Course-specific learning objectives
The Second-Cycle Degree Course in Mechanical Engineering aims to produce professionals capable of carrying out a considerable range of tasks, offering a course catalogue designed to ensure a solid basic, scientific, economic and technical-practical preparation, which also facilitates the learning necessary for carrying out professional activities. Students on the second-cycle mechanical engineering degree, addressing the design and manufacturing of products, their use, the means to produce them and the relative services, must have an in-depth technical background in the construction of machines, in relation to their operation and the strength of the component parts, in the transformation of energy in the machines themselves, in the materials to be used in their construction, in fluid mechanics, in the necessary manufacturing, in the design, as an indispensable element of planning, in the means and services related to operation, in the control of dimensions and performance, and in industrial automation.
The considerable variety of tasks and duties that are required of students on the second-cycle degree in mechanical engineering imposes, as the main educational objective of the degree course, the attainment of solid basic preparation with a good scientific approach and extensive technical-practical content, which will facilitate immediate professional integration. In particular, the aim is to train and develop the ability to design, construct, install and optimise the use of machines and plants, the means to operate them and the related services. With this approach, a great deal of attention is paid to technical preparation in all areas of mechanics, which, due to long-standing experience, allows rapid adaptation to the most diverse professional requirements.
In its overall structure and aims, the entire training project presents highly innovative characteristics and is based on a curriculum configured in a series, with a progression leading to the attainment of the qualifications of: First-cycle degree, second-cycle degree and PhD.
More specifically, students on the Second-Cycle Degree in Mechanical Engineering must:
- acquire knowledge and comprehension skills that extend and/or reinforce those typically associated with the first cycle of study and enable him/her to develop and/or apply original ideas, often in a research context;
- be able to apply his/her acquired knowledge, comprehension skills and problem-solving abilities to new or unfamiliar topics, set in broader (or interdisciplinary) contexts related to his/her field of study;
- acquire the ability to integrate knowledge and manage complexity, as well as to make judgements on the basis of limited or incomplete information, including reflection on the social and ethical responsibilities associated with the application of his/her knowledge and judgements;
- be able to communicate his/her conclusions, as well as the knowledge and rationale behind them, clearly and unambiguously to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors;
- be able to develop those learning skills that enable them to continue their studies in a self-directed or autonomous manner.
The degree course in Mechanical Engineering has a structure consistent with the application of the decrees on the teaching autonomy of universities and in response to the real needs to articulate and adapt the level of training, in order to facilitate the entry of mechanical engineers into the world of work.
On the second-cycle degree course, students complete a two-year training programme, following the award of a first-level qualification.
In the first year, the level of cultural education is strengthened, with a broadening of the knowledge of advanced analytical methodologies, giving ample space to characterising subjects of mechanical engineering.
In the second year, in addition to the presence of characterising subjects with more applied content, there is a choice of related and integrative subjects, linked to the present curricula, which allow students to specialise their knowledge.
It is also left up to each student to choose between different subjects so that they can complete their cultural path by enriching it with the content they feel most interested in.
The course is completed by a practical internship and a dissertation project in which students learn how to implement the acquired knowledge, possibly deepen it, and how to organise and manage a project from the beginning to the final presentation.