assessed will not only be the contents of the report, but also the candidate’s reporting, communication and presentation skills.
Learning skills
The second-cycle graduates in Management Engineering will have developed learning skills enabling them to go on studying mainly by themselves or autonomously.
At the end of his training process the student will have acquired: (i) awareness of the need for continuous learning, to be carried on autonomously all working life long; (ii) the ability to autonomously acquire new technical and scientific expertise linked to the issues treated in the course and obtained from scientific and technical literature of the specific sector; (iii) ability to autonomously structure the study of engineering and basic disciplines, even of those not envisaged by the university training path followed. These abilities will enable the graduate to autonomously and successfully start up further studies (Master’s courses and Research Doctorates) as well as study paths aimed at updating and specializing their own expertise. These abilities are mainly developed during the individual study of the issues treated in lessons and exercises by paying attention to methodological aspects and by encouraging autonomous further analysis of specialised texts, technical rules and scientific literature.
Wide free access to the University’s Multimedia Library as well as easy access to databases available on the computer networks get the student, since the very beginning of the learning path, accustomed to using the most advanced and effective tools to find the data and information he needs. In order to attain these objectives the training periods, in which framework the student will face the complexity of real situations, requiring auto-organisation, critical appreciation and autonomous acquisition of information and skills in a wide range of fields and not necessarily known before, will be very useful. Any training periods spent abroad will significantly contribute to the development of autonomous learning skills. Finally, the development of the graduation thesis will require an extensive and systematic consultation of the scientific and technological literature of the field to autonomously deal with a working topic including original and, in some cases, innovative contents.
The assessment of learning skills is carried out mainly through mid-term tests, exams and interviews with the professor during the preparation of the graduation thesis. It will be also thoroughly assessed also during training periods spent in companies/agencies/professional studies or during training periods in various sites or abroad.
Knowledge required on entry (Min. Decree 270/04, art 6, paragraph 1 and 2)
To be admitted to the second-cycle degree in Management Engineering the student has to possess a three-year degree or university degree or any other title obtained abroad and deemed as valid. The admission to the study course is subject to the possession of curricular requirements and to the assessment of the candidate’s personal qualification and skill level that will be carried on as specified below. The awarding of any curricular integrations required will have to take place before the assessment of the candidate’s personal qualification and skill level.
Curricular requirements
Those who graduated as per the former Min. Decree 270/04 or as per the previously enforced former Min. Decree 509/99 who in their past university career obtained a minimum number of ECTS credits in disciplinary fields and specific scientific-disciplinary sectors, described in details in the Degree Course Didactic Rules, can be admitted to the second-cycle degree course in Management Engineering. The definition of these curricular requirements has as reference model the Degree in Management Engineering (Class L-9 Industrial Engineering) obtained at the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO. By the way, this is sufficiently wide that it cannot prevent the enrolment of graduates in other study courses as per former Min. Decree 509/99 or former Min. Decree 2070/99, coming from other universities sharing with the mentioned degree course a significant section of the basic and characterising contents.
For those holding a three-year university diploma or for those who graduated as per ante Min. Decree 509/99 rules (for whom the courses attended are not quantified as ECTS university credits) or for candidates holding a valid title obtained abroad, considered the great unlikeness of the possible articulations and of the contents of the previous career, the assessment of the curricular requirements will be made for each single case separately based on the courses attended and on their contents. Finally, the Council of Degree Course will establish the specific constraints for the study programme of the students who matriculated in the second-cycle degree course in Management Engineering, as described in the Study Course Didactic Rules.
In order to be admitted to the second-cycle degree course in Management Engineering the students have to possess a good command of at least one EU language, apart from Italian. The required skill levels and assessment modes will be established by the Didactic Rules of this study course.
The suitability of the personal skill-level
The modes for assessing the suitability of the personal skill-level are established by the Didactic Rules of the study course in function of the previous university career, taking into account the results gained by the student in achieving the study title submitted to access the course.
Characteristic of the final exam (Min. Decree 270/04, art. 11, paragraph 3-d)
The final exam consists in preparing, presenting and discussing, in front of a special Commission, an extensive work, developed with autonomy and originality on an issue agreed between the student and the professor of the faculty who will supervise it. If the student spent a training period or stage the final exam may deal with the activity carried out and the results obtained while working in this organisation (company, agency or association) that hosted him. In any case, during the preparatory work for the final exam, the student will be entrusted to the guidance of one or more supervisors. The preparatory work for the final exam can have a theoretical, experimental or project nature and represents an occasion for applying and deepening, also from an interdisciplinary perspective, the acquired notions and skills, for learning and utilising new techniques and survey and analysis tools, for acquiring further operational skills and for the autonomous preparation of interpretative sheets and frameworks. The final exam is aimed at assessing the student’s technical-scientific development, his competence and autonomy of judgment achieved in the framework of the issue treated, any innovative contribution supplied, his communication ability and effectiveness.
Employment and professional prospects for the graduates (Decrees on Classes, art. 3, paragraph 7)
The graduate in Management Engineering is a profile meant to work mainly in private and public industrial companies, service or consulting businesses and to free-lance activities. He has an exceptionally widely cross-field training assuring him the ability to assess the whole range of typical companies problems and, therefore, makes him especially fit to attain managing or entrepreneurial positions.
During his professional activity he will be able to deal with the advanced and integrated design of production systems, management of plants and resources optimisation, organisation and management of production, logistics, materials supply and management, business organisation, auditing, assessment of investments, management of company problems as it regards environmental and security matters. More specifically, in the company he (as entrepreneur, manager or consultant) will be able to play the role of innovator in terms of technologies, organisational forms, of business models and strategies having the specific aim of assuring the development and growth of the company itself in the long run.
The course allows to obtain a qualification for the following professional profiles, based on the rules currently in force:
- Information Engineer
- Industrial Engineer
The course prepares for the professions of (ISTAT codes):
- Industrial and Management Engineers - (2.2.1.7.0)