The ECMI educational program in Industrial Mathematics
 
A dissemination workshop of the ECMIMIM Project
September 11, 2010

 
Via Saldini 50, 20133 Milano
Italy
This workshop is intended to present the international master programmes developed in the framework of the Erasmus Curriculum Development project ECMIMIM (ECMI Masters in Industrial Mathematics) and the international educational activities in Industrial Mathematics which take place inside the universities of the ECMI consortium (European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry).
The aim of the workshop is to stimulate the discussion between Industry and Academia to improve the educational programme, also by increasing the collaborations with Industry, via jointly supervised master theses, students industrial internships, modelling seminars, etc.
 
It is a side event of the ESSIM Summer School, which is a mandatory activity for the ECMIMIM students.
The purpose of ECMI industrial mathematics programmes is expressed by the mission statement of ECMI:
  • to promote the use of mathematical models in industry;
  • to educate industrial mathematicians to meet the growing demand for such experts;
  • to operate on a European scale.
The main instruments in obtaining these goals are collaboration on the development of course curricula in mathematical disciplines relevant for applications in industry and commerce.

Contents

  1. 1 The ECMI Educational Programmes
  2. 2 The ECMIMIM Educational Programme 
  3. 3 Local Organizing Committee
  4. 4 Programme

The ECMI Educational Programmes

Various implementations of industrial mathematics programmes are available at the ECMI partner universities. Typically the programmes consists of a two year master programme (120 ECTS – laurea magistrale) which can be entered after a bachelor degree in mathematics or applied mathematics. Other educational backgrounds can qualify for entry but should be based on a minimum of three year undergraduate study at university level. The students can choose between two lines of study, the first one is techno-mathematics and the second one is econo-mathematics. 
  • Technomathematics covers subjects related to modelling of technical subjects as encountered in mechanics, pharmacy, electronics, chemistry, physics, bioengineering, civil engineering, etc. 
  • Economathematics on the other hand deals with problems like e.g. planning and scheduling, operation analysis, quality control, statistics, distribution management, financial decision processes and data communication.

Both programmes are running at the Universita' degli Studi di Milano, where students are trained also using modern software instruments for Statistics and Scientific Computing, like SAS, Matlab, MPI, etc.

The ECMI partner universities offer industrial mathematics programmes which typically include the following elements
  • a mandatory common course work for one or both of the two lines of study, techno-mathematics and econo-mathematics;
  • an individual selection of special topics;
  • practical training in mathematical modelling, organized in regular modelling seminars, and participation in one ECMI international Modelling Week; 
  • a master thesis project involving a real industrial problem, preferably carried out in an interdisciplinary environment involving participants from industry; 
  • a student exchange programme requiring each ECMI student to spend a period at another participating university or do a final master thesis project abroad;
  • team working, cooperation, communication with and presentations for mathematicians and engineers;
  • the master programme is international. The education is given in English.
ECMI provides a certificate to all the students who fulfil the requirements of the educational programme.

The ECMIMIM Educational Programme 

The ECMI Masters in Industrial Mathematics (ECMIMIM) project is an Erasmus - Curriculum Development grant, joining some of the ECMI centers. The main aims of the project are:
  • creation of a Model Curriculum with best practical solutions in Industrial Mathematics for the European MS programmes in Industrial Mathematics with the leitmotiv of exposing the students to real world problems in industry;
  • implementation of new integrated local European Masters in Industrial Mathematics on the basis of a Model Curriculum and leading to recognise double degrees to the students. Note that some couples of universities (Milan-Madrid, Milan-Lappeenranta, Lund-Dresden) have signed agreements to issue a double degree to their students who spend one year in each of the two partner universities.
  • creation of MS special courses shared among the Partners; creation of pilot e-courses to be disseminated via web. These courses will cover those special topics in which each Partner is expert and together will cover extensive areas of applications;
  • creation of a European Summer School in Industrial Mathematics, the ESSIM Summer School, with participation of industry and Study Groups open to students;
The ECMIMIM Consortium has been set up on the basis of the universities participating in the ECMI consortium and acts as Pilot Group. Two types of universities participate: 
  1. those already running an IM Master program and participating in common activities, and 
  2. those planning to implement such a program in the near future. 
The ECMIMIM partners are: Technische Universität Dresden (DE, Germany), Tartu Ülikool (EE, Estonia), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (ES, Spain), Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (ES, Spain), Lappeenrannan Teknillinen Yliopisto (FI, Finland), Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris (FR, France), Università degli Studi di Milano (IT, Italy), Lund University (SE, Sweden), University of Oxford (UK). The project coordinator is J. M. Gambi (U. Carlos III).
 
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Local Organizing Committee

Dr. Giacomo Aletti
Dr. Paola Causin

Contact address: alessandra.micheletti@unimi.it

Programme

8:30 – 9:00  Registration
9:00 – 13:30:  Presentation of the Modelling Week: results of the modelling
13:30 – 14:30: lunch
14:30 – 15:30: presentation of the ECMI and ECMIMIM international master programmes:
        presentation of ECMI and of the ECMI educational programme -  Magnus Fontes, Lund University
        presentation the ECMIMIM project  - Jose' Maria Gambi - University Carlos III Madrid
        presentation of the ECMIMIM double degrees - Alessandra Micheletti, Università degli Studi di Milano
                                                                            Antje Noack, Technical University of Dresden
15:30 – 16:00: coffee break
16:00 – 17:30: Discussion Arena. Perspectives, new ideas and challenges in Educational Programmes in Industrial and Applied Mathematics