Design and Technology Futures
Degree awarded: Master of Science in Engineering (MSc)
Workload: 120 ECTS
Language of instruction: English
Duration: 2 years
Pre-Requisites: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in technology, design or any other field of innovation studies. Professional experience in these fields is also taken into account.
Tuition fees and scholarships: 1 ECTS = 55 EUR. Nominal study load per 1 year = 60 ECTS/€3300, 8 tuition fee waiver scholarships available that guarantee free studies. Detailed information about the scholarship is available here
Design and Technology Futures (D&TF) is built on an understanding that disciplinary, cultural and intellectual diversity combined with creative and open mindset drives successful innovation. It is a transdisciplinary programme merging the competencies and skills of technology and design. D&TF is combining education and innovation into an enabling platform which at one hand collaborates with industry and government partners to search new ways out from the modern complex challenges and on the other hand, engages students with new and unique experiences out of their comfort zones in order to create innovation and new thinking. To find out what the future might be.
The challenges in the program are presented in an open format, encouraging students’ personal creative development and self-expression.
Keep eye on their projects, events, and news at www.design-engineering.ee
- The program offers an opportunity to acquire integrated practical and theoretical knowledge in design-driven innovation with an ability to spark, lead and perform future-oriented tech-intensive product- and service concept development;
- Exiting cooperation projects with industry, government partners or society looking for new opportunities for technology development into promising product-service systems;
- Teaching staff with high theoretical and practical experience;
- Semester or internship abroad in world-leading universities by the support of Erasmus+ program;
- Scholarships available for the best students.
Entrepreneurs, innovation leaders, product and service developers and managers who are able to work in a wide scope of creative integrated development teams and run design-driven innovation projects integrating together the technological possibilities provided by industry with opportunities found on the market and in the society.
The 2 year (120 ECTS) curriculum comprises the following modules:
- General Studies (12 ECTS)
- Design (12 ECTS)
- Engineering (12 ECTS)
- Entrepreneurship (6 ECTS)
- Elective Studies (6 ECTS)
- Specialisation Projects (42 ECTS)
- Free Choice Courses (6 ECTS)
- Graduation Thesis (24 ECTS)
Please pay attention as this programme you are applying for, has specific prerequisites:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in technology, design or innovation field.
- CV - work experience benefits
- Motivation letter (1-25 points)
- Results of BSc studies for engineers and online test in field knowledge (1-25 points)
- Portfolio of BA studies for designers (1-25 points)
- Online interview - will be conducted to candidates who have passed preliminary evaluation (1-50 points)
Motivation letter
For each programme you apply to, an individual motivation letter (statement of purpose) must be inserted.
Please include following:
- Well-considered reasons for the choice of the speciality and description of the vision for your career and how will studying in the study programme Design & Technology Futures support achievement of the goals.
- A substantially reasoned vision of the developments of design and engineering and your role in the developments.
- Comprehensive analysis of your strengths and contribution to multicultural and multidisciplinary team projects.
We evaluate the applicant's motivation and critical thinking skills, well-founded connection between the applicant's career choice and the study programme Design and Technology Futures, as well as understanding of the developments in the field.
PS! It is important to properly cite any sources (quotations, publications, ideas which are not your own etc.) used in your motivation letter, because to do otherwise would be plagiarism and result in disqualification.
Candidates with designers background- portfolio
A portfolio should give an overview of the applicant's professional capabilities and should include the best examples of his/her designs and other creative work. You do not need to include classical paintings and drawings in the portfolio, but you should include development sketches, engineering designs, photos of the models or finished products, developments related to modern technology (e.g. user interfaces, apps, service design projects, etc.). We will evaluate the quality of the designs submitted and the portfolio as a whole.
Candidates with engineering background- online test in field knowledge
Online test takes place in the system called Moodle. The test itself is 7 minutes long and can be taken only once.
- CAD systems are used for...
- What are the strongest points of paramatric modelling?
- What are the main functions of CAM systems?
- What kind of information systems are used in area of manufacturing engineering?
- Who benefits from product development?
- What are main advantages of numerical controlled (NC) machining?
- Quality management is used for...
- Product development is a process which includes the following steps...
- What is the role of engineers in product development processes?
- Why customer requirements managemnt is important?
The candidate must collect at least 6 points to be in the competition. The result will be re-calculated into 25-point scale.
