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Get a good impression of what your study programme will look like.
Over three years, this part-time master moves you from depth in one engineering discipline to fluency across many. You learn how mechanics, electronics, software, and AI come together and how to design solutions where all of those have to work as one. The Diamond Model gives you a structured way to do that. The master's-level skills, independent research, critical analysis, leadership in multidisciplinary teams, you build along the way, often on projects from your own workplace.
You learn to question the brief, define the problem, and own the design choices. Not just executing what's been decided, but shaping what gets decided.
Most part-time students choose at least one project from their own workplace. The thing your team has been stuck on becomes the thing you investigate, design, and solve as part of the master.
Modelling, simulation, digital twins, AI in design work. You take it home and apply it. Many students notice the master starting to pay off in their work within the first semester.
The part-time master is built around the rhythm of a working engineer. You spend one fixed day a week on campus. (Wednesday in year 1, Friday in year 2) plus around 12 hours of self-study and project work that you plan around your job: evenings, weekends, or part of a working day if your employer agrees. Three working days a week alongside the master works well for most students. Year 3 is mostly graduation work, with limited campus time.
Making that work asks something of your employer too. They need to accept that you're at Fontys one day a week, and give you room for your project work. Many employers actively support the master because of what you bring back: broader expertise across disciplines and the ability to oversee complex systems end-to-end. If you can do your graduation project at your own workplace, you complete the master in three years. If you can't, four years is realistic, the first year then spreads over two.
Every year you work on a year-long design project, in small teams of part-time classmates. Most projects come from a real-life context. Sometimes from one of Fontys' research groups, sometimes from a student's own workplace. The structure follows the Diamond Model: a proven approach that takes you through requirements, architecture, detailed design, modelling (often including a digital twin), and finally a working prototype tested against the original requirements.
What makes the learning stick for part-time students is the back-and-forth between campus and workplace: you take a concept from class, try it Monday at work, and come back with the rough edges. Your classmates do the same. That cross-pollination is what full-time peers miss.
Year one establishes the foundation: system design thinking, mechanics, electronics, AI, and how to apply them across a discipline. Most students start to feel the broadening within the first few months. Projects at work suddenly look bigger and more connected than before.
Examples of courses you'll take:
System Design 1 & 2 The technical foundations of designing complex high-tech systems.
Mechanics and Design Principles Analysing and managing physical effects in high-precision systems.
Data Handling, Machine Learning & AI Applying AI techniques in your design work.
Control Engineering, Modelling & Simulation depending on your track.
Year two goes deeper into your chosen track. You start scoping your graduation project, often with input from your employer or one of our research groups. The teaching day moves from Wednesday to Friday.
Examples of courses you'll take:
Modelling & Simulation Modelling techniques to optimise high-precision dynamical systems.
Innovation Engineering & Research Methods Creativity, patent development, and applied research.
Track-specific electives Cyber Physical Communications, Battery Technology, Smart Mobility, and more.
Year three is fully dedicated to your graduation project. You spend the equivalent of one full year of project work on a problem your employer wants solved, supported by both an academic supervisor from Fontys and a company supervisor at your workplace. You complete the master with your thesis, a working prototype, and an Ethics course.
Part-time students bring full lives to the master. Work, family, sometimes both. The coaching structure is built around that: someone who watches your project, someone who watches you, and the flexibility to set the rhythm together.
Study coach Your go-to person for everything around your studies. Not the technical content, but how you're doing, how the master fits the rest of your life, and how to keep momentum when things get tight. You set the meeting frequency together.
Project tutor — year 1 Guides your first-year project. Keeps an eye on team dynamics and progress, and chips in on the technical content when your team gets stuck.
Graduation supervisors — year 3 In your graduation year you get both an academic supervisor from Fontys and a company supervisor at your workplace. They support you on the content and the process. So you always have someone to turn to, both at Fontys and where the project actually runs.
Wondering what's to come after applying for this programme? Go over the entire admission process.
Please note! If you wish to apply for housing through Fontys, the housing application deadline is June 15.