Developing strategic asset management leaders through postgraduate education

The modern engineering asset manager is required to develop, operate and maintain engineering assets economically and in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. Key issues confronting the asset manager of today include taking a strategic life cycle approach to asset management, meeting user requirements and minimising risks. To achieve this, it is necessary to understand asset life cycle issues including economic analysis and sustainability, be aware of social impacts, understand technological risks and work at the cutting edge of technology. While undergraduate engineering programs can meet this need to some extent, postgraduate education is often the best approach for learning the principles of strategic life cycle asset management. This paper discusses one such example of postgraduate engineering education, the Master of Technology Management, offered by the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying at the University of Southern Queensland. Topics discussed include the rationale for this type of study program, how it addresses the needs of life cycle asset management including risk and innovation management, its approach to learning, and its role in developing strategic technological leaders. The future role of programs of this type in developing leading asset management professionals is also discussed.