Welcome to KU Leuven

The Course

SUMA is embedded in the Master of Materials Engineering at KU Leuven, which aims to educate engineers to design new materials and/or processes to manufacture them, and make sustainable choices in materials-selection challenges – both in an industrial and academic environment.

Educational activities at KU Leuven focus on fundamentals of metals processing, recycling, eco-design, sustainable materials management, business development, innovation and entrepreneurship. The university has established a successful research platform on zero-waste, environmental-friendly, cost-effective recovery/recycling approaches.

As an academic programme, the Master of Materials Engineering focuses on teaching the knowledgeable application of generic principles to a broad gamut of materials challenges, rather than on transferring encyclopaedic knowledge on specific material families.

The economic and societal context is considered both in engineering and in general interest courses. In particular, scarcity, sustainable materials management in closed materials loops, life cycle analysis and recycling processes are broadly covered in both research and teaching. Finally, the programme aims at conveying the social, communication and leadership skills required on an engineering work floor.

The hosting Department of Materials Engineering (MTM) is a world player in production, characterisation, modelling and development of new materials to solve material challenges in sectors such as transport, energy or health. MTM has close ties with industrial partners through a broad variety of national and international projects which is reflected in the program through plant visits, practical exercises, internships and the Master thesis topics.

Culture

KU Leuven accommodates 50,000 students, spread across the various campuses in Leuven and elsewhere in Flanders. The University and University Hospitals Leuven each employ almost 10,000 people.

For research, KU Leuven ranks among the world’s finest. The university has become a cosmopolitan institution in a rapidly changing urban environment. Its unique profile reconciles cutting-edge science with the quality of life and openness to talent.

Student life

KU Leuven has a very dynamic student life and international students play an active role in it. Pangaea is a place where many international students meet and spend time together. Pangaea aims to create a home-away-from-home feeling for international students in Leuven and to help them with their social integration in the Leuven university community. In the spirit of hospitality and intercultural understanding, Pangaea stimulates contacts and interaction between local and international students and offers a platform for all students to practice intercultural skills, languages and more through different activities and projects.

The KU Leuven Cultural Activities Office offers free cultural events as well as opportunities to get involved in cultural activities. For those interested in sport, the University Sports Centre provides a wide range of sport facilities at all levels, many of them free of charge.

Download Brochure