International Master’s Program Trains Experts in Sustainable Production

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology cooperates with five universities in France, Italy, Norway and Slovenia - In the first semester, students start at the French École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Étienne, in the third semester they can also transfer to Chemnitz University of Technology

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology (TUC) has joined forces with five universities in France, Italy, Norway and Slovenia to launch the English-language master's program "meta4.0 - Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Manufacturing 4.0 by intElligent and susTAinable technologies". The first 25 students from 17 different nations have been enrolled since September 2023.

"Digital, clean, sustainable, smart – these are the key terms based on which we have developed this program together, to train a new generation of engineers and to meet the societal demands for a 'greener' industry," says Dr. Matthias Rehm, the Executive Chief Engineer of the Professorship of Production Systems and Processes (headed by Prof. Dr. Martin Dix) at Chemnitz University of Technology, who has been closely collaborating with the French École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Étienne since 2017. "I am pleased that we can contribute our many years of expertise in sustainable production here," says Rehm, who is also the network manager of the international ZIM network "SUPRA - Sustainable Production by Automation", actively communicating with industry partners and knowing their expectations of the engineers of tomorrow. "For our established, English-language Master's program 'Advanced Manufacturing', the future cooperation within the framework of an Erasmus cooperation is a great asset," states Prof. Dr. Stephan Odenwald, examination board chairman of the Advanced Manufacturing program.

Chemnitz University of Technology has already built up extensive know-how since 2009 with the Cluster of Excellence "Energy-efficient Product and Process Innovations in Production Engineering eniPROD" under the direction of the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Processes in interdisciplinary research teams and has advanced the strategic orientation of its research profile towards the future focus "Resource-efficient Production and Lightweight Structures". From 2017 to 2020, Chemnitz University of Technology played a significant role in the "Saxon Alliance for Material and Resource Efficient Technologies AMARETO" and further developed this subject area in collaboration with TU Dresden and TU Bergakademie Freiberg. Currently, the project "System-based Intelligence for Cascaded ReProduction CORE" submitted for the Excellence Initiative under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Martin Dix shows how the existing complementary areas of excellence at the university want to join forces to use the acquired competencies in the field of sustainable production for the automotive industry, to develop new solutions for this sector on the way to a circular economy.

"At the kickoff event of the new program in St. Etienne, we were able to feel the enthusiasm and the extraordinary motivation of the international students in personal conversations, who are very consciously aware of their responsibility for the future of our planet and want to make their contribution to the ecological and economic progress of their countries," Rehm describes. "I was very pleased that so many students expressed interest in a stay in Chemnitz and am curious to see who we will meet again on our campus in the future."

In the first semester, the students start at the French École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Étienne, then move to the Italian Politecnico di Torino, and afterwards can choose their specialization at various European locations in the third semester: The Norwegian Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet NTNU offers the specialization "Digital Manufacturing", at the Slovenian Univerza v Ljubljani the course "Clean Manufacturing" is offered, and in France students can opt for "Sustainable Manufacturing". It is planned that Chemnitz University of Technology will offer the specialization "Smart Manufacturing" as part of an Erasmus cooperation in the Master's program "Advanced Manufacturing".

The program is funded within the framework of the European Union's Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program, which will award a total of 90 scholarships to international students over the next four years, who are selected based on their professional qualifications and language skills after a detailed application in a rigorous selection process. The coordination of the program is at the École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Étienne, which belongs to the École Centrale de Lyon.

Detailed information about the program and consortium of the master's program "meta4.0 – Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Manufacturing 4.0 by intElligent and susTAinable technologies": https://www.master-meta4-0.eu

Contact at the Chemnitz University of Technology: Prof. Dr. Stephan Odenwald, phone +49 371 531-32172, email: stephan.odenwald@mb.tu-chemnitz.de and Dr. Matthias Rehm, phone: +49 371 531-37447, email: matthias.rehm@mb.tu-chemnitz.de

(Author: Katja Klöden)

Matthias Fejes
18.10.2023

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