The two year training program Information and Communication Technology (120 ECTs) is composed of lectures, workshops and engineering design projects. The trainees spend on average 30% of their time at university and 70% of their time working on the engineering projects, typically in the ICT oriented industry or in ICT related projects at TU/e. The program consists of 5 modules:
- Module 1: Technology and design
- Module 2: Domain specific specialization courses
- Module 3: Professional and Personal development
- Module 4: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Module 5: Engineering project
The courses in Module 1 educate the trainees in efficient design, including system engineering, quality and reliability, cost awareness and manufacturability. Design skills, communication and management capabilities will be developed. Specially designed courses on post-master level are offered, usually as workshops with practical teamwork.
In Module 2, the compulsory courses provide the trainee with a selection of lectures indispensible for product development in the ICT area. As the ICT domain is very wide, the choice of the courses will strongly depend on the nature and the topic of the design project. An individual course program is composed taking into account candidates' background, knowledge, future interest, supervisors' and industrial prerequisites. Besides a number of compulsory courses, module 2 also contains electives.
An important aspect of the training program is personal and professional development (Module 3). Together with a coach, the PDEng trainees develop a personal development plan for their career and follow a series of workshops, comprising self assessment, intercultural communication, presentation training and an intensive course on technical writing and editing. Furthermore, the engineering projects are accompanied by lectures on project based management. In the monthly colloquium each trainee gives a presentation and trains his/her skills in leading discussions and participating actively as critical audience.
In module 4, the trainees will get acquainted with innovation and entrepreneurship topics. This comprises, development of a business plan, marketing and sales, finance, IP and valorization as well as pitch training. Typically a summer school is organized around an entrepreneurship topic.
Module 5 are the Engineering projects. During the whole program, the trainees work on projects in parallel to their lectures. In these projects, they are typically with a company, developing according to the requirements a real prototype in the ICT area. Projects can be found in the fields of telecommunication, embedded systems, (digital) signal processing, medical applications, computer technology and VLSI design. Also some projects are within the university on the translation of new research results into a tangible prototype, typically together with a company.