The lecture series includes vital issues in the development and implementation of a new product in the technology industry, such as "Why is it necessary to develop a new product? What should it be like?", "How are development projects managed and products designed and controlled?" "How is a new product introduced into a mass production environment?" "How is production managed and developed?".

Primarily, master's students from the engineering faculties are expected to choose this course. Still, all other students from both bachelor's and doctoral studies in all specialties and faculties are more than welcome to attend the lecture series. There are no prerequisites for attending the course. Theoretically, those interested outside TalTech can also follow the classes via Facebook. The lectures take place as a hybrid study, i.e., a maximum of 25 students can be physically present on-site in the room NRG-226; the rest have the opportunity to join via the web. Lectures are in English.

Lauri Kalm, one of the lecture series initiators, ABB Drives Estonia Line Manager, shares more details.

How would you, as a student, have benefited from such a course?
It would have been fascinating to see how a large company's activities take place and how to apply what I have learned at school in everyday working life and what subjects are useful. It would undoubtedly have found connections between the theoretical background learned at school and the practical output.

What is the main reason why a student could take this substance?
The subject is practical. Our employees introduce their daily work and, at the same time, explain theoretical concepts based on real examples. Some of the truths that may have been a little confused on the school bench should now be clarified. The course of the substance is logical and universal - we share examples of different product types. The student should finally have a pretty good understanding of how product development works in general.

What is the logic behind the syllabus?
ABB has different models to follow when it comes to developing a new product - we also took one such example when we started to "build" the content of a substance. The lecture sequence follows the ABB "Flow" model, which we have, of course, slightly adapted to bring together 13 subject programs. We tried to structure the program in such a way that it would be as understandable as possible for the students and at the same time attractive.

The lectures already seem promising based on the titles, but what is exciting to hear about them?
There are many exciting things. You can hear about project management, software development, the use of the finite element method (FEM), choosing the production line concept, robots, and much more. The first and third lectures introduce, for example, tricks on how a student can make their daily school life more efficient. Finally, the ninth lecture reveals where in real life, the benefits of seemingly tedious mathematical analysis and probability theory are useful.

What are the differences between a particular substance and all other substances?
This subject is a fresh breeze in the curriculum, a good change in terms of its practicality. Moreover, most lecturers are TalTech alumni who introduce how solving problems in the labor market could look like in simple language.

What is the substance evaluation method?
Out of 13 lectures, a student must "attend" ten lectures and pass intermediate tests. The final grade is formed based on intermediate tests or a final exam. The grade forms according to the collected points, similarly as for other courses. This time, students get attendances both for the auditorium and virtual lecture visits.

Students who scored less than 31 points on the intermediate tests but have attended at least ten lectures or who wish to improve the result have the opportunity to take a final exam with 30 questions. The subject is worth 3 EAPS, there is no homework, and at the end of the course, the student receives a grade according to the collected points.

What do lecturers expect from students taking the subject?
We expect enthusiasm in students' eyes, sincere interest, and thinking along. But of course, we also accept all the "sleepers" and "smartphone addicts" into the so-called eighth row because we also remember how nice it was to sit there.

More information here.

Register through the study information system ÕIS; the subject code is EEX5010.