International Master Programme in Innovation 2017, Sweden

Publish Date: Nov 04, 2016

Deadline: Jan 15, 2017

The aim of the program

This two-year master programme is based on companies need of employees with ability to initiate, lead and promote the creation of innovations. The program is taught in English.

In the students’ work with innovations, the student should balance the process in its various parts for design, function, sustainability and production conditions. This requires knowledge of, or interaction between, different disciplines where different approaches, perspectives and approaches are utilized. The program is based on common projects often in collaboration with industry and organizations along with advancement in design and a broadening towards other disciplines (business and technology). Experiences from projects discussed and put in relation to the student's professional skills. In separate courses studied scientific method used in the innovation process.

Students within business, engineering and design collaborate at Linnaeus University to develop products
During the autumn term, first-year students on the master programme Innovation through business, engineering and design work in groups with one company each to develop their own products.

Students speak

Ramona Hallgren studies on the design specialisation. Her group collaborates with the company CumVex, specialising in office furniture. Since CumVex is based in Växjö it is easy for the group to arrange meetings with the company without having to plan too far in advance.

"The company has been very open to our ideas and they listen to what we have to say. The fact that it is a local company is, of course, a great advantage, almost luxury", says Ramona. The collaboration within the group is also working well. All groups consist of students from the three different specialisations: business, engineering and design.

"The interesting part about working in a collaboration like this is that I, being a designer, view things differently. As opposed to financial managers and engineers I don't think very much about production and costs in the first stage of generating ideas", says Ramona.

Sebastian Duque studies on the business specialisation. He thinks that it has been very instructive to work together with students from the other specialisations.

"We all have different perspectives, and our working processes are also different from each other. We get to learn how designers and engineers think, just like in real-life projects", he explains.

Sebastian's group works with Alstermo Bruk, a company making suitcases. They keep contact through email, but also through visits both ways. Sebastian's group has focused on the concept of sustainability and is developing a new product.

"First, we worked four weeks with the development of a design model and now we have reached the engineering process. Once we have completed that, we will work four weeks with the business process. In this way, we will all learn the entire development process, which is very rewarding", says Sebastian.

Joe Sullivan studies on the engineering specialisation and works with the company Quickbutton, a supplier of campaign buttons, name tags and conference badges. Joe's group has also had a sustainability perspective in the development of their product and they have chosen to work with the material bamboo.

"We are really benefitting from each other's different skill sets and different previous experiences within the group. I, for instance, have never before really come into contact with the financial management part. The entire programme is very focused on teamwork", Joe says.

Innovation through business, engineering and design is a 2-year master programme offered at Linnaeus University in Växjö. The programme offers three different specialisations and the language of tuition is English.

Application and portfolio

Portfolio Guidelines. MFA Innovation through Business, Engineering and Design – Specialisation design 120 ects, 2017

For your submitted portfolio to be deemed complete, it must consist of two components:
1. Representative work, including your degree project and its written report, if there is such. Please send the report as PDF in low resolution.
2. A letter of intent

1. Representative Work

Your portfolio should include a selection (12 pieces) of your most creative
work, and should represent a variety of design and art approaches and
outcomes. We encourage you to choose work that demonstrate the range
of your interests, also outside of your studies. Submit the 12 pieces on
our website, drexel.lnu.se/portfolio in PDF, TIFF or JPG-formats. You
can upload maximum 50 mb total.

In the upload form, enter a brief description of the work you upload.

2. Letter of intent

Besides your portfolio the Letter of Intent is an important part of the application –it gives you opportunity to present yourself and it gives us the opportunity to know your interests in advance. Write a short statement (max 2xA4) containing:

Name:
Application number:
Name of University at which you have studied for your BA degree:
Country you have studied for your undergraduate degree:

Answer then the following questions:

  • What is innovation for you?
  • What is your definition of design and what is the role of a designer in the future?
  • Why do you believe you would benefit from joining a multidisciplinary program?
  • What do you think you could contribute with?
  • What are your career ambitions immediately after graduating from the program?

Describe then shortly how you plan to achieve the goals of the program.
Describe your experiences concerning interdisciplinary development work/process.

Application Procedure and Deadlines

The application process consists of two steps:

Step 1

Apply to the programme online at www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish). Submissions of documentation attesting your eligibility for Master´s level study must be submitted here.

