How can components become lighter without sacrificing strength? The profile line "Lightweight Technologies" answers this question with a focus on fibre-reinforced composites and hybrid lightweight structures, which are key enablers for resource-efficient products in aerospace, automotive and mechanical engineering. Students gain knowledge of composite materials, technical textile processes, anisotropic material behaviour and carbon fibre process chains, complemented by topics such as recycling of plastics and bio-based structures. Sustainability and circular economy aspects are considered along the entire product life cycle. The theoretical content is deepened through exercises, laboratory work and hands-on manufacturing of composite parts, enabling students to design, calculate and produce high-performance lightweight components.

Modern production is increasingly shaped by digitally networked processes and intelligent machinery. The profile line "Smart Manufacturing" therefore addresses the design and optimisation of such production processes, covering the core manufacturing technologies – joining, forming and machining – as well as cyber-physical production and robot systems, geometrical product specification and the design of efficient process chains. Students learn to select and combine suitable technologies, to create NC programs and CAD/CAM process chains, and to evaluate processes with regard to quality, resource efficiency and flexibility. Lectures are complemented by exercises and extensive practical laboratory training on industrial machinery, preparing students to make production both more efficient and more competitive.

Successful production depends not only on technology, but equally on people and organisation. "Industrial Engineering" combines these three perspectives and covers digital ergonomics and applied human factors, production planning and control, the simulation of production and logistics systems, sustainable smart production, and the resilience of manufacturing supply chains. Students learn to analyse, design and control socio-technical production systems using digital tools such as simulation software and digital human models. Seminar-based work, case studies and semester-long practical assignments enable students to develop solutions that make production systems productive, sustainable and human-centred at the same time.

From 3D-printed metal parts to functional surfaces – additive manufacturing is transforming the way products are designed and produced. In the profile line "Printed Functionalities", students acquire in-depth knowledge of printable materials, additive manufacturing processes for metals, ceramics, polymers and concrete, the structural design and joining of additively manufactured parts, as well as surface and interface engineering and quality assurance. The combination of lectures, seminars, group projects and laboratory work conveys both the technological fundamentals and their practical application. Fields of application range from medical technology and energy systems to lightweight structures in aerospace and automotive engineering.

Advanced materials are the foundation of every innovative product. The specialisation "Materials Engineering" is therefore dedicated to their development, analysis and testing, covering polymer materials and their processing, lightweight metals and ceramics, surface and interface engineering, as well as modern methods of materials analysis and destructive and non-destructive materials testing. Students learn to understand process–structure–property relationships and to select and qualify materials for demanding applications. Through a combination of lectures, seminars and laboratory experiments, they are enabled to evaluate materials for industries such as automotive, aerospace, energy and medical technology.

Wherever sensors, actuators and control systems interact, mechatronics comes into play. This profile line focuses on the design, integration and safe operation of mechatronic systems in modern production, with topics including sensors and actuators, data acquisition and analysis of manufacturing processes, safe mechatronic systems, and advanced simulation-based design methods. A distinctive feature is the two-semester group project, in which students plan, design and physically realise a mechatronic demonstrator – often in cooperation with industrial partners. Students thereby acquire not only technical expertise but also project management and teamwork skills essential for developing automated production systems.

Simulation has become an indispensable tool for planning and optimising manufacturing processes and is a cornerstone of digitalisation and digital twins. The specialisation "Computational Manufacturing Engineering" reflects this development: students study numerical methods, linear and nonlinear finite element methods in solid mechanics, computational heat transfer, and the simulation of thermo-mechanically coupled and manufacturing-specific processes such as forming, cutting and joining. The emphasis lies on translating engineering problems into computational models, applying commercial simulation software and critically validating the results against experiments. Graduates are qualified for careers as simulation and development engineers in research and industry.