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Università degli Studi di Parma Università degli Studi di Parma
Second cycle degree course in
Mechanical engineering
Università degli Studi di Parma
Department of Engineering for Industrial Systems and Technologies

Career prospects

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Employment opportunities

MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Roles
The main functions performed by the second-cycle degree in Mechanical Engineering are related to the design of highly innovative products and processes, research aimed at product development, the modelling and simulation of components and systems, and production management. The Mechanical Engineering graduate is able to perform coordination roles and interact within multidisciplinary teams dedicated to the design of innovative products and processes.
These are some but not all of the functions that a graduate will be prepared to perform.

  • expert and/or highly qualified manager in innovative design, advanced virtual modelling and simulation
  • expert and/or highly qualified manager in industrial design and product engineering
  • expert and/or highly qualified manager in industrial and tertiary plant management and mechanical service plants
  • expert and/or highly qualified manager in fluid machines, in propulsion and energy conversion systems and in hydraulic systems
  • expert and/or high qualification responsible in industrial automation-oriented operational design
  • expert and/or high qualification responsible in technological processes and innovative production systems


Competences
Specific competences include:
- ability to design and manage industrial production systems, technological processes, industrial facilities and production and logistics systems;
- ability to manage the maintenance, industrial technologies and automation of industrial systems;
- knowledge suitable for designing and supervising integrated production systems, with a focus on industrial quality management;
- ability to design mechanical systems equipped with high-technology active and intelligent systems (e.g: automated machines and plants, vehicles and industrial robots);
- preparation and knowledge suitable for tackling problems with a systems approach oriented towards the product as a whole, the system architecture, the integral vision of the product development process oriented towards the entire life cycle, the effective and integrated use of simulation methodologies and technologies based on the paradigms of virtual prototyping, virtual factory and virtual dummies;
- the ability to independently develop and manage engineering projects involving the problems of sizing, development, selection and operation of internal combustion engines and gas turbines;
- preparation and knowledge suitable for designing mechanical components and systems independently and with advanced and innovative methods;
- ability to operate in all areas where the ability to identify innovative technological solutions and use advanced materials is a fundamental competitive element (e.g: iron and steel plants, foundries, rolling mills, heat treatment and thermochemical plants, companies producing consumer goods and instrumental goods for individual or collective use);
- knowledge of how to design, build and manage vehicles, with a particular focus on the problems of the environment and active and passive safety.


Employment opportunities
Typical professional fields are those of innovation and production development, advanced design, planning and programming, and management of complex systems, whether as a self-employed professional, in manufacturing or service companies, or in public administrations. The activities of second-cycle degree graduates will particularly concern: mechanical industries; automation and robotics industries; electromechanical industries; manufacturing industries in general for the design, production, installation, testing and management of machines, means of transport, production lines and departments; plant engineering companies; companies and bodies for energy production and conversion; complex systems. The Emilia Romagna region, in general, is characterised by an extremely advanced and strongly internationalisation-oriented industrial system. Moreover, the regional economic system is characterised by a highly developed structure of traditional and advanced services both in the private sector and in public administration. The skills provided by the Mechanical Engineering degree course are in demand and appreciated, not only by industry specific to the sector, but also by those in a broader technological area, such as companies in the electrical and electronics sector, energy management, and the food industry.
In particular, the Emilia Romagna region offers, among others, the following specific employment areas:
- industries for the design and development of high-tech products;
- motorbike industries for the design of high-performance motorbikes, including for the racing sector;
- automobile industries for high-performance cars, aimed at the medium and high end of the market;
- industries for automation, robotics and packaging;
- industries for the packaging and preservation of food and pharmaceutical products;
- industries in the agri-food sector;
- industries for the design and production of moulds for companies in the various industrial sectors; foundries;
- companies for heat treatments on components in the industrial and mechanical sectors;
- industries for the production and installation of plants;
- industrial and mechanical plants of various types (waste treatment plants, purification plants, cogeneration plants, etc.);
- companies and bodies for the production, management and conversion of energy;
 - multi-purpose entities for the management of energy and for the provision of primary services to private individuals and large companies;
- industries for the design and production of agricultural machinery, earth-moving equipment, elevators, cranes, overhead travelling cranes, etc.;
- industries for the design and production of woodworking machinery and plants;
- industries for the production of advanced composite materials and the manufacture of the corresponding components;
- ceramic industries.
- industries for pleasure boating; shipyards in general;
- industries for the supply and assembly of components (gearboxes, gearmotors, fuel systems, injection systems, etc.);
- industries for the production of household appliances;
- industries for the development of software to aid mechanical design, computer-aided industrial design, (reverse engineering), virtual simulation in general;
- industries for the production of testing machines and measuring instruments for research and mass production;  - - -  industries for the production of machine tools;
- industries for the production of biomechanics;
- industries for the production of gymnastic equipment.
- industries for the production of machinery and plant for the agri-food industry

Communication skills

Graduates from the Second-Cycle Degree in Mechanical Engineering must be able to communicate effectively as a project or team leader working in different disciplines and at different levels, with the ability to relate and engage in broad national and international contexts.
The acquisition of these communication skills is developed during thedegree course through the presentation of the results obtained for the various proposed papers, in the laboratory activities, and in the presentation of the activity carried out in the Internship.
Verification of the acquisition of communicative skills is carried out both as part of the course-unit examinations and in the qualifying tests following the more applied activities carried out in the laboratories.
The assessment of the dissertation is the moment when students are particularly called upon to expressing his or her communication skills, and where the second-cycle degree Graduation Commission has the opportunity to check whether this goal has been achieved.