Diplomi-insinööri

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Diplomi-insinööri, in Swedish diplomingenjör, is a Finnish 6-year engineer's degree comparable to a Master of Science in Engineering, granted e.g. by Helsinki University of Technology. The name comes from the German "Diplom", meaning "university diploma", in contrast to engineers with no university certification (see insinööri (amk)). The degree is legally equivalent to a Master's degree. Therefore, it qualifies for the further degrees of tekniikan lisensiaatti (Licenciate of Science in Technology) and tekniikan tohtori (Doctor of Science in Technology).

The purpose of the degree program is to educate students to become the experts, managers and researchers with the top know-how. Typical work descriptions are production manager, development manager, researcher, and managerial and expert positions in general. Many, if not most, of the middle and upper management in Finnish engineering and technology-based corporations are DIs.

Currently, the degree is in flux, since the Bologna process is underway and the degree has been restructured to be compatible with the Bologna requirements. The deadline to complete the studies in the old system is 2010. The "new structure" programme was launched in 2005; students who are not expected to complete the degree by 2010 are expected to change to the new system. In the old system, an intermediate degree did not exist, which was a problem for exchange students going to study abroad in Masters-level studies.

[edit] Old system

This program is atomic — no "Bachelor in Engineering" degree exists. It is worth of 180 old credits, where one credit represents 40 hours of work. Therefore, it is effectively 6-12 months longer than a Master's degree, because the final project, worth 20 credits, is an additional requirement, unlike in a Master's degree in which the 160 credits include the Master's thesis. The degree consists of:

• Basic studies, about 70 cr., mathematics, physics, basic courses in a variety of majors in a variety of laboratories
• Specialization, 30 cr., studies set by the laboratory as useful in the majors and minors available at the laboratory
• Major, 20 cr., and a minor, 20 cr.
• Diploma project, 20 cr., an engineering project usually taking about ½-1 year. This demonstrates professional competence and is a "live", not a "study" project, in all respects.
• Plus, electives so that 180 credits are obtained

The degree is fundamentally incompatible with the Bachelor of Engineering degree, a four-year (240 ECTS) degree from a Polytechnic. The focus of the degrees are fundamentally different: the DI degree includes extensive theoretical courses, which are not taught in the practice-oriented polytechnic. On the other hand, it's not very likely that a DI is instructed in welding, for example.

[edit] New system

Students starting year 2005 begun with the new courses. This degree is 300 ECTS, the same as a Master's degree, as the diploma project (30 ECTS) is now included. It has two phases, tekniikan kandidaatti (TkK) of 180 ECTS and diplomi-insinööri to 300 ECTS. One must obtain the TkK degree first; a vocational engineering degree doesn't qualify. In the new systems the basic structure of the degree has been largely retained. The first phase includes the traditional mathematics, physics, chemistry and economics courses of the engineering curriculum, part of the studies of the specialization, a major and eventual minors. It also includes a small project, the scope of which is still somewhat unclear.

The second phase includes the some common courses of the specialization, a major building on the basis of the first base major and eventual minors. The study culminates in the diploma project the nature of which is unchanged from the old.

The relation of diplomi-insinööri and insinööri (AMK) degrees has not changed from the old system. An insinööri (AMK) may be allowed to start studies for the diplomi-insinööri degree without obtaining tekniikan kandidaatti degree but must complete in addition to the requirements of the second phase the theoretical base studies of tekniikan kandidaatti, comprising 60 ECTS. This corresponds to the situation before the introduction of the new system. Also, if the lower degree is not from engineering, there are similar additional requirements.

In both the new and the old system the degrees are classified into "pass" and "with distinction" (oivallisesti) categories. The relatively (less than 10 % of the graduates) rare "with distinction" classification requires a grade point average of at least 4.00/5 and a thesis with grade of at least 4/5.