Prerequisites for the admission.

As provided for by applicable legislation, access to this Bachelor’s Degree Programme requires a high-school diploma or other qualification obtained abroad and officially approved. A good knowledge of the Italian language, both written and spoken, along with logical reasoning skills, as well as the knowledge and ability to make use of the main results of basic mathematics are required to access this Degree Programme.
The required knowledge and skills are assessed by means of an entry test, the same for all Degree Programmes in Engineering that are part of the Interuniversity Centre for the Admission to the Schools of Engineering and Architecture (CISIA). Failure to take or pass the test will require students to comply with specific additional credit obligations (OFA). In the event that the assessment is not successful, for the specific features of the test and the indication of any additional credit obligations please refer to the teaching regulation of the Degree Programme.

Non-European students who live abroad, except for those clearly indicated as exempt in the access regulations of foreign students to university courses provided for by the MIUR (Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research), must pass a test assessing their knowledge of the Italian language before enrolling.

Skills associated with the function

IT engineers focused on the development of software applications and on processing digital information in the industrial field.
The Degree Programme aims at training IT engineers who are able to design and create software applications and network services by possibly integrating industrial systems and products,
and smart devices on cloud platforms. In addition, graduates will be able to manage, process and value the huge quantities of digital information coming from the industrial field and IoT devices.
More specifically, they apply the skills relating to software programming, systems, IoT, digital electronics, automation and data analysis to realities that are specific of Industry 4.0, where both the system and products will increasingly be networked. Their skills of design and smart and additive manufacturing, as well as logistics and industrial manufacturing, enable them to interact with mechanic Engineers and participate in mixed teams involving different skills to deal with innovative issues.

Function in a work context

IT engineers focused on the development of software applications and on processing digital information in the industrial field.
They work as professionals of IT solutions and systems. They are able to work in teams and deal with complex issues in the industrial field involving digital components, systems and services.

Educational goals

The Degree Programme is aimed at providing graduates with a proper theoretical and practical command of methods and technologies that are specific to Information Engineering, in order to enable them to immediately enter the labour market or enrolling in a Master’s Degree or a Vocational Master Programme. Graduates shall also be able to cope with the fast technological evolution that is typical of information engineering and its application to the Industry 4.0 scenarios, and to work in groups for more complex projects.
In order to achieve such objectives, the training of the Degree Programme in Information Engineering of Mantua features the following learning areas:
1) Basics sciences for a sound preparation in mathematics, physics, and information technology, which are the essential tool to interpret, describe and resolve the issues of engineering in general and industrial engineering in particular.
2) Information Engineering for gaining the knowledge and skills of the main IT systems and services, as well as for learning how to use them in industrial, IoT and smart applications.
3) Other disciplines connected with industrial IT for a broad preparation in information engineering applied to Industry 4.0, aimed at providing the knowledge and skills in distinctive disciplines, such as electronic engineering, automation engineering, industrial plants and manufacturing systems.
4) Related and supplementary engineering disciplines for a suitable preparation in some related and supplementary subjects, useful to provide further knowledge in industrial engineering such as machineries and industrial energy systems, as well as basics of law to deal with topics relating to IT licences, intellectual property, data privacy, system liabilities, and basics of economics (fundamentals of business organisation, budgeting and project management, business plan, fund raising, venture capital, and innovative start-ups).

Based on the learning areas listed above, the Degree Programme in IT Engineering in Mantua includes a training programme mainly focused on accessing the labour market, without jeopardising at all the opportunity to continue the studies with a Master Degree, or a 1st level university master course. To this end, the Degree Programme offers its students the following opportunities:

- carry out training activities aimed at gaining practical skills through a learn-by-doing training model which provides for carrying out at university laboratories in Mantua several practical exercises and projects, both individually and in a group, that represent a specific feature of the programme;

- carry out training activities aimed at facilitating the professional choices through the direct knowledge of the employment sector by participating in training internships in local or national businesses;

- gain further skills in specific engineering fields;

- gain skills in disciplines that are useful to understand the legal, social and ethical contexts of the engineering profession.

Communication skills

Graduates in Information Technology shall face extremely different realities of the world of work. Therefore, they need to have the following skills: (i) efficiently and effectively communicate also in English (at least level B1, preferably B2), both orally and in writing, with specialists and non-specialists; (ii) draw up technical reports on the activities carried out and present a summary of the most relevant results during joint discussions.
The results indicated above are achieved mainly thanks to:

- the organisation of seminars and meetings with external parties within the teaching modules;

- practical exercise sessions and team work;

- intermediate assessment activities involving the preparation of reports and slides supporting the oral presentation;

- draw up of final examination and its discussion before an audience.

As regards communication skills in English, besides possessing level B1 of the Common European Reference Framework, students will be encouraged to take some examinations abroad thanks to the opportunities offered by the Erasmus Programme and the collaborations in place within the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

Making Judgements

Graduates in Information Technology Engineering shall be ready to resolve issues in quite different application contexts. To this purpose, the following individual skills are strongly promoted by all vocational teachings: (i) identify the features of the issues they have to assess, both in term of technical aspects and economic consequences; (ii) independently find the available sources (articles published in the technical and scientific literature) to collect the data relevant to the issues being faced, also using appropriate tools to evaluate the reliability of the sources; (iii) understand and process the information gathered and express an independent and consistent opinion on the issue being examined.
The following selection criteria applied to the Degree Programme are mainly important to achieve the results indicated above:

- Some teachings of IT and Industrial Information engineering specifically focus on problem solving, where the ability to find a solution independently and motivate the decision is strongly encouraged.

- The exploration of the broader implications of social, scientific or ethical meanings is encouraged by the interactions with the business and professional world during the compulsory internship.

- The Education Regulation promotes the integration of the traditional training activities with webinars, articles of the literature suitable for their skills, seminars and meetings with companies.

- Laboratory activities are fostered, as well as individual or team projects, alongside with the internship and the thesis, where students may deal with real aspects and independently evaluate the various options available.

Learning skills

Graduates in Information Technology Engineering shall be able to keep up-to-date with the methods, the techniques and the evolution of technologies of the IT and industrial engineering field, to identify new needs for information and training, and take on further studies in the field of IT Engineering with a high level of independency.
The skills to learn and continuously update one’s own knowledge are promoted within the singles teachings by means of:

- the request of independently exploring the knowledge in fields of interest, indicated by the professor or suggested by the student;

- taking on a compulsory internship in which the learning skills in contexts that are outside the university classroom, as well as the ability to meet the deadlines will be assessed among the other things;

- drawing up a paper for the final examination, in which the student shall prove to possess excellent learning skills and independent problem solving skills.