Presentation of the course
The International Master Degree Program in Management Engineering is a 2-year course entirely taught in English. The program description and practical info are available in the student guide, which is intended for use by the students enrolled in the academic year 2023-24. Students enrolled in previous years, should refer to the corresponding student guides available on the School's website www.ingegneria.unifi.it. Application can be submitted according to the procedure outlined in the Master Degree website.
Foreign students planning to enroll in the Master Degree Program in Management Engineering must be aware that:
- Enrollment requires a bachelor's degree in Engineering and a certificate of English language proficiency of at least level B2 issued by the University of Florence's university language center (https://www.cla.unifi.it/) or by an accredited institution (https://piattaformaenticert.
pubblica.istruzione.it/pocl- )piattaforma-enti-cert-web/ elenco-enti-accreditati - Teaching activities, including project work, will be entirely in-person and it will not be possible to take courses and exams remotely. However, innovative teaching activities carried out in a blended mode, such as the flipped classroom, may be adopted for some subjects.
Learning objectives
The International Master Degree Program in Management Engineering trains high-level professionals mastering statistical, analytical, and numerical methods and with strong technical-scientific, economic, and organizational skills.
The breadth of topics covered and the level of depth that characterizes the teaching activities, provide graduates with a high technical and cultural preparation that qualifies them to fill multiple roles in large and medium-sized companies, as well as in small companies where they can quickly reach managerial positions.
In fact, the educational activities are designed to prepare professionals who can drive change processes such as the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, contribute to the adoption of new cutting-edge manufacturing solutions and systems, and assist in the development of new business models.
The management engineer trained at the University of Florence has a predominantly industrial orientation but can also work in service enterprises.
All the mandatory courses are taught in English. The use of English by faculty and students in teaching activities fosters the development of vocabulary that will enable master's degree graduates to operate in the context of the global economy, as required by the companies in which they typically find employment.
The course of study is organized into two curricula. The first called "Smart Industry" is based entirely on courses provided at the University of Florence. The second one called "International," is based on a structured international mobility agreement signed with HSLU Lucerne and includes a year of study abroad (the second one) and the award of a double engineering degree, the Italian and the Swiss one.
Access to the international curriculum requires participation in a special call for applications.
The two curricula overlap the first year.
For both curricula, the mandatory courses are almost all in the areas of operations management, industrial plant engineering, design and management of production processes and production systems, automation, as well as business economics and organization, innovation, and project management. In the first year, basic knowledge is also enhanced by delving into operations research and statistics for experiments and forecasting.
The second year differentiates the two curricula.
In the Smart Industry curriculum, this includes, in addition to some courses in the above-mentioned areas, a stage/traineeship activity, and the writing of a thesis. The thesis should be based on an industrial project and/or research activity and have characteristics of originality.
In the International curriculum, on the other hand, the second year features courses to be selected from HSLU Lucerne's course offerings, a specialization project, and a co-tutored thesis activity supervised by two faculty members from each of the two universities. Teaching activities are planned in a blended mode up to a maximum of 1/3 of the ECTS and may involve innovative teaching methods such as the “flipped classroom”.
Career opportunities
The professional roles trained are the following:
RM1: Designer and manager of traditional and advanced manufacturing systems
Professional who takes technical and economic decisions relevant to the setup of production capacity and, in the production phase, to the efficient management of the factors of production. It is responsible for decisions on the technologies to be used, the level of automation of the production processes, the sources of energy supply, and the environmental impact of the process and the product. It integrates the various factors with systems engineering methodologies from a system life cycle perspective.
RM2: Innovation manager
Professional who supports - working directly with entrepreneurs, general managers, country managers - the identification of new business opportunities (blue ocean), using innovative approaches to explore and ideate new solutions (design thinking, user-centered design, lean canvas, business model canvas).
RM3: Service manager
Professional who conceives, designs, engineers, and/or streamlines service processes, operating in traditional service companies (banks, insurance companies, health care companies, public administrations, professional firms, etc.), or in manufacturing companies offering services to support their products along the life cycle, or in companies offering integrated product-service solutions (Product Service System).
