Start-up Engineering
Master Technical Innovation & Product Management

In the same way that the innovation projects are conducted by our industrial partners, you will be linked into an innovative teaching concept that guides you through the initial relevant stages of a start-up project.  You will have the opportunity to drive forward your start-up project in the team composed by yourselves and to implement the business idea step-by-step.

Going through these motions will gain you a deeper understanding of the business methods and processes required to successfully found a business venture. At the forefront throughout will be methods such as lean start-up management, design-thinking, business model innovation, agile project management, rapid prototyping, venture financing, marketing for start-ups, compiling business plans, and much more besides.

You will spend the first semester focusing on the problem-solution fit of your idea to prove that that your proposed solution will be attractive to your target group. That’s the first essential milestone in founding a start-up.

During the second semester, you will test the chances of success for your product idea in the relevant market segment. You will learn how to technically design and manufacture a minimum viable product, and how to communicate the benefits of your solution to the customer according to the target group and market in question.

After completing these two theory-based semesters, you will be in a position to evaluate how successful your start-up idea is likely to be on the market, to found your own business, and to submit grant applications, e.g. for the “EXIST” business start-up grant.

Applicants must apply as a team of two or more. You bring your own idea for a start-up venture, which will require certain technical expertise to get off the ground. That’s what it takes to become a Master of Engineering.

For us to evaluate your idea as part of the admissions process, please submit a short exposé  describing your vision. Please consider the following points:

• What is your customers’ issue that you wish to address?
• What are your initial ideas for a potential solution?
• Have you perhaps already identified any competitors?
• Do you perhaps even have some initial ideas about how to generate income?
• Who’s who in your team?

You don’t have to answer all of these questions in detail. Please simply present yourselves and the point that you’re currently at with your idea for a start-up venture so that we can judge whether we will be able to support you well on our master’s degree programme.

You can find all the additional information that you might need about applications and admissions at:

https://www.hs-kempten.de/elektrotechnik/master/technisches-innovations-produktmanagement

If you have any questions about your exposé, please contact the degree programme coordinator Thomas Nägele or Sebastian Kern at the university’s StartUp Center.  https://www.hs-kempten.de/startup-center

Modules during semesters 1 and 2

Entrepreneurial modules:

Problem Solution Fit  10 CP

Workshop on agile project management Scrum, lean start-up management, Workloadfor developing the idea for the start-up

Defining the product and developing a business model  5CP

Design- thinking, Lean Canvas, pretotype, business model innovation, creative techniques

Product realisation 7CP

requirements Engineering, product specifications, minimum Viableproduct

Product market fit  10 CP

Workload for developing the idea for the start-up

Product launch and PLM 7 CP

Strategic marketing, brand management for entrepreneurs, communications concept Product Lifecycle Management

Law and funding for start-ups

Capital requirements planning, grants, legal forms

Accompanying modules:

Self- and leadership skills 3 CP

Business processes and quality management 5 CP

Commercial aspects of the innovation process 5 CP

Compulsory elective modules 3 CP

Semester 3

Master’s thesis 25 CP

Colloquium 5 CP