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SUMA Masters
in Sustainible Materials

HOW TO APPLY

Your Impact

Making today a better tomorrow

The SUMA Master programmes aim to train tomorrow’s industrial engineers in collaborative work in a global world and gather some of the best educational programmes in the field of sustainable materials engineering in Europe.

They stimulate innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership and focus on circular (eco)design, materials substitution, life cycle engineering and circular economy design, materials processing and recycling, manufacturing, and innovation. They involve studies in two different institutions, an internship in a company and a master thesis in collaboration with a company.

The SUMA Master programs aim to educate tomorrow’s materials engineers with:

  • Up-to-date technical skills and state-of-the-art technological knowledge
  • An entrepreneurial mindset focused on the sustainability of industrial activities.

The SUMA Master programs aim to educate tomorrow’s materials engineers with:

  • materials recycling and upcycling
  • industrial waste valorization
  • assessment of environmental impact and reduction of environmental foot-print of various processes and technologies from materials and metals industry
  • life cycle analysis of industrial products and consumer goods
  • energy production, storage and reduction of energy use
  • minimizing environmental pollution
  • saving natural resources for future generations
Forge a Career in Raw Materials

Former and current SUMA students impact

  • Up-to-date technical skills and state-of-the-art technological knowledge
  • An entrepreneurial mindset focused on the sustainability of industrial activities.

Lab research areas

  • Recycling of nafion membranes from membrane electrode assemblies
  • Use of additive and classical manufacturing techniques to reduce the environmental impact during re-manufacturing
  • NiMeH batteries: Literature review of LCA and collection rate calculation

Master thesis topics

  • Study of the assembly of wire diamond tools with numerical simulations and optical dilatometry
  • Reduction of the energy consumption of an electrolysis cell
  • Formulation and characterisation of polymeric ion exchange membrane for energy storage applications

Overview

The details

When

10 – 12 September 2018

Where

10 – 12 September 2018

Organisation

Novotel Leuven (Vuurkruisenlaan 4,
3000 Leuven – Belgium)

Co-organisation

Novotel Leuven (Vuurkruisenlaan 4,
3000 Leuven – Belgium)

Get your 2019 Summer school prospectus here

SUMA Master's Programme

The Sustainable Materials Master Programmes are two-year courses embedded in the engineering programmes of the participating universities (120 ECTS). They combine a high level of expertise in materials with competencies in sustainable materials engineering and sustainability to educate responsible materials-orientated entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders for the future.

Structure

The backbone of the Master programmes is a solid, technical basis broadly covering aspects of materials and processing, sustainability and recycling, circular (eco)design and lifecycle engineering, materials substitution and manufacturing (60 ECTS). This is completed with courses on entrepreneurship and innovation (30 ECTS), an internship (6 ECTS), and the Master thesis (24 ECTS). The internship and thesis are positioned in companies strongly related to the field of sustainable and raw materials.

Various Options

Five partner universities offer ten different tracks. Each track of the Master programmes on Sustainable Materials consists of one full year at an entry university, followed by a year in one of the other participating universities. All courses are taught in English. Depending on their background, some students might be invited to follow additional preparatory courses.

Each track has been granted the EIT-label, fostering students to become more creative, innovative and entrepreneurs. Thanks to this EIT Label, students are entitled to a student enhancement allowance.

Programme Paths

Explore where and what you can study

Programme tracks overview

Select your first year

KU Leuven
Montanuniversitaet Leoben
U. Trento
UNIMIB

Select your second year

INP Grenoble
KU Leuven
Montanuniversitaet Leoben
U. Trento
UNIMIB

KU Leuven – INP Grenoble

Curriculum

The first year at Leuven is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the general basic knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques, materials modelling and materials processing. The students are interacting with industrial partners through company visits and lab sessions.
The second year in Grenoble aims, apart from optimization skills, to give students the complete and big picture of the field “sustainable materials management” with technical knowledge but also economical, organisational and managerial knowledge. It gives students a profound education in the field of sustainable industrial engineering particularly with regards to material efficiency (recycling, reuse, additive manufacturing, product design) and new value chains (reverse logistics, supply chain, economics, processes performance). In Grenoble the students will specialize in sustainability and industrial engineering, and will be able to make sustainable decisions on industrial value chains or on specific new technologies/processes regarding the materials value chain.

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U. Trento – INP Grenoble

Curriculum

The first year at Trento is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the general basic knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques and mechanical design.
The second year in Grenoble aims, apart from optimisation skills, to give students the complete and big picture of the field “sustainable materials management” with technical knowledge but also economical, organisational and managerial knowledge. It gives students a profound education in the field of sustainable industrial engineering particularly with regards to material efficiency (recycling, reuse, additive manufacturing, product design) and new value chains (reverse logistics, supply chain, economics, processes performance). In Grenoble the students will specialise in sustainability and industrial engineering, and will be able to make sustainable decisions on industrial value chains or on specific new technologies/processes regarding the materials value chain.

