From the second year of study onwards, you have the opportunity to acquire specific specialist skills by choosing a specialization and thus develop your individual professional profile.
In all three specializations, great emphasis is also placed on the economy and business side in order to acquire appropriate management and marketing skills.
In times of internationalization, it is becoming more and more important to know foreign languages. Therefore the FH provides courses in a second foreign language next to English. Here the students can choose between Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish or French. The second foreign language courses start already at the first semester and will go on until the fifth. English on the other hand will take from the first semester until the end of the bachelor studies, for the simple reason that nowadays English is required everywhere.
In the following paragraphs the three deepening fields will be described.
Forest Products Technology
In this specialisation, you will deal with the principles and technologies of a future-oriented, bio-based circular economy with a special focus on the wood industry. You will acquire knowledge of wood products and their markets, learn about current technologies for production and processing, and deal with questions of raw material supply and environmental protection.
The scope of the program ranges from the timber industry to the sawmill, panel, furniture and construction industries, to sustainable biorefineries of the future. Practical skills are also taught in the course of laboratory and workshop work as well as company visits, which prepare students for both classic and innovative areas (e.g. materials research, residue processing and materials production) of the wood industry.
Special consideration is given to closing material cycles: The use of sustainable, biogenic raw materials from agriculture and forestry is to be increased in terms of possible areas of application. Future issues will be addressed by interdisciplinary and international project teams with a high degree of practical relevance and in academic discussion.
The comprehensive education will enable the students to work in different areas of the wood industry, but also to develop and implement new business models Europe-wide and worldwide.
Timber Constructions
In this specialisation, you will learn about relevant requirements for buildings and will be able to deal with design, technical and economic issues relating to the development, planning (including (pre-)dimensioning and building physics requirements) and construction (production and assembly) of buildings and generate solutions. The boundaries to architecture are fluid - e.g. you know all the requirements for submission planning including energy performance certificate and passive house planning.
In addition, you will acquire skills in the areas of statics and structural engineering, manufacturing processes in the construction industry, in project implementation and construction management and execution, as well as in basic renovation methods for existing structures. In order to be able to plan, organize and coordinate the production and edification of structures, you will acquire skills and knowledge in the area of project management and project control.
Parallel to the theoretical basics, you will learn to apply your acquired knowledge in projects with real tasks. You will be accompanied by experts from the field, such as architects, civil engineers and timber construction specialists.
Furniture Design and Interior Architecture
The core competencies of this specialisation lie in the areas of conception, design and planning of intelligent spaces. It is about resource-efficient design in the intersection of social, economic and ecological frameworks.
You will acquire skills to address issues of furniture construction and interior design in proportions, surface and detail. Open and willing to experiment in academic discourse, cultural added value and entrepreneurial benefits are developed in an inspiring working and research environment.
The learned processes of planning and production of all elements of interior design are practiced in the internship and tested on real project tasks at the state of the art. Access to experts from the trades, crafts and industry, specialized excursions to companies in the sector and international workshops form the basis for your individual career.
Ultimately, you will acquire all the necessary skills to also perform an important interface function between materials technology and wood construction along the value chain of furniture construction and interior design.