Master of Business and Project Management in Industrial Automation

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN:

Skills and credibility in Project Management in Industrial Automation
Advanced skills and knowledge in the latest advanced technologies in industrial automation, for professional or highly skilled work and/or further learning
Practical know-how from practising experts with demonstrated ability
Credibility as an advanced practitioner in industrial automation
Ability to make independent judgements and high level decisions in a variety of technical or managerial contexts
Knowledge and skills to be actively involved in planning, implementation and evaluation stages of a range of functions in specialised industrial automation projects
A fully accredited Master Degree in Business and Project Management

WHY STUDY PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

Engineers and technologists are not and have never been mono-discipline practitioners. The reality is that engineering is just one competency among multiple competencies professional engineers and technologists of today need to possess.

This fact has been illustrated by many studies, such as the study conducted by Morris and Dixon on behalf of the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK (2000) in which around 120 companies participated. 100% of respondents agreed on the need for leadership, legal awareness and procurement to be included in the APM list. The next top 5 areas down the list in descending order were: safety, health and environment (99% agreement), life cycles (98%), purchasing (96%), risk management (95%) and financial management (94%). As noted the managerial and leadership skills topped the list in this survey.

In 2002 Professor Jaafari and his students conducted a survey of perceived competencies of engineers and allied professionals at the University of Sydney. This study found that leadership and socio-cultural competencies were rated of critical importance, on a par with project management competencies. Technical competencies are generally acquired as part of the discipline or industry in which one is grounded, such as instrumentation engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering and so on. Few engineers, scientists and technologists continue to develop their managerial and leadership competencies systematically. It is always assumed that they will acquire such vital skills on the job or through the employers’ sponsored training schemes. Though a few employers may actually pay attention to development of their professional engineers and scientists or technologists; unfortunately this is not the case universally.

The extent and intensity of project management and leadership competencies required changes, depending on the person’s orientation and context. For example, an electrical engineer needs to possess project management competencies to the extent that he or she can appreciate the business context, project goals and objectives, project parts and functions, and how his/her input relates to the broader project mission and business needs and requirements. They also need to participate in project conceptualisation endeavours and furnish his expertise of electrical engineering or make significant expert contribution to the evolution of integrated solutions in multi-discipline teams. All of these require both project management and leadership competencies. To summarise, engineers, scientists and technologists need to exhibit three types of competencies in an integrated fashion:

Project Management competency is needed by all professionals in order to participate in, and or manage business and or government endeavours, particularly focusing on hard aspects, users’ validated performance targets, financial targets, time, production requirements, safety, health and environmental protection etc. Thus, project management competency is a required core competency for virtually all classes of engineers, scientists and technologists (note that over 95% of all services and products in engineering and technology-based industries are delivered through projects).

Leadership and socio-cultural skills are also needed by all professionals in order to develop self, relate to social structures in teams, projects and business units or in wider sense of leading organisations, as well as promotion and adherence to strong personal and professional ethics. These competencies focus on the soft aspects and human and organisational cultures.

Technical competencies are also essential, and go hand in hand with other key competencies. Technology plays a key role in competitiveness of ventures and business endeavours. Th

at is why this program aims to further enhance the technical expertise of the participants and immerse them in the commercial and technological dynamics of the field. A project manager who is active in the culture and arts field is not sufficiently knowledgeable to engage in the instrumentation or electrical engineering industry and vice versa. This program has been designed to impart and enhance the participants’ technical and technological expertise in an integrated manner alongside the dimension of project management, leadership and socio-cultural competencies.

Who Should Attend

Anyone who wants to gain solid knowledge of Project Management and the key elements of industrial automation to improve their work skills and to further their job prospects:
Electrical Engineers
Maintenance Engineers and Supervisors
Instrumentation Engineers
Energy Management Consultants
Automation and Process Engineers
Design Engineers
Project Managers
Electricians and Instrument Fitters with sufficient experience
Consulting Engineers
Production Managers
Chemical and Mechanical Engineers
IT Professionals
Instrument and Process Control Technicians

COURSE STRUCTURE

This innovative Master degree comprises 15 units and is structured to be an intensive part time one running over a period of 7 semesters of 12 weeks each; with a one week break between semesters. The Graduate Diploma component is completed within the 4 semesters (first year). Students who successfully complete the first 9 units will be awarded with the Graduate Diploma* of Industrial Automation by the EIT. The Master Degree is awarded by APIC at the end of the seventh semester on successful completion of all 15 units. You need to invest 15 to 20 hours per week (comprising online lectures, assignments, lab and simulation work, collaborative team work and self-study in the program) to optimise the value you obtain from it. The structure of the Master Degree does provide some flexibility; in that you can defer units due to work commitments and continue when more appropriate for you.

Units 1 to 9 are presented by the Engineering Institute of Technology.

Unit 1: Project Scope, Time and Cost Management
Unit 2: Project Quality, Risk and Procurement Management
Unit 3: Industrial Process Instrumentation
Unit 4; Industrial Process Control Systems
Unit 5: Programmable Logic Controllers, SCADA and Distributed Control Systems
Unit 6: Industrial Data Communications
Unit 7: Management of Industrial Automation Projects
Unit 8: Processes, Tools and Templates for Management of Industrial Automation Projects
Unit 9: Integrated Management of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)

Completion of Graduate Diploma in Project Management (Industrial Automation) Candidates need to complete the following units of study presented by APIC in order to satisfy the requirements of the Master of Business and Project Management Degree:

Unit 10: Professional Development and Ethics
Unit 11: Project/Program Human Resources, Teams, Communication and Integration Management
Unit 12: Project/Program Strategic Intent, Business Case, Framework and Governance
Unit 13: Project and Program Information and Communication Systems
Unit 14: Venture/Project Economics and Finance
Unit 15: Research Project