International Week

Each summer semester (around May or June depending on the holidays), our Faculty organises an International Week for students in bachelor’s programmes.

During that week, guest lecturers from our partner universities offer eight to ten courses as core elective modules at the same time. Courses take place from Monday to Friday from about 9:00 to 18:00. Exams for the modules take place on Friday afternoon.

The courses are mainly aimed at students from the 6th semester or higher. For this week, all other courses for the 6th semester are suspended. Please contact your instructors in other courses in the semester, especially in the courses of your specialization, if you are taking an International Week course. In summer term 2023, all other courses will not be suspended but only as needed.

International Week 2023

The next International Week will take place from 22 May to 26 May 2023.

The choice of modules for the International Week is expected to take place at the beginning of March as part of the normal FWPM election.

The offer varies every year and there is no claim to be able to take a certain course mentioned here also in the next years.

The following courses are planned for the next International Week:

Advanced Web Applications

Web Development tools

Visual Studio.net

Server Side Programming

ASP.net, VB.NET
MVC based web application development

Data access over the Web

SQL Server and XML
Web Services

The Microsoft.net Framework

Understanding Microsoft's .net vision
Develop web applications using MVC
Reviewing components of the .net framework which relate to Web application development
Corporate implications of .net
.net Implementation issues and performance considerations

Future perspectives

Anticipating future market developments/business trends in Web technology
Evaluating potential success or failure of specific technological approaches
The pros and cons of utilising cutting edge technology

Holistic E-business Setup (Jaani Väisänen, Senior Lecturer, LAB University of Applied Sciences)

The module will present the students a holistic approach to constructing a successful online business. The course will include practical examples and hands-on experiences. Emphasis will be on business, and no previous experience on the topics or coding are required. Basic understanding of web technologies will help, however. The topics cover the following areas:

Basic online business principles: business and revenue models, value creation, KPIs
Usability and findability: UX design principles and heuristics, search engine optimization, online advertising
Online measurement and analytics: Google Analytics: implementation and configuration, debugging, conversion, audiences, Google Tag Manager fundamentals: tagging, triggering, integration to the website and GA4
Reporting and controlling: Google Looker Studio: data retrieval, dashboard configuration, connection to KPIs

Introduction in Machine Learning (Prof. Dr. Dana Simian, Lucian-Blaga-University, Sibiu, Rumania)

This module introduces the core ideas and the basis techniques of machine learning. It covers theory, algorithms and applications, focusing on real understanding of the principles of inductive learning theory and of several machine learning techniques.

Concept Learning
Decision Tree Learning
Bayesian Learning
Artificial Neural Networks
Support Vector Machines

Phyton is the programming language used in this module but prior knowledge of Python programming is not required. Students will gain all required knowledge in a step-by-step fashion, through examples.

Online Marketing Management

Topics

Basics of Online Marketing Planning
Online marketing target settings (Key performance indicators)
Online marketing budgeting
Online marketing target group segmentation
Basics of Social Media Marketing
Basics of Online marketing analytics and metrics

Learning outcomes

Understand what is online marketing management for business in an international level.
Be able to analyse how companies use online marketing
Understand basics of budgeting online marketing
Can apply target groups segmentation especially with Facebook and Google Ads tools
Understand how Social Media Marketing works (Paid, owned earned)
Understand and can apply online marketing analytics and metrics settings (especially Google Analytics)

Principles of Autonomous Drones (Prof. Dr. Marcel Kyas, Reykjavik University, Iceland)

This course will cover the basic principles for endowing aerial autonomous drones with perception, planning, and decision-making capabilities. You will learn algorithmic approaches for robot perception, localisation, and simultaneous localisation and mapping, as well as the control of non-linear systems, learning-based control, and aerial drone motion planning. The course will introduce methodologies for reasoning under uncertainty. It will include use of the Robot Operating System (ROS) for demonstrations and hands-on activities.

- Explain the principles of motion control.
- Explain basic concepts of perception, from classic to deep learning approaches.
- Explain principles of localisation and SLAM.
- Explain navigation algorithms, planning, decision making.

Impressions from the International Week 2022

Group picture of all guest lecturers in 2022

Group picture of all guest lecturers in 2022 and guest students from Sheffield

The International Week took place from 16.05.2022 to 20.05.2022.

After a two-year break due to the pandemic, it was again possible to teach internationally in presence in 2022 (in 2020 the International Week was completely cancelled, in 2021 it was held digitally). In 2022, students of all Bachelor's programs from the sixth semester onwards could choose from four FWPMs taught by lecturers from our partner universities. The guest lecturers are already veterans. Already in previous years, we had the pleasure to welcome Dr. Mo Rezai and Prof. Dharam Shadija (Sheffield Hallam University, England), Prof. Dr. Dana Simian (Lucian-Blaga-University Sibiu, Romania), Prof. Dr. Marcel Kyas (Reykyavic University, Iceland) and Sami Lanu (LAB University of Applied Sciences, Finland) during the International Week.

Dr. Rezai and Prof. Shadija taught Advanced Web Applications, Prof. Dr. Simian taught Introduction to Machine Learning, Prof. Dr. Kyas taught Introduction to Motion Tracking and Gesture Recognition, and Sami Lanu taught Online Marketing Management. A total of about 60 students participated in the modules, which lasted from Monday, May 16 to Friday, May 20. The final exams for the modules were held on Friday.

This year, for the first time, twelve students from our partner university Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) were among the participants of the International Week. The students from the Department of Computing took part in the modules together with the FIW students as part of a short-term mobility program. The English-language course offering opens the doors for further short-term stays of this kind. The students were integrated into the modules and were able to establish contacts and friendships with the FIW students. SHU hopes to extend a return invitation as early as next year for an emerging International Week in Sheffield.

This year, FIW was once again able to present itself as a cosmopolitan host for guests from all over the world with the International Week - and bring the world into our seminar rooms. All in all, a wonderful, albeit work-intensive week for all involved, which, as always, was over far too quickly.