RM4: Project manager
Professional who manages nonrepetitive activities concerning the realization of a tangible or intangible product, with a finite time horizon, characterized by resource, time, and precedence constraints. He/she places special emphasis on time, cost, quality, and risk control, operates in many different contexts, and can be the subject of specific professional qualifications.
RM5: Operations and supply chain manager
Professional who analyzes, plans, schedules, and controls production and supply chain following the paradigms of agile and lean production. He/she streamlines and simplifies production by identifying waste and detecting its root causes and best integrates production needs with those of maintenance, safety, quality, energy efficiency, and environmental impact reduction. In addition, he/she implements mechanisms for coordination and integration among the various actors of the supply chain.
RM6: Reliability, maintenance, and safety engineer
Professional with the skills for measuring, assessing, managing, and improving RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) performance of components, systems, processes, plants and facilities. He/she is familiar with diagnostic methodologies aimed at optimizing maintenance activities; selects maintenance policies by minimizing expected cost, optimally manages spare parts inventory, performs risk and functional safety assessments, and identifies solutions for prevention and impact minimization.
Submission of the study plan
Students are required to submit a study plan in which they indicate the educational activities they intend to pursue. The study plan must be in compliance with the didactic regulation (Regolamento Didattico) and the guidelines provided in this Student Guide. Submission of the study plan is generally done at the beginning of the first year of study (which occurs in autumn), by filling out the plan online. The deadlines for submission of study plans are announced each year. Please refer to the Study Plans section of the School's website (www.ingegneria.unifi.it) for further information on this matter.
Students who wish to change their study plan in a way that is consistent with the Student Guide but cannot do so online, will have to fill in a paper form, after agreeing on the change with the Coordinator of the Master Degree Program. Study plans created (online or on paper) by choosing exclusively from the courses listed above are automatically approved. Free-choice courses, however, can be selected by drawing from the entire University of Florence’s offerings. The inclusion of a course not in the list in the study plan will be accepted only if: a) the chosen course does not significantly overlap with a course already on the plan or included in the list; (b) it is a course implying the assignment of a grade; (c) the student adequately justifies his or her choice in the context of his or her study plan, using the notes field of the online form; it is also not advisable to choose first-level examinations unless expressly indicated among those proposed in the table.
Students in possession of a bachelor degree obtained according to the D.M.509/99 regulations, may be asked by a Commission to follow a customized study plan. In this case, there may be partial overlaps between the courses proposed in this plan and those already taken by the student in her/his career. Such a plan will likely need to be presented in paper form.
The School of Engineering usually organizes presentations of the different Master Degree and curricula, but also of the opportunities offered by research laboratories in the different Departments and of the active internationalization opportunities, so as to encourage an informed choice of the student in the presentation of the study plan. The student is invited to participate in these initiatives.
Traineeship and final exam
Smart Industry Curriculum
In the 2nd year of the Master Degree Program, a 12 CFUs traineeship is planned to be carried out in public or private companies, agencies or research centers. Exemptions may be provided for students who have engaged in curricular and extracurricular activities. The traineeship can cover, but is not limited to, the design and modeling of production systems, the reengineering and optimization of a process, the innovation of products, services and/or business models. The traineeship can involve research activities, especially when conducted in a research laboratory internship.
The final examination consists of the defense of a thesis on a subject agreed upon with two university lecturers/professors and developed with original contributions by the student. The thesis accounts for 12 ECTSs. If the thesis is developed from activity carried out at companies or other external entities (typically in a joint effort with an external traineeship), the university lecturers cooperate with a company expert who will act as a tutor. The grading of the final examination will consider and incorporate any decision taken by the Commission for the assessment of the personal preparation requirements (ref. section on “Enrollment requirements”).
The thesis should be written and discussed in English.
International Curriculum
Students who are admitted to the international curriculum are required to do a 30 ECTSs thesis activity. Students will be supervised by a faculty member from the University of Florence and one from HSLU Lucerne. This activity can be done in collaboration with companies or at laboratories outside or inside the two universities. The defense of the thesis takes place at one of the two universities in front of a joint commission and allows for the award of the two master's degrees. The thesis must be written and discussed in English.