Digital process engineering

A new study program of graduate academic master studies, Digital Process Engineering (DPE) was introduced due to the requirements of the modern society, economy and process industry, which increasingly use information technologies and advantages offered by digitization. Digital Process Engineering is designed to be attended by engineers of technology from different study programs, as well as other engineering disciplines.

What is Digital Process Engineering?

In the previous decades, an increasing number of chemical, biochemical, metallurgical and other process engineers used more intensively numerical and optimization methods, programming languages and software applications in their work with the aim of resolving process industry issues at several levels - from devices and units, through processes and facilities to the entire enterprise operations. With time, these activities, both in the field of research and in the engineering practice, formed a separate sub-area of chemical and process engineering - Process System Engineering. Today, this field is more frequently studied as a separate program at the master level at universities worldwide, taking into account the specific features of integral and interdisciplinary approach, and the requirements of the society and economy (Industry 4.0 etc.). In the past few years, this field has rapidly developed towards the use of artificial intelligence and big data manipulation for the requirements of process industries. Because of the introduction of new directions of development, this study program is called Digital Process Engineering, the name and curriculum which has been pioneered by the Faculty.

By using the knowledge acquired in the bachelor academic studies at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy or other engineering schools, while also acquiring new knowledge and skills from information technologies in the DPE program, future engineers will be able to contribute to the resolution of great challenges to the society and environment (climate change, exhaustion of natural resources, excessive pollution of the environment, pressure on biodiversity, huge consumption of products etc.) and to participate in transition towards sustainable development and circular economy, as the basic goals of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy.

Where are master engineers of technology – engineers for digital process systems – employed?

Chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, metallurgical and food industries and environmental protection are industries that most commonly employ engineers educated at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, including those from DPE program. The program offers students, after the completion of their studies, the opportunities to run digitization processes in business and industrial environments and to cooperate more efficiently with software engineers and multidisciplinary teams. In addition, the study program offers the theoretical and practical basis to graduate students in their further training and orientation, both in smaller innovative enterprises (tech start-ups). In such environments, engineers with completed DPE will be able to conceive digital systems and software, and particularly their business logic (and architecture), and to give them a domain context, as well as the content to data bases in the field of technology, while understanding the basics of information technologies, algorithms and numerical methods.

Digital Process Engineering at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy

Master academic studies are designed as the continuation of education after basic academic studies, primarily for students from the study program Chemical Engineering, but also from other technological and engineering programs. DPE master study program is aimed at educating engineers of technology for performing jobs of digital designing and operating process facilities, process optimization and simulation, energy and material process integration, process intensification, the use of intelligent systems etc. In addition, they will be able to direct themselves towards managing jobs, both in the process and product development and in enterprise operations: optimization of supply chains  and flow of materials, resource management, and even in marketing, through the use of digital technologies and software.

The program predominantly covers practical instruction and students' independent work at computers through the use of modern programming languages (e.g. Python), the library of numerical methods, as well as specialized software packages. The professional practice is organized in digital and development departments of process industry companies and also in ICT companies and innovative firms.

Curriculum

	Code	Subject	Semester	Status	Lessons			Other	ECTS
					L	P	Lab
1	22MM2	Mathematical Programming	1	M	3	0	0	0	5
2	22MOP	Process Optimization	1	M	1	0	3	0	5
3		Elective block 1 (classes are selected to make ECTS sum equal 8)	1	E					8
4		Elective block 2 (classes are selected to make ECTS sum equal 8)	1	E					8
5	22MSP1	Vocational Practice	1	M	0	0	0	6	3
6	22DPMZRSIR	Master Thesis – research	2	M					21
7	22DPMZRIO	Master Thesis	2	M					10
Elective block 1 (classes are selected to make ECTS sum equal 8) (Back to top)
1	22MVMS	*Multidimensional Models and Simulation	1	E	1	0	3	0	4
2	22MDMSPI	*Digital Measurements and Signals in Process Engineering	1	E	2	0	2	0	4
	22MDPPP	*Digital Chemical Process and Plant Design	1	E	1	0	3	0	4
3	22MIR	*Industrial Reactors	1	E	2	2	0	0	4
Elective block 2 (classes are selected to make ECTS sum equal 8) (Back to top)
1	22MOIS	*Intelligent Systems Fundamentals	1	E	2	0	2	0	4
2	22MIMTP	*Material Flows Integration as a Part of Circular Economy Concept	1	E	1	2	1	0	4
3	22MEIP	*Heat Integration	1	E	2	0	1	0	4
4	22MPUP	*Production Management in Chemical Process Engineering	1	E	2	0	2	0	4
5	22MIP	*Process Intensification	1	E	2	0	1	0	4