The Development of 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
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Abstract 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 stakeholder 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 Engineering, 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 asset management leaders. The future role of programs of this type in developing leading asset management professionals is also discussed. Keywords Asset management leadership, Education and training, Strategic asset management
__________________________________ D. Thorpe Faculty of Engineering and Surveying, University of Southern Queensland Springfield Campus, PO Box 4196, Springfield Central, Queensland 4300, Australia e-mail: [email protected] J.E. Amadi-Echendu, K. Brown, R. Willett, J. Mathew, Definitions, Concepts and Scope of Engineering Asset Management, © Springer 2010
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Introduction
The engineering asset manager of today faces many challenges, and requires not only engineering skills, but also those of strategic management, operational management, environmental management, economics, and a range of other professional disciplines. One of the challenges in engineering asset management (EAM) is the requirement to manage, at both strategic and operational level, assets throughout their life cycle to the satisfaction of a range of stakeholders. These assets can range from infrastructure assets like major physical installations and distribution networks, to fixed and mobile plant and equipment such as manufacturing installations and transportation equipment, through to communication networks. Further challenges include the need to achieve social and environmental goals as well as the more traditional technical and economic goals, the importance of managing risk, and the need to use the best available technologies in the asset management process. The modern engineering asset manager therefore needs to be a highly skilled person that can plan, develop, operate, maintain and retire a range of engineering assets, economically and in a socially responsible and sustainable manner, to the satisfaction of a range o
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