Teaching
Bachelor courses
Machine and Business Ethics
(Lecturer/2 ECTS)
Besides developing technical solutions competently and skillfully, engineers need to be aware of the broader ethical implications of engineering and be able to reflect on these. The main objective of this course is to develop engineering students' ability to understand, frame, discuss, evaluate, and critique the value systems and power relationships embedded in the engineering practice and its intersection with contemporary issues in global, economic, technological, environmental, and social contexts.
This course asks broad questions, such as: What are the ethical duties, and also rights, of engineers in the practice of their careers? What are the ethical values that underpin the technologies we develop and use? Are these values desirable? What are the ethical issues embedded in applied ethical domains such as business management, software engineering, robots and AI, sustainable development?
Sustainable Engineering
(Lecturer/2 ECTS)
Because engineering sits at the intersection between scientific knowledge and society needs, 21st century engineers will be more important than ever in advancing the sustainable development agenda. By introducing important sustainability topics applied to different engineering disciplines, this course will encourage students to integrate environmental, economic, and social considerations (i.e., triple bottom line) in the design and evaluation of products and services. Engineers with a sustainable mindset will be prepared to design better technical solutions, work across disciplinary boundaries and deal with complex problems. This module is targeted to automobile, electrical, micro- and mechanical engineers, as well as for computer scientists, industrial engineers and management scientists.
What does our energy future look like?
(Co-Lecturer/2 ECTS)
From the year 2050, Switzerland should no longer emit any greenhouse gas emissions. In Switzerland, CO2 emissions in the areas of transport, buildings and industry can be reduced by up to 95 percent by 2050 with the technologies known today and the use of renewable energies. In the BFH summer school "Energy Future", the most promising trends (photovoltaics, electromobility, Industry 4.0, circular economy and energy-efficient living) are to be tackled in an interdisciplinary manner and illustrated with practical excursions over four theme days. In the concluding idea workshop, the knowledge gained should be reflected on in small groups and checked for possible feasibility.
Organization and Change Management
(Lecturer/4 ECTS)
This course provides an overview of the elements and forms of organizing a company. That is, the module equips students with an understanding of how organizational designs are used to achieve different strategic goals of the organization (from birth to maturity), particularly within the framework of manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Finally, students understand the change of companies as a continuous process and deal with the different procedures for successfully managing it in the context of holistic change management.
Project modules and Bachelor Theses
Every semester at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at the BFH
Master of Science in Circular Innovation and Sustainability
Circular Supply Chains
(Co-Lecturer/4 ECTS)
A profound understanding of supply chains and how they work is a prerequisite for realizing circular business models. The module starts with an initial examination of the characteristics of supply chains and their structures and stakeholders. The complexities and challenges in supply chains are addressed and basic approaches and practices of supply chain management are presented. As of today, linear supply chains dominate the global economy. Starting with approaches to shaping sustainable supply chains, current practices are highlighted, and limitations are considered. The module addresses the opportunities of Circular Economy principles to move linear supply chains towards circular supply chains through circular strategies. Key processes and systems (e.g., reverse logistics), information technology and digitalization trends, which enable the “Rs” in supply chains, are presented and discussed.
Transdisciplinary Methods
(Co-Lecturer/4 ECTS)
The complex global challenges around sustainable development – including the environmental, social, cultural, political and financial issues linked to the circular economy paradigm – demand expertise and collaboration across academic disciplines and different non-academic sectors of society. While scientific and technological solutions are needed to tackle complex challenges, they must be linked to social change and economic development if they are to be considered transformative innovations. Transdisciplinary research, therefore, is aimed at understanding complex issues of practical relevance, and relies on collaborative work involving academic researchers from different unrelated disciplines (i.e., interdisciplinarity), and non-academic stakeholders such as civil society, NGOs or businesses (i.e., transdisciplinarity), to create societal value. Students in this course will learn about transdisciplinarity and how to design, carry out and evaluate effective transdisciplinary projects.
Expansion Module on Inter- and Transdisciplinary Methods (Coach)
Coaching for master students on different industry projects on the topic of Inter- and transdisciplinary research