Department of Business Development and Technology is a department under Aarhus BSS, itself one of four academic departments of Aarhus University. Since 2012, BTECH has also been affiliated with AU Engineering, an organisation at Aarhus University focussing on engineering. Apart from the educational activities, BTECH is home to a number of externally funded knowledge and research centres, including one Nordic Centre of Excellence. Research is anchored with four professorships and includes innovation and business development, entrepreneurship, energy technologies, IT development, climate adaptation and the wind energy industry. BTECH has about 1,800 students. Approximately 15% come from other countries than Denmark. Around 125 full-time employees, including technical and administrative personnel. Additionally, BTECH employs 100 part-time teachers. BTECH’s study programmes are based on interaction across professional boundaries as well as close interaction with students and the surrounding business community. However, BTECH is also developing distance- and e-learning to provide educational opportunities in evolving markets. Furthermore, all study programmes have an innovative and international perspective. For example, approximately 40% of the students spend at least six months of their studies at a foreign engineering college, university or company.
BTECH was founded in 1995 as a merger between Engineering School Vestjysk Teknikum and the Business School Midtjysk Handelshøjskolecenter under the name Handels- og IngeniørHøjskolen, in English - HerningInstitute of Business Administration and Technology. A new residence, designed by famous Danish architect Henning Larsen, was erected at Birk Centerpark 15 in Herning. When, by January 1, 2006, HIBAT merged with Aarhus University, the name was changed to Aarhus Universitet, Handels- og IngeniørHøjskolen . June 1, 2011, AU-IBT was changed - this time to AU Herning - a centre of the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences at Aarhus University. In January 2012 the engineering organisation of AU Engineering at Aarhus University also became involved with the engineering educations in Herning and AU Herning changed name to Department of Business Development and Technology.