Master of Science in Invention and Product Engineering
The continent consumes inventions it does not make, and the gap is not creativity but the disciplined capability to carry an invention across the long distance from an idea to a manufacturable, protected, sellable product. Invention and product engineering unites design, engineering, intellectual ...
The four facts
What you actually need to compare
- Award and entry
- MSc
- A
- Duration and mode
- 18 months (3 semesters)
- Hybrid. Includes 0 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
- Cost
- UGX 3,600,000 per year
- Tier 2 laboratory classification. Includes UGX 600,000 annual laboratory premium.
- Outcome targeted
- Product engineer and developer, invention and research engineer, hardware and product founder
- Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Pricing Model 5.1 · The Forward Standard
Master of Science in Invention and Product Engineering fee
UGX 3,600,000 per year
- Laboratory tier
- Tier 2
- Annual premium
- UGX 600,000
- Per semester
- UGX 1,800,000
- Whole programme
- UGX 5,400,000
- Approximate USD
- ≈ USD 1,421
What this fee includes
- Teaching, practice tutoring, assessment and competency verification
- The Amagezi platform and AI tutor around the clock
- All learning materials
- Every examination, including first resits
- Identity card, library, guild, sports and basic wellbeing
- Co-op placement matching and the Capability Passport
- Graduation and the statutory NCHE fee
- Online application
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Product engineer and developer
- invention and research engineer
- hardware and product founder
- design and development lead
- intellectual property and commercialisation specialist
- manufacturing and industrialisation engineer
- innovation and product manager
- technical founder
Employer types
- Product and hardware companies
- manufacturers and industrialisation programmes
- research and development organisations
- innovation and technology transfer offices
- the graduate's own product venture
- engineering and design consultancies
- development organisations supporting local manufacturing
- investors and product studios
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme is built for engineers, designers and technical founders who will invent and commercialise products, and supports product ventures and senior technical roles. Progression routes include doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Postgraduate programmes carry work integrated learning inside the taught structure rather than the twelve month undergraduate cooperative education placement. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Master of Science in Invention and Product Engineering. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 501 | Applied Intelligence for Professionals Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 502 | Research Evidence and Method Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MIPE 510 | Invention, Opportunity and Product Strategy Both | 6 | 3-2-2 |
| MIPE 511 | Advanced Product Design and Engineering Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| MIPE 512 | Prototyping, Testing and Validation Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MIPE 513 | Design for Manufacture and Industrialisation Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 503 | Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MIPE 520 | Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Performance | 7 | 3-2-4 |
| MIPE 521 | Materials, Electronics and Systems for Products Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MIPE 522 | Intelligent Tools for Invention and Engineering Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MIPE 523 | Advanced Product Engineering Elective Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MIPE 524 | Product Systems Elective Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIPE 530 | Invention and Product Project and Dissertation Performance | 20 | 0-2-12 |
| MIPE 531 | Doctoral and Research Preparation Seminar Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
| MIPE 532 | Research Translation and Commercialisation Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
Total credit units: 90
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Master of Science in Invention and Product Engineering
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 30 COMPETENCY UNITS
Year 1 · this step is worth 30 CU
Cumulative
30
Programme total
90
30 CU of 90 CU completed by the end of this step (33%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems Fluency CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Intelligent Systems Fluency · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Identify and validate a real product opportunity against a need and a market.
- PLO 2Engineer a product from concept to a working, validated prototype.
- PLO 3Design a product for manufacturability and a route to production.
- PLO 4Protect an invention with the right intellectual property strategy.
- PLO 5Design, run and analyse the tests that prove a product.
- PLO 6Apply intelligent tools to invention and product engineering.
- PLO 7Cost and build the business case for a product to production.
- PLO 8Lead the development of C7, C3 a product with a multidisciplinary team.
- PLO 9Deliver a developed, C5, C protected and validated product with a route to manufacture.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C10 a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
The continent consumes inventions it does not make, and the gap is not creativity but the disciplined capability to carry an invention across the long distance from an idea to a manufacturable, protected, sellable product. Invention and product engineering unites design, engineering, intellectual property and manufacturing into a single professional competence, and it is essentially untaught at postgraduate level in the region. This research and build weighted masters is built for engineers, designers and technical founders who will invent and commercialise real products, and it terminates in a developed, protected and validated product with a route to manufacture.
Admission requirements
A good first degree (second class or above) in engineering, design, a physical science or a cognate technical field, or substantial relevant experience admitted through recognition of prior learning; plus a short technical and design task scored against Capabilities C6 and C7. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: recognition of prior learning against the admission profile under Part G, including substantial professional practice in lieu of the named first degree field. Online components require the Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.