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UNIMIB – INP Grenoble

Curriculum

The first year at Milano-Bicocca is based on mandatory courses characterized by three aims. i) Advanced knowledge in the physics and chemistry of materials. Aim of this part of the programme is the acquisition of a general scheme for the interpretation and the design of function vs. structure relationships in a wide class of materials. ii) Acquisition of competences in experimental techniques of material characterization and synthesis, with activities in experimental laboratories interacting with research groups at the Department of Materials Science. iii) Specific classes of materials and function-related structures, giving also a basis for understanding the strategy for a sustainable technology.
The second year in Grenoble aims, apart from optimisation skills, to give students the complete and big picture of the field “sustainable materials management” with technical knowledge but also economical, organisational and managerial knowledge. It gives students a profound education in the field of sustainable industrial engineering particularly with regards to material efficiency (recycling, reuse, additive manufacturing, product design) and new value chains (reverse logistics, supply chain, economics, processes performance). In Grenoble the students will specialise in sustainability and industrial engineering, and will be able to make sustainable decisions on industrial value chains or on specific new technologies/processes regarding the materials value chain.The table with ID 5 not exists.

KU Leuven - Montanuniversitaet Leoben

Curriculum

The first year at Leuven is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the generalbase knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques, materials modelling and materials processing. The students are interacting with industrial partners through company visits and lab sessions.
The second year at Montanuniversitaet Leoben has a strong focus on process- and business management as well as economics, building the base for an entrepreneurial mind-set and leadership skills. This is complemented by product development, production planning and logistics courses (innovation and sustainability). The master thesis and compulsory internship establish supplementary ties to industry.

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U. Trento - Montanuniversitaet Leoben

Curriculum

The first year at Trento is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the general basic knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques and mechanical design.
The second year at Montanuniversitaet Leoben has a strong focus on process- and business management as well as economics, building the base for an entrepreneurial mind-set and leadership skills. This is complemented by product development, production planning and logistics courses (innovation and sustainability). The master thesis and compulsory internship establish supplementary ties to industry.The table with ID 6 not exists.

KU Leuven – U. Trento

Curriculum

The first year at Leuven is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the generalbase knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques, materials modelling and materials processing. The students are interacting with industrial partners through company visits and lab sessions.
The second year at Trento is based on the curriculum of Industrial Processes Management and Optimization. This curriculum is characterized by a set of disciplines crossing the fields of Operations Research and Industrial Management aimed at building useful skills for an efficient management of manufacturing processes and optimization of materials, considering all aspects, i.e., scientific, technological, economic and organizational. For the achievement of such skills special emphasis is devoted to models and methods of mathematical and reticular programming, systems for the simulation and management of tails, decisions and quality control supporting systems, informative systems for logistics and production. The final goal is to build a Materials Engineer combining good technical skills (acquired during the first year at KU Leuven) and well developed entrepreneurial attitudes to successfully drive innovation in large companies and SMEs.

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KU Leuven - UNIMIB

Curriculum

The first year at Leuven is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the generalbase knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques, materials modelling and materials processing. The students are interacting with industrial partners through company visits and lab sessions.
The second year at Milano-Bicocca comprises various courses on entrepreneurship and industrial aspects in the area of materials science – including nanotechnology, composites, microelectronics, and molecular materials – which may be composed in a personalized programme through mandatory and elective courses. Then, a relevant number of credits are devoted to the research activity of master Thesis and internship in close connection with research groups and industrial partners, putting the student in contact with cutting-edge research topics and up-to-date methods of investigation. The full immersion in team activities within research groups and international networks stimulates specific awareness for managing research, applications, and curiosity for new problems and ideas. Additional activities regard seminars of experts from industry on management and innovation topics, besides laboratories of scientific language, and an Italian language laboratory (together with a wide cultural proposal on transversal competences) for an optimal integration of incoming foreign students.

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Montanuniversitaet Leoben - KU Leuven

Curriculum

The first year at Montanuniversitaet Leoben is mostly based on compulsory technical courses giving students the basic knowledge on characterization techniques, classes of materials (building materials, ceramics, and metals), material processing and recycling complemented by simulation and modelling courses.
The second year at Leuven has a strong focus on science based knowledge generation as a basis for innovation (master thesis), exposure to industry (through thesis and internship) and modules aiming at developing an innovative and entrepreneurial mind-set as well as leadership values.The table with ID 7 not exists.

U. Trento – KU Leuven

Curriculum

The first year at Trento is mostly based on compulsory technical courses aimed at giving the general basic knowledge of materials science and engineering. Courses focus on different classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, composites), jointly with courses on materials properties and characterization techniques and mechanical design.
The second year at Leuven has a strong focus on science based knowledge generation as a basis for innovation (master thesis), exposure to industry (through thesis and internship) and modules aiming at developing an innovative and entrepreneurial mind-set as well as leadership values.

