Requirements

Something for me?

The Postgraduate Certificate and Advanced Master of Science in Smart Operations and Maintenance (O&M) in Industry allows engineers to specialise in the field of Smart O&M. The programmes are developed to equip recent graduates, professionals, and international students with solid academic knowledge of the most essential concepts and technologies in Smart O&M.

The set of courses from the Postgraduate Certificate forms an integral part of the Advanced Master’s Programme, in which students go one step further and choose one of three in-depth and hands-on elective tracks.

Where will it take me?

Graduates from both programmes are qualified to take up different roles in different (industrial) sectors, ranging from SMEs to international Captains of Industry. The skills developed, and the knowledge obtained will be more widely applicable than in the manufacturing industry alone. All operationally intensive sectors, including for example the food and pharmaceutical sector are eager to recruit engineers with a solid background in Smart O&M who can be the foundation of and an advisor in their digital transformation process.

Participants who successfully complete the courses in the postgraduate programme will be granted exemptions in pursuing the homonymous advanced master’s degree.

For MSc Smart O&M graduates in particular, there are ample opportunities, but narrowed down, three essential job profiles can be identified, which are reflected in the programme’s structure (cf. three elective tracks): job profiles in an industrial R&D team (the machine track), job profiles in a production engineering department (the factory track), and job profiles in production operations (the operations track).

Academic requirements

Immediate access is granted to students who hold one of the following master’s degrees:

Students with a different master’s degree can submit an application for admission, which should demonstrate that:

The student has the necessary background in an engineering context
The student has an understanding of the (manufacturing) industry

The student is motivated to successfully complete this programme

Students can demonstrate the necessary requirements through a transcript of records, a CV and a letter of motivation. The interuniversity programme committee assesses the applications.

Language proficiency

The applicant must be proficient in English. The minimum required language level is B2+. The language proficiency can be met by providing a certificate of one of the following tests:

TOEFL/IELTS predictive tests and TOEIC will not be accepted.

The following are exempt from submitting a certificate B2+ English:

Students who have a diploma (Secondary Education, Academic Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree) issued by an institution officially recognised by the Flemish Government
Students who have a diploma European Baccalaureate in which at least 16 hours per week were taught in English
Students who have a diploma International Baccalaureate in which at least half of the courses were taught in English
Students who obtained their secondary education degree or higher education degree in one of the following countries: Australia, English speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America (the certified degree and transcripts suffice, provided they confirm that the entire study was completed in English).

Other requirements

All mainland Chinese citizens who are not in possession of a foreign degree, or have not completed any courses at a university in another country other than China, need to go through the APS procedure. Obtainining the APS certificate is needed in order to apply for a student visa for Belgium. These students cannot get a Belgian student visa without this certificate.

Laptop requirements:

main memory	minimum 8 GB RAM, 16 GB RAM is strongly advised
processor	Intel Core i5 CPU or higher, i7 is even better (5th or 6th generation), or an AMD equivalent. CPU has at least 4 cores, 8 or more is advised. ARM-based processors such as Apple M1 can cause problems because there is no support of virtualisations of Windows VMs
GPU	at the least a built-in graphics processor, type Intel HD graphics 5500 or higher
harddisk	minimum 500GB, 750GB is better (SSD as extra, e.g., 250GB SSD combined with HDD)
display size	15″ is advised (13” is too small, 17” may be too big to carry around). An extra display 21″ may be handy for work at home.
display	1680×1024 or higher (1920×1080 can be preferred for some programmes)
network	wireless but also wired Ethernet (possibly via extension)
firmware	support for 64-bit virtualisation: BIOS should allow Intel Virtualization Technology and VT-d (or AMD-V) to be enabled
operating system	– a recent 64-bit Windows operating system will be sufficient, Linux can then easily be used in VMs on top of the host Windows – Macbooks will require a Windows installation with Boot Camp and/or in VMs additional to the macOS (configuration problems cannot be ruled out) – Linux PCs require an additional installation of Windows in VMs (configuration problems cannot be ruled out)
cooling system	active cooling is necessary since strictly passive cooling may limit the computing capacity
optional	– preferably a numeric keypad integrated into the keyboard or an external numeric keypad – using an external keyboard, external mouse, and / or external display when using your laptop at home can prevent health issues and is sometimes better for your productivity