Wood Technology
From furniture design to industrial production and construction: Wood plays an important role as a renewable material. Take an active role in shaping supply chains despite the global challenges facing society, business, and the environment. As a wood engineer, you will have broad basic knowledge and can contribute your expertise to many different work areas.
Your heart beats for...
A Degree Program with a Future
The Wood engineering program is heavily focused on practical applications. This is a full-time in-person degree program.
You will bring one of the following educational backgrounds:
- General university entrance qualification (Abitur)
- Specialized university entrance qualification
- Advanced technical college certificate (Fachhochschulreife)
- Professional qualification (Case-by-case examination)
- 10-week internship. This can be completed up to the end of the fourth semester. This means that you do not have to provide proof of an internship at the start of your studies. Relevant training and work already completed can be taken into account. Further details
German language level: C1
1. Semester
- Material technology wood 1
- Material engineering 1
- Technical drawing in wood processing / CAD
- Physics
- Technical mechanics 1
- Technical mathematics 1
2. Semester
- Material technology wood 2
- Wood connection technology
- Wood production technology
- Industrial science and business organization
- Technical mechanics 2
- Technical mathematics 2
3. Semester
- Furniture construction / work preparations
- Wood processing equipment
- Factory planning
- Material flow technology
- IT programming
- Industrial management
4. Semester
- Wood surface and coating technology
- Wooden construction
- Plastic processing
- Quality management / statics
- Project management / student project
- Business-English
5. Semester
- Practical semester in wood engineering
6. Semester(Choose 2 out of 3 focus areas)
- Module from 1. Focus
- Module from 1. Focus
- Module from 2. Focus
- Module from 2. Focus
- Mandatory elective module *
- CAM / CNC
7. Semester
- Module from 1. Focus
- Module from 2. Focus
- Wood engineering seminar
- Bachelor’s thesis in wood engineering
- Wood engineering colloquium
Focus area
Furniture construction and development
- Product design
- Lightweight furniture construction
- Design management / marketing
Industrial wood production
- Operating and environmental technology
- Industrial wood production equipment
- Machine and equipment construction
Wooden structure production
- Solid wood technology
- Building physics / energy renovations
- Wooden manufacturing
Mandatory elective module
- Maintenance management 1
- Furniture systems design methodology
- Handling systems
- Production systems
- Plastics and their applications
- Production planning / management
- Product Lifecycle Management
During the internship semester (5th semester), students select a company in the wood industry and use this opportunity to take their first steps toward their future career path, guided by their individual interests and skills.
In the 6th and 7th semesters, students choose 2 out of 3 specializations:
- Furniture Construction and Furniture Design
- Wood Industry Production
- Wood construction production
In the 7th semester, as part of their final bachelor’s thesis, students select a topic in the laboratory or at a company based on their own interests.
Our degree program is highly application-oriented. As a graduate,
- you will have professional expertise in manufacturing products from wood and wood materials throughout the entire supply chain
- you will understand the development, planning, sale, and recycling of products and can apply this knowledge in practice
- you can manage and optimize production processes in the wood industry, while considering business-related aspects like marketing and sales
- you will also understand fundamentals of processing for plastics and metals
- you will have a modern technical focus against a backdrop of digitization and sustainability – a particular strength
Your future work areas as an wood engineer include all leadership and management positions in wood, wood material, and furniture industry companies, as well as their suppliers and customers like the adhesives industry, mechanical engineering, the van industry, yacht building, software development, or research
Typical professional profiles and positions include
- Process engineer
- Technologist
- Product manager
- Technical sales
- Quality manager
- Application engineer
- Operations manager
- Technical manager
- Production manager
The practical components of courses take place at companies (for example, surface coating at Plantag Coatings GmbH or adhesive processing at Jowat SE). Field trips to sawmills, wood-based panel manufacturers, or furniture producers are a regular part of the academic routine. Theses are typically completed at companies. As part of the cooperative education program, students and companies are specifically matched together right from the start of the program.
- Product-specifications and product testing
- Quality management
- Lightweight design
- Forest-wood-building-innovations
- Product development and optimization based on renewable raw materials like wood, bamboo
- Palms and annual plants against the backdrop of changing raw materials supplies
- Wood construction projects
- Production processes in wood construction
- Product specifications and product testing
- Quality management
... the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
- directly to quality education
- directly to gender equality
- directly to industry, innovation and infrastructure
- directly to responsible consumption and production
Studying at Innovation Campus Lemgo
At the Innovation Campus in Lemgo, you’ll study at one of the most exciting technology hubs in North Rhine-Westphalia. Here you’ll find state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms, as well as science-to-business factories. Take, for example, the Centrum Industrial IT, where companies from across the OWL region have established branches. Or the Smart Factory OWL, which demonstrates data and AI management. At the Future Food Factory OWL—unique in Europe—similar activities take place, this time focused on food production. New Work and knowledge transfer converge at InnovationSPIN. Here, TH OWL, the district administration, and the skilled trades demonstrate transparent collaboration and a spirit that fosters innovation. In addition to the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, the campus is also home to two vocational colleges as well as the Bundesliga handball club TBV Lemgo-Lippe. And best of all: the campus features student housing just a short walk from the university and downtown.
Information
Detailed information about the Wood Technology program
Only the information contained in the currently valid examination regulations for the program, as published in the official bulletin, is authoritative and legally binding. You can find the official bulletins here.
Voices from academia, teaching, and professional practice
Oliver Frankholz, Wood Technology:
"Why wood? That’s a very simple question: Wood is warm, smells good, and—wood is just awesome!"
Professor Katja Frühwald-König, M.S. in Forestry, Wood Construction Products and Wood Construction Manufacturing:
"The program has a strong focus on production and processes and combines tradition with innovation: How can modern, contemporary products be developed and manufactured from one of the oldest materials—wood—against the backdrop of its sustainability?"
Dr. Konrad Solbrig, Electronic Wood Systems GmbH:
“The Wood Technology program is characterized by a well-chosen breadth of subjects, but also by a corresponding focus on very specific content.”
Contact and Counseling
- Our Central Student Advisory Service answers questions about studying at the university
- Offers for study orientation
- Get to know your faculty!
- Click here to go to the subject-specific student advisory service of the faculty
- Apply via our KIS portal!
- Information on the enrollment procedure is available from the Enrollment Office
- Studying abroad? Our International Office is there for you!
Still unanswered questions?
Our Student Service Center will answer all your questions about studying at TH OWL as well as about application and enrollment:
Phone: +49 5261 702 2534
E-mail: studierendenservice(at)th-owl.de
Service hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.