Gorka Sánchez, the director academic of the MII in Madrid hopes that many young recent graduates who have a vocation to work in the industrial field will enroll in the postgraduate course offered by Tecnun-University of Navarra in the capital city starting next year.

Why will Tecnun offer a postgraduate course in Madrid from the next academic year onwards?

The University of Navarra has launched this year the new campus graduate program in Madrid and is already offering several Master's programs. The campus in Madrid is one of the fundamental projects of the University's Horizon 2020 Plan, with which it wants to facilitate access to its educational offerings to a greater number of people issue . Tecnun The University of Navarra will actively participate in the project and plans to develop several graduate programs in engineering at the Madrid campus. We are going to start by offering Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering, which qualifies students to practice the profession of Industrial Engineer.

And what is the reason why the first master's degree chosen to land in Madrid is Industrial Engineering?

Tecnun-The University of Navarra has more than 50 years of experience in the training of industrial engineers. We are several thousand industrial engineers who have been trained at Tecnun-University of Navarra and we are developing our professional work in different areas and places. For this reason, Tecnun-University of Navarra is recognized above all for training industrial engineers with a great capacity for work and adaptation. Moreover, the Master in Industrial Engineering that we have been teaching in San Sebastian since the establishment of the European Higher Education Area Education (Bologna) has reinforced this profile, providing students with professional skills that we know are in great demand by companies. The master's degree at campus in Madrid will provide students with these same skills and will provide them with a professional profile that will be highly valued in business ecosystems as different as those of Madrid and the Basque Country.

In any case, the master is also still maintained on the campus of SS, isn't it?

Yes, of course. It could not be otherwise. Our students from Degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering and many students from other Degrees of the industrial branch want to study the Master in Industrial Engineering because they know that they will receive an excellent training and they will have several job offers from companies once they finish it. It is currently one of the masters with the highest issue of students at the University. For this reason, we will continue to teach the master's degree at campus in San Sebastian and we are sure that the experience we will gain from teaching it also at campus in Madrid, collaborating with many leading companies, will enrich us professors and will allow us to improve it even more.

Will the teachers be the same?

Most of the professors who teach the master's degree at campus in San Sebastian will also teach it at campus in Madrid. However, in Madrid we will reinforce the participation of collaborating companies and in all the subjects we will have professionals who will contribute their experience by giving sessions, conferences or proposing projects of a markedly industrial nature that the students will develop in teams. Many of the companies that will collaborate in the master's degree at campus in Madrid are driving forces or are working in the field of the digital transformation of companies, known in Europe as Industry 4.0. Incorporating professionals from these companies in the teaching plans of the subjects will allow us to deepen the approach towards technological innovation that the master's degree has.

To which subject students is this master's degree addressed?

In Madrid, the master's degree is aimed at graduates in Industrial Technologies Engineering. We hope that many young recent graduates who have a vocation to work in the industrial field, in innovative companies, participating in - or even leading - the digital transformation process that companies are going to undertake, will find our Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering to be the most suitable for developing the professional and transversal skills they will need to do so.

What differences will there be between the Master's in San Sebastian and the one in Madrid?

The work methodology that we will use in the master's program at campus in Madrid is the same that we have been using at campus in San Sebastian. Certainly, the fact that we have some collaborating companies in Madrid that are different from the ones we have in San Sebastian will cause some occasional differences in the teaching plans of some subjects. However, we will be very scrupulous in ensuring that the competencies that our students have to develop are guaranteed.

Students from campus in Madrid will receive specialized training at module in Industrial Management, in which the prestigious IESE business school is involved. They will also spend a week in San Sebastian for internships and company visits. At final, the aim is to give them a close-up look at the Basque Country's industrial ecosystem, especially in the area most closely linked to innovation.

What will be the working method?

We are going to use the same methodology that we have been using at Campus in San Sebastian. It is a methodology that is oriented to help students develop the technical and transversal competencies that are most in demand by companies.

In order to develop technical skills, we have an organization of the subjects that favors the students to carry out entity projects working in teams. To this end, the master's degree is divided into 4 modules of 3 subjects, each of which is developed over a two-month period. Each teaching day is dedicated to work on a single subject, combining lectures, practicals and guided work on the projects. To improve the skills related to teamwork, students receive specialized training provided by experts in development and team management.

On the other hand, the transversal competencies are worked on in a specific way through tutorial, which is a hallmark of the University of Navarra. Each student of the master's program has an assigned professor who acts as mentor and is willing to actively help you in whatever you need. We have created a program of development of competencies with a Web support (Tu&Co) in which the student and its advisor have material to evaluate the transversal competencies of the student and to be able to reinforce those that they think are more important.

Why would you recommend students to do the Master's in Madrid?

I would recommend it because doing our Master in Industrial Engineering will provide you with a differential profile with a great added value. They will receive a solid technical training and will have a global vision of the technologies and innovative methodologies that are transforming the different industrial sectors. From the experience we have at campus in San Sebastian, we are sure that they will acquire the necessary skills to be able to lead this transformation.