Product Development and Integrative Technology, 1st semester

Teaching Methods

The education is conducted through project-based learning and is in close cooperation with the industry. All teaching and counselling takes place in oral and written English. You will experience a lot of different teaching methods such as lectures, presentations, dialogue, exchange of experiences, group work and independent studies.

Conditions

Students must bring their own laptop.

Tuition Fee

Not applicable for EU/EEA-students and exchange students from partner institutions, all other students must pay. In this case, please send an e-mail to international@ucl.dk to learn more.  

Activity 1

Type of Activity

Course and Project Work

Name

Integrative Technology: Strategy, Business, Project Management

ECTS

10

Workload

100 lessons – approximately 50% lectures, 25% group work or activities, 25% self-study

Learning Outcome

Knowledge
The student possesses:

• Development-based knowledge of essential practical and theoretical aspects of integration in relation to products and systems, and of management, planning and evaluation tools in the field of the environment, including environmental management, environmental management systems and sustainability philosophies;
• Understanding of practice, applied theory and method in product development and innovation, seen in the context of business organizations and systems, and the ability to reflect on how they are used in a business context.

Skills
The student is able to:

• apply methods and tools for the identification and analysis of significant technological factors relating to the connection between the construction, manufacture and use of a product, and must be proficient in the evaluation of essential practical and theoretical aspects of the integration of products and systems, including the relationships between technology, technique, knowledge and organization(s)
• assess practice-oriented and theoretical problems in implementation processes associated with the use of new technologies across the organization, identify strengths and weaknesses in them and justify and select relevant solution options
• communicate practice-oriented and professional problems and solutions to partners and users, including the use of relevant IT tools in the preparation and presentation of projects, concepts and proposed solutions

Competencies
The student is able to:

• handle parts of complex product and technology development, including those relating to modifications of products and systems
• independently engage in professional and interdisciplinary collaboration across the organization and across customary professional boundaries in order to implement technologies and concepts, and assume responsibility, including managing and leading technical development projects, within a professional ethical framework
• identify his or her own learning needs and develop his or her own knowledge, skills and competencies relating to the development, implementation and management of technological integration

Activity 2

Type of Activity

Course and Project Work

Name

Product Development: Product Maturation, Prototyping

ECTS

5

Workload

50 lessons – approximately 50% lectures, 25% group work or activities, 25% self-study

Learning Outcome

Knowledge
The student possesses:

• development-based knowledge of the practical and theoretical methodological structure of a technology project
• understanding of practice, applied theory and method at all stages of product development processes, including the financial implications of the project during both preparation/development and operation, and the ability to reflect on how these are used in a business context

Skills
The student is able to:

• apply methods and tools for identifying and collecting enterprise data, and use it to contribute to cross-organization process development and optimization, and must be proficient in planning development work, testing the product/solution (proof of concept) and identifying the quality of a technology project in relation to results, validity, reliability and relevance
• assess practice-oriented and theoretical problems with the meaning and application of concepts in the context of the development of professional terminology and technology, and justify and select relevant concepts
• communicate practice-oriented and professional problems and solution options seen in a business context and including environmental and sustainability considerations relating to product development, to peers, users and partners.

Competencies
The student is able to:

• handle both commercially and technologically appropriate product development, and create a project design for a technology project based on the selection, analysis and demarcation of a problem
• independently engage in professional and interdisciplinary collaboration across the organization and customary professional boundaries in order to implement product development, and assume responsibility within a professional ethical framework
• identify his or her own learning needs and develop his or her own knowledge, skills and competencies in product development

Activity 3

Type of Activity

Project Work

Name

Specialization: Innovation and Industrial Design

ECTS

5

Workload

90% Project work to be completed by the students on a topic they self-select and study, 10% supervision and oversight from teachers and aides

Learning Outcome

The specialization classes will be building on each student’s existing body of knowledge and help them independently expand upon their skills, in each of their chosen fields.

The students will also have class lectures in the field of sustainability.

Installation and Automation
Applied subject-specific methods and theories of development in the field of complex building and industrial installations and the optimization and operation of automatic systems, and must be proficient in the further development and adjustment of solutions.

Products and Production
Applied subject-specific methods and theories of development, planning, and application in the conception, design and construction of industrial products and the optimization, operation and integration of production systems, and must be proficient in the further development and adjustment of solutions.

IT and Electronics
Applied subject-specific methods and theories for use in the development of IT and Network solutions and in electronic and data processing systems, and must be proficient in the further development and adjustment of solutions.

Activity 4

Type of Activity

Course

Name

Theory of Science

ECTS

5

Workload

50% lectures and 50% self-study and project work

Learning Outcome

Knowledge

The student must:

• Be able to put knowledge, insight and acknowledgement into perspective relevant for the profession in practice
• have knowledge of science in a scientific manner
• knowledge of important schools of theoretic science and the problems in a scientific perspective
• knowledge of methodological approaches that supports the process of generating knowledge
• be able to reflect upon central paradigms within scientific disciplines
• be able to reflect upon the use of theory and methodology in a professional context
• be able to reflect upon the link between research and technological development.

Skills

The student must:

• critically evaluate empirical and analytical research
• understand what knowledge is, how it occurs and how to apply it
• reflect upon and participate in dialogue about production of knowledge
• integrate understanding of scientific work and methodology
• collect, process and interpret quantitative and qualitative data
• be critical towards secondary data sources in regards to relevance, actuality, validity, reliability and generalizations

prepare problem analysis and create problem demarcations, establish hypothesis and conduct methodological considerations and argue for choice of research methods.

Activity 5

Type of Activity

Course

Name

Quality and Economics

ECTS

5

Workload

50% lectures and 50% self-study and project work

Learning Outcome

Knowledge

The student shall possess knowledge of:

• The economic development of a product during preparation, development and operation;
• The significance of fixed and variable costs in an operations organization;
• The structure of a Cost-Volume-Profit analysis;
• The importance of preparing a Net Present Value (NPV) analysis of an investment;
• The significance of the ROI and break-even recoupment periods;
• Tools for collecting customer wishes;
• Tools for translating qualitative wishes into quantitative requirements.

Skills

The student shall be able to:

• Evaluate and apply relevant economic data;
• Evaluate economic calculations;
• Collect, prepare and communicate an economic analysis;
• Carry out/use analytical tools to collect/highlight customer wishes;
• Carry out/use tools to translate qualitative customer wishes into qualitative requirements/terms understandable to the engineer;
• Document existing product requirements.

Specialisation: Innovation and Industrial Design will be concluded with a written project exam.

There will be an ongoing assignment throughout the semester to participate in writing an individual blog from study material in all ongoing lessons.

The semester will conclude with an external interdisciplinary exam (written, in the form of the blog, and oral) combining all subjects from the semester.