Online interview
An applicant must be attentive, have analytical skills and be interested in the profession and the world in all its diversity. We evaluate the skill to substantiate the choice of the speciality and to connect it with your professional career, your motivation and ability to discuss the trends and issues in the field. We evaluate communication skills, creativity and critical thinking, motivation to pass the selected study programme and to continue with the professional career, the ability to collaborate and to contribute to multicultural and multidisciplinary teamwork (creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration).
Threshold 50 points - applicants receiving at least 50 points get admission to TTÜ.
For general admission requirements please visit the Admissions section.
Fees
The following is an estimation based on 2018/2019 fees:
Nominal study load for 1st year is 60 ECTS. 1 ECTS = 55 EUR. Cost: 3300 EUR.
Non-EU students must pay in advance for 60 ECTS (yearly load) before starting their studies.
Waiver
A tuition-fee waiver is a non-monetary scholarship granted automatically to the best ranked candidates, according to the points earned in the course of admission. There is no separate application required. Decisions are made based on the DreamApply application. The scholarship is awarded for the whole study period. Recipients of the scholarships are required to study full-time, i.e. with a workload of at least 60 ECTS per year. If the student starts studying part-time, they will lose their tuition-fee waiver and will start paying for their studies.
ScholarshipPlease check here for scholarship options.
"Design and Engineering is a truly interesting but also challenging course. As it’s a joint programme of TTÜ and Estonian Academy of Arts, you will get to study and work with lecturers from both engineering and design faculties. As a designer, I really value that this programme helped me to understand engineers better and gave me a deeper understanding of technologies, thanks in particular to the many group works and projects we had to do, which created a lot of synergy. I was also given the opportunity to study as an exchange student at the partner university of TTÜ in Barcelona, which broadened my experiences even more."
Tinatin Dzirkvadze, Georgia
Student of the Design and Engineering programme
"The program of D&E offered by TTÜ can be considered a curriculum which may fundamentally change your point of view on how and why all things around us are made. Having finished my bachelors in product development and production, I can speak about the transition from an engineer to a design engineer. I had always been interested in "design" as such, but as it came out later, not fully understood the meaning of the word. Usually people - including me - refer to "design" as the aesthetical value of a product - well that can only be called the tip of the iceberg of what you will learn to handle in this program. As the classical way of engineering works in the way of problem -> solution. Add a little bit of design thinking from D&E and it can show you that firstly there is not only one solution, the problem at your hand may even not be the actual one that needs fixing and finally come out with a great idea that is rapidly different and better from conventional solutions. For me, this program was a real eye-opener regarding various topics from user centered design, product branding, user interfaces to innovation management processes and many more. All of these which are necessary for a person who wants to call himself a designer engineer - a multidisciplinary approacher with innovational ideas. All of the courses are led by professionals in their field with real-life experiences and are an absolute pleasure to hear and discuss with. Students with various backgrounds bring different ideas and perspectives to all of the works and discussions. I would recommend this program to people who are fond of product and service development, are open-minded and would like to experience the world where design and engineering work together for creating a better tomorrow."
Aigar Tälli
From fashion industry to satellites: our graduate Tea Tüür started to work as a Design Thinker in Catapult Satellite Applications in Harwell, Oxford this April, just after graduating in January. Now she looks back to her studies at Design & Engineering and her personal development with it:
"Design and Engineering is a truly unique study programme in Estonia, transmitting skills and knowledge that are relevant and sought-after in many modern international companies. It opened up my worldview, enabled me to gain international contacts and cross-disciplinary teamwork experience. I loved the topicality and diversity of the projects we could work on – no semester was alike. I was uncertain about my career path when I started the programme. The most important thing I gained from D&E is the discovery of what I’m good or not-so-good at and what are the things in life I really care about. In addition to learning to analyse the cultural, social and economic changes in society, every student received feedback and support to assess their personal development. I would definitely recommend D&E to a wide variety of people – whether at the start of their career or well-established; passionate about tech, design, business, psychology or all four. You are guaranteed to get a new perspective on things, learn a lot and meet a bunch of great people along the way!"
Tea Tüür
Head of the Curriculum
Professor Martin Pärn
e-mail: martin dot parn at ttu dot ee
phone: (+372) 620 3250
address: Ehitajate tee 5
room: VI 404
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