“The most rewarding, most inspiring, and at times the most ridiculous experience.”

– PDP alumni

Join the course

The course is open to all Aalto students and is designed to be taken as part of Master’s studies, or when the student has equivalent skills and capacity in their field. The course lasts the whole academic year, from September to May, and is worth 10-15 ECTS.

In the course, you gain:

  • a deeper understanding of how your disciplinary field connects to interdisciplinary product development efforts
  • hands on experience of a range of product development phases and tasks, and understand how these connect to one another in development projects
  • skills in communicating, collaborating and negotiating effectively with diverse stakeholders, including interdisciplinary, international and interorganizational partners

How to signup

Registration

Aalto students register through Sisu. The course code is MEC-E3001.
For students in partner universities, the application process is managed by local supervisors at their home university.

Access to Sisu

For students without access to Sisu, please contact the course staff.

Introduction lecture

Check out the MyCourses page of the course and attend the first PdP lecture on 3.9.2025 at 15.15 and get to know everything about the structure of the course and its arrangements.

Alumni testimonials

  • "Some of the main reasons that led me to participate in PdP were: long term project with a lot of freedom and flexibility where students make decisions and shape the outcome and final prototype while working in close collaboration with industry."

    Hazal Alkan | New Media | PdP 2018

  • "PdP is 3 words? Intimitating. Complex. Exiting!"

    Mircea | Project manager team Isaware | PDP 2026

  • "What kept me going throughout the project, was that Design Factory is this amazing place that you never know who you are going to meet, not only students from different schools but experts that can answer your questions. This place draws so many interesting and cool people that are also highly dedicated, a lot of my other classes don’t offer that."

    Laura Hawk | Biomedical Engineering | PdP 2018

  • "PDP opened a lot of doors by helping me build valuable connections, friendships, and practical skills that support my future career. This course also helped me explore my professional direction.

    Team Woamy | Mechanical Engineering | PDP 2025

  • "PDP is a place where real growth happens through hands-on projects, supportive teammates, and access to incredible tools and resources. It encourages creativity and gives you a safe environment to try new ideas and develop your skills."

    Team Lindström | CoID | PDP 2025

  • "During PdP, we had the opportunity to try new things and work on challenging tasks, at times it was difficult, but it was very rewarding and emotional when things worked, what I gained from teamwork is unique in PDP."

    Yuying Li “Espe” | Business | PdP 2018

  • "I was suprised by the power of teambuilding, bonding in a human way! You get so much better results than just having a sterile, professional setting."

    Umberto | Project manager team Gosta Labs | PDP 2026

  • "It's very therapeutic to be in the Labs and do something with your hands."

    Team Aurora | PDP Student | PDP 2026

  • Do it! PdP is one of the most hands-on courses, and you get to work on professional level with industry. It’s a great challenge, and you get a lot of growth as a PM.

    Umberto | Project manager in team Gosta Labs | PDP 2026

  • "In PdP you will learn things that you cannot learn anywhere else. It is not easy, but it might be worth it"

    Eero Prittinen | Electrical Engineering | PdP 2019

PDP as project manager

Every year we search for potential candidates to fill the position of the student project manager of each project team. The project managers will get 3 extra credits and enjoy the best learning experience – but deal with the most challenges and invest a lot of time in the project. So if you are an Aalto student and already have some study or work experience in product design, development or innovation, this could be your chance to put your learnings to the ultimate test! More information on the project manager positions and selection can be found in the course MyCourses page.

Global partners

PdP collaborates with the Design Factory Global Network and partner universities across the globe to allow students to collaborate with top universities all over the world and experience true global collaboration – product development rarely happens in a single location.

Questions?

Reach out to our student assistants, who are also PDP alumni!

Kalevi EkmanStudents