HING in Industrial Engineering with one entrance and several outputs
The objective was to develop a new Bachelor of Science programme in Industrial Engineering, more flexible and appealing than previous ones. This involved developing the programme itself, as well as a management model and promotional activities. The project has provided valuable lessons on collaboration across a wide spectrum of actors.
Background and problem definition
The ITM Bachelor of Science in Engineering programmes ”TIMAS” and ”TIIPS”, were unprofitable and had poor throughput. All trends were downward, the admission scores were low, and the teaching was not pedagogically accessible for many of the students admitted to the programmes. The President of KTH therefore decided to halt admissions to the programmes for Autumn 2023. They needed to be replaced with a programme that better aligns with KTH’s development strategies and the principles of Future Education at KTH.
What we want to achieve
The main goals were to develop an attractive programme with high application rates, that provides students and employers with what they need, and to create a course structure that works both for programme students and, moving forward, for Lifelong Learning students. To achieve this, the three-year programme needed a modular structure and the possibility to offer specialisation in one of four profiles. And finally, with clear and useful documentation, we also aimed to produce a model for how KTH can develop similar programs in the future.
Challenges
The lack of a recruitment strategy was a challenge. It had also long been a problem for programmes with few applicants, contributing to persistently low application rates and students who were unprepared for university studies starting the programmes.
Suggestions for improvement
- Connecting a project manager to the programme director to form a team of resources working systematically on the programme’s development.
- Enable collaboration among the programme director, track managers, examiners, educators, subject matter experts, and industry partners to define courses and their content for all three years of the program.
- Work purposefully to connect industry partners to the programme.
Lessons learnt
With the right setup and the right people, this becomes an exciting teamwork, but developing a program in a short time does require other resources than we are used to. Classical project management is a must for success. However, it is a challenge to formalise project management (with steering groups, etc.) since working like this it is not part of KTH’s culture. It is also a challenge to get the industry really involved in the program, beyond only guest lectures and study visits.
Next step
Next is detailed planning for the second and third years of the program, evaluation of the recruitment campaign, and to continue promoting the program. Moving forward, we also aim to design course modules open for lifelong learning students. Additionally, we seek to enhance collaboration with industry partners and reach to more companies.