When Head of Studies Jonas Kjær Jensen is asked about the difference between the analogue and digital BEng programmes in Mechanical Engineering, the answer is very clear. In terms of contents, there is no difference between them, but the format of the latter is completely new and has never been seen before at DTU.
The digital version is structured so that, for example, the students acquire the various competences that form part of the programme competence profile via four overall themes. The themes are distributed on the first four semesters, and they run in parallel to the basic courses of the study programme. This means that the students are constantly alternating between acquiring new competences and using them to perform specific engineering assignments.
"We're using a brand-new format for the digital version of the study programme, and it will be exciting to see if it will rub off on the analogue version. The students have welcomed the structure with changing themes from semester to semester. In the first semester, the theme is, for example, wind turbine technology, and when the students have completed this, they will have learned a lot about materials, mechanics, and production technology, and they will have applied their new knowledge to parts of a wind turbine," says Jonas Kjær Jensen, who is Head of Studies on both the analogue and digital BEng programmes in Mechanical Engineering.
The division into themes was based on a desire to encourage the students' creative urge. In fact, the themes make it very clear that the students learn something, for example programming and mathematics, because it can be used to create something—in the first semester, as mentioned, they learn to construct a wind turbine, and in the second semester, the theme is sustainable product development.
"In the second semester, the students acquire insight into the development of sustainable products, which is in great demand in the business sector. For example, the students learn how to construct and dimension columns and beams in a structure using as few materials as possible without compromising on quality," explains Jonas Kjær Jensen.
