The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Technische Universität Ilmenau stands for quality and sustainability in research and teaching - as certified by the Faculty Association for Mechanical and Process Engineering (FTMV) with its seal of approval. The FTMV, an association of Faculties, Departments or Divisions of Mechanical Engineering or Process Engineering at universities and technical universities in German-speaking countries, certifies that TU Ilmenau has excellent quality standards in teaching, research and organization in Mechanical Engineering. The seal of approval will be awarded to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Ilmenau for the period 2025 to 2026.
Mechanical Engineering is an engineering sciences that deals with the planning, development, manufacture and operation of machines, plants and systems. It combines the fundamentals of natural sciences and engineering sciences in an interdisciplinary way to design products, processes and cycles efficiently, safely, sustainably and economically. By developing new technologies and products, engineers make an important contribution to solving social problems, in particular the necessary change in the way we deal with nature and the environment.
At TU Ilmenau, teaching and research in mechanical engineering are outstanding and the department is well organized - as attested by the seal of approval from the Faculty of Mechanical and Process Engineering at TU Ilmenau. The requirements for being awarded the seal of approval are high. In an extensive evaluation process, the research and teaching quality of the Department of Mechanical Engineering was assessed on the basis of numerous key figures: Research performance - for example, the number of scientific publications and patents, third-party funding, i.e. money raised by the department outside of basic public funding, and international collaborations -, the faculty's human and financial resources, junior researchers and the proportion of female academic staff. Teaching organization, the qualifications of teaching staff, the scope and structure of the courses offered, student numbers and diversity as well as the average duration of studies were assessed.
Mechanical engineering research at the TU Ilmenau
The TU Ilmenau conducts mechanical engineering research at the highest level. The seal of approval from the Faculty Association for Mechanical and Process Engineering recognizes that the researchers have access to very good resources, are internationally networked, have published numerous scientific publications and applied for twelve patents in 2024 alone. The acquisition of third-party funding per professor was also rated positively.
Teaching mechanical engineering at the TU Ilmenau
TU Ilmenau offers three Bachelor's and three Master's degree programs in mechanical engineering: Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics and Automotive Engineering. Students learn the basics of the conception and design of products and processes, production processes, quality management and the realization of future-oriented, sustainable cycles. In order to develop skills in solving specific problems, they learn to apply their knowledge in current research projects at an early stage. The faculty offers very special support to first-year students on the mechanical engineering course: During the first two semesters, they are supported by student mentors and orientation offers help them to organize and individually design their studies, tackle semesters abroad and find internships.
The FTMV seal of approval recognizes in particular that the university ensures excellent quality in teaching, that the overall conditions for successful study are very good, that the staff and student structure enables very good support and that the fulfillment of these quality requirements is certified.
Organization of the Mechanical Engineering department at TU Ilmenau
In order to receive the seal of approval, it is also necessary that the mechanical engineering department at the respective university is well organized. The organizational criteria of the FTMV seal of approval include: complete coverage of the framework curriculum, i.e. that the objectives, content and skills that students are to acquire are defined; the use of professors with proven expertise and research activities in the basic lectures; a controlled use of external lecturers; an appropriate scope of the courses offered; clear admission regulations and efficient study organization.
The Dean of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Ilmenau, Professor Thomas Sattel, sees the award of the seal of approval as recognition of the work of his faculty. "The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering stands for internationally recognized research in precision and production technologies as well as production systems and products. We also occupy leading positions in the research and development of nanopositioning and measuring machines, 3D nanofabrication with macroscopic device technologies or in the analysis of turbulent flows using quantum algorithms and AI. Strict organizational criteria enable us to offer future-oriented, scientifically sound courses of study with very good studyability."
Contact
Prof. Ulf Kletzin
Head of Machine Elements and representative of TU Ilmenau in the FTMV e. V.
+49 3677 69-2471
ulf.kletzin@tu-ilmenau.de