The following programme codes and deadlines apply:

  • For non EU/EEA students requiring a visa to study in Sweden:
    Please submit application to programme code LNU-F5201
    by 15 January 2017
  • For Swedish and other EU/EEA students not requiring a visa to study
    in Sweden: Please submit application to programme code LNU-52001 by 15 April 2017

Step 2

Submit your portfolio to Linnaeus University (LNU).
(please refer to pp. 3-4 of this document for instructions regarding portfolios)
The deadlines by which portfolios must be received by LNU are:
For non EU/EEA students requiring a visa to study in Sweden:
27 January 2017
For Swedish and other EU/EEA students not requiring a visa to study in Sweden: 28 April 2017

Acceptance to the programme

If you meet the eligibility criteria, your application will be accepted and
evaluated on the basis of your portfolio. Evaluation of portfolios is conducted by a selection committee consisting of faculty members, external experts, and current MFA students. The portfolio is regarded as a whole and the portfolio is evaluated in terms of the following criteria:

  • Artistic quality
  • Visualization skills
  • Creative approach

The university will not disclose the reasons behind the decision to accept or reject any individual application. Approved students will be notified through www.universityadmissions.se or www.antagning.se.
Finally attach a one page CV/resume to your Letter of Intent

The letter of intent will be evaluated in terms of:

  • Your approach to innovation
  • Your definition of design, your role as designer and the future challenges you see
  • Your capacity to describe your skills and how they might contribute in a multidisciplinary team
  • Your proficiency in expressing yourself in English

Submit your letter of intentions to our website in PDF, TIFF or JPG-format.

Checklist for Application

  • I have submitted my application through antagning.se or universityadmissions.se
  • I have prepared my portfolio according to the guidelines provided.
  • I have included a Letter of intent with my portfolio.
  • I have uploaded my portfolio on drexel.lnu.se/portfolio and made sure that all my files are included, and that I have submitted written descriptions of my uploaded files.

After submitting your application and portfolio you'll be contacted if you have been selected for interview. At the interview, we ask you to bring a hard copy of your portfolio. If you're an international or EU student who is unable to attend an interview in person, we may offer a telephone/
online interview.

Do you have any Questions?

If you have any questions regarding the application, portfolio, or other related issue don´t hesitate to inquire by e-mail to:
miguel.salinas@lnu.se

Information about the programme

IKEA's and Linnaeus University's collaboration programme The Bridge is a multidisciplinary education and research collaboration dealing with life at home and conditions of production. In simple words, the aim is to tie together a number of disciplines to create a better life at home for the many people. It deals partly with what fundamental needs we have and what furniture we need, but also with how production can be made as cheap and environmentally friendly as possible.

As a result of The Bridge, Linnaeus University has been able to establish an IKEA professorship, unique to the world. The research environment revolving around the subject area Life at Home is developed in collaboration with doctoral students. It is this research environment that makes it possible for Linnaeus University to establish the interdisciplinary master programme.

The master programme has an interdisciplinary perspective, combining engineering, business, and design. The programme enables students to learn from each other's knowledge and improves their ability to work with different projects and product development. The master programme is offered in close collaboration with a number of companies, IKEA being one of them.

Learning from other disciplines and cultures

"The program is formed by 15 students: six Designers, six Engineers and three students from Business. We all come from different countries; Sweden, Turkey, China, Iran, Italy, Kirghizstan, Bosnia and Colombia, which is where I come from.
As you can tell it is a very mixed group regarding disciplines, cultures, languages and professional backgrounds".

~Juliana Restrepo 

During this first semester we have been working in three different groups and three different modules have been finalized. It has given us experience and the possibility to analyze the advantages and difficulties of an interdisciplinary team work. The first module was really exciting when we got the opportunity to work with IKEA. Each group was assigned with a brief and the task was to develop a concept for them. We presented our ideas and progress every week, received feedback and delivered a final presentation. The second and third modules focused on Design and Engineering. We have been working with three local companies with a very different range of products. We have just started with the fourth module which focuses on Business. Focus groups and target costing will be used as tools for the development of our projects.

The program itself represents a great opportunity for us and all the people who is involved. Learning from other disciplines and cultures; new ways of working, thinking, planning and delivering results. The structure of the master program is in continuous development and has caused a bit of confusion among the students. However, it can also be seen as an opportunity for improvement, planning and future success of the program.

I am looking forward to work with IKEA again and to take on future challenges during the following semesters."

For more information click "Further official information" below.


This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

https://lnu.se/en/program/dain2/20162/f5201/

Similar Opportunities


Disciplines

Business

Design

Engineering

Innovative Technologies

Study Levels

Master’s

Eligible Countries

International

Host Countries

Sweden