WordPress Tables Plugin

UNIMIB – KU Leuven

Curriculum

The first year at Milano-Bicocca is based on mandatory courses characterized by three aims. i) Advanced knowledge in the physics and chemistry of materials. Aim of this part of the programme is the acquisition of a general scheme for the interpretation and the design of function vs. structure relationships in a wide class of materials. ii) Acquisition of competences in experimental techniques of material characterization and synthesis, with activities in experimental laboratories interacting with research groups at the Department of Materials Science. iii) Specific classes of materials and function-related structures, giving also a basis for understanding the strategy for a sustainable technology.
The second year at Leuven has a strong focus on science based knowledge generation as a basis for innovation (master thesis), exposure to industry (through thesis and internship) and modules aiming at developing an innovative and entrepreneurial mind-set as well as leadership values.The table with ID 4 not exists.

Explore where and what you can study

Select your first year programme path, then the second year to find out more about the curriculum. You can find more information about the individual courses by slectng the information icon for each univeristy.

2nd year of study

Summer School on circular econemy

Choose your 1st year of study

Your combined programme sylabus for

KU Leuven and INP Grenoble

1st Year

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2nd Year

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Course title KU Leuven Semester1 Semester2 INP Grenoble Semester1 Semester2
Mandatory core courses (39 credits) #of ECTS CREDITS
6
6
6
6
3
3
3
Mandatory courses for students 2nd year at INPG (15 credits)
6
6
6
Electives (6 credits)
6
Mandatory package Design (9 credits)
3
3
Mandatory package Sustainability, Enterpreneurship & Innovation (15 credits)
3
3
3
Total credits to minimum of 120 ETC

Download your programme sylabus here

DOWNLOAD

Download your programme sylabus here

DOWNLOAD

Entry Requirements

Students are selected and admitted to the programme and track, based on their academic results, prerequisite requirements, motivation and language skills. They must demonstrate an excellent command of spoken and written English. Candidates must meet the admission criteria of the Master’s Degree Programmes of both partner institutions of a track. The admission of students is always subject to final approval by the partner institutions involved in the track as they must meet the admission criteria of the Master’s Degree Programmes of both partner institution of a track.

All students should have

Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Engineering or equivalent. Candidates must have obtained* a BSc diploma (or equivalent) of substantial quality and level corresponding to at least 3 years studies at a university, equivalent to 180 ECTS.

English proficiency: the minimum for the SUMA master programmes is a TOEFL score of 86, with a minimum 20 on both speaking and writing, or an IELTS score of 6.5, with minimum 6.0 on both speaking and writing for non-EEA students who are no native speakers.

Some universities might have higher requirements (at KU Leuven, a TOEFL of minimally 94 or an IELTS of minimally 7 is required). You can chose between TOEFL or IETLS, both are accepted.

Students participating in the Dual Master’s Degree tracks will be entitled to participate in any introductory programme, including language courses, that may customarily be arranged for international students at the host institution.

To be admissible for the second year of a Dual Master’s Degree track, the student must have completed a minimum of 48 ECTS. In case if this minimum is not reached, the student can continue within the regular Master’s Degree programme at the entry institution, but not in the Dual Master’s track.

* obtained the Bachelor diploma, or demonstrate that they are less than 40 ECTS away of obtaining the BSc diploma. Depending on their background, some students might be invited to follow additional preparatory courses.

Funding and Scholarships

Scholarships

Because of the fact that the SUMA Master Programmes are EIT Labeled, we are able to support all enrolled students with an ‘Added value student activities grant’ (AVSA grant) and a ‘Travel and Subsistence Allowance’ (TSA). For students starting in September 2018, the AVSA equals 9.000 EUR (4.500 EUR per year) and is paid immediately to the student; the TSA is of 4500€ (2250€ per year) and covers travel and subsistence costs for mandatory components of the programme (summer schools, exchanges, internships etc.). Please note that the TSA allowance is not directly paid to the students.

EIT Raw Materials determines the payment modalities of these scholarships.

Living Costs

students are responsible for covering living costs during their stay, including accommodation, equipment, consumables, health and travel insurance, third party liability insurance, student union fee where applicable.

Accommodation

Each partner institution will render assistance to incoming students in finding appropriate accommodation for the duration of their studies at the institution.

An academic and administrative representative for the Dual Master’s Degree tracks is present at each institution. He/she is responsible to provide advisory, academic and administrative services to selected students.

Prerequisites for the mobility include that the student has successfully completed a sufficient number of credits at the entry partner institution. During the mobility, students are responsible for covering the travel costs to the host country and living costs during their stay, including accommodation, equipment, consumables, health and travel insurance, third party liability insurance, student union fee where applicable.

How to Apply

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Fusce vehicula dolor arcu, sit amet blandit dolor mollis nec. Donec viverra eleifend lacus, vitae ullamcorper metus. Sed sollicitudin ipsum quis nunc sollicitudin ultri..

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Fusce vehicula dolor arcu, sit amet blandit dolor mollis nec. Donec viverra eleifend lacus, vitae ullamcorper metus. Sed sollicitudin ipsum quis nunc sollicitudin ultri.

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