Six fields of study in Industrial Engineering are offered at the BTU Cottbus. Students can change their specialist field with a minimum of effort, as long as this is done by the end of the second semester. This is a great advantage for BTU students vis-à-vis other universities. A university degree fully qualify students to assume positions in industry, technology, and science, or to enrol in a doctoral programme, which is the key to the best positions in science and industry.

Industrial Engineering

The specialist field Industrial Engineering imparts all knowledge and skills that students need to enter one of the most exciting professional fields that exists today: the planning, development, and manufacture of all the products that surround us. Industrial engineers are responsible leaders; they elaborate projects and manage their implementation. Industrial engineers majoring in Industrial Engineering can thus be found in a number of different professional areas and positions, and not a few of them in top positions with concrete management responsibilities. This diverse training approach guarantees access to a broad spectrum of activities in a number of commercial and scientific sectors.

Civil Engineering

The Civil Engineering programme also includes ‘real engineering subjects’ that are in actual use by professional civil engineers: engineering mechanics and structural analysis introduce students to the basic training they need to obtain a primary diploma, followed by advanced courses in structural steel engineering, reinforced concrete construction, wood-frame construction, and road construction. Students who choose this major are not only able to independently design and build a single-family home, they also have competencies in managing larger and more complex construction projects or in building contractor management; employment opportunities range from medium sized firms to international companies.

Environmental Engineering

The BTU’s Environmental Engineering programme is unique in all of Germany; it a well-respected academic consolidation programme that deals with the intersecting areas of Environmental Engineering and Economics. Study areas such as biology, chemistry and fluid mechanics or waste management, waste water treatment, air pollution control, industrial sustainability, comparison of ecological systems, and environmental protection, all serve to qualify industrial engineers for future employment in government authorities, construction and planning firms or research facilities, thereby making a significant contribution to preserving and developing our natural environment and working areas.

Power Supply Engineering

Germany’s entire energy supply sector is in a state of evolution. Free-market liberalisation is prompting significant changes in company and market environments. This has increased demands for experts, who not only understand the technical issues involved in the overall supply process, but are also able to tackle the relevant economic challenges. Graduates of the Energy Supply programme are particularly qualified for such tasks and have excellent perspectives for employment in large affiliated groups, as well as in regional suppliers and public utilities.

Information Systems Engineering

This specialist field qualifies students for a number of activities that require know-how in the transecting areas of economics and computer science, for instance in choosing and introducing hardware and software systems or in developing management and IT systems. In addition to receiving a solid education in theoretical and technical computer science topics, students also familiarise themselves with selected applications such as eBusiness, multimedia, or software engineering. Graduates with a practical double qualification of this kind have excellent employment opportunities in the IT units of industry and service enterprises, and increasingly in consulting and of course software firms.

Power Plant Technology and -management

The aim of the Power Plant Technology and Management programme is to give graduates competencies in the broad applied subject areas of systems and processing economics as they relate to energy systems. Graduates acquire these qualifications through a dedicated didactic approach that includes a methodological focus on the chosen applied subjects. Representatives of the energy company Vattenfall Europe contribute significantly to this goal. This approach features a strong emphasis on practical knowledge in the fields of power station planning, maintenance and operations, in addition to taking full advantage of regenerative energy carriers. The programme also stresses internships at participating companies, as well as dedicated academic supervision and assistance in writing papers and theses.