The Graduate Diploma was developed with input from industry in the mid-1980s by Len Bradshaw, now publisher of MAINTENANCE Journal. Following his Master’s degree from the University of Manchester, he worked in maintenance engineering in the UK and overseas.

Len and other staff at the independent college that is now Monash University Gippsland Campus wrote the subjects. The program was designed for graduate engineers, but also to admit a proportion of non-graduates. Many of these were of high caliber, and some went on to gain their Master’s degree elsewhere.

In 1989, another Gippsland academic, Yousef Ibrahim, developed the Graduate Certificate in Reliability Engineering, which is taught entirely by practicing reliability engineers. It has a narrower appeal than the engineering maintenance management programs, and has been completed by relatively few. Some reliability engineering material with an asset management focus is included in the engineering maintenance management program, and duplication was avoided when the programs were integrated to form the Master of Maintenance and Reliability Engineering.

MONASH UNIVERSITY

Monash University was formed in 1958 as the second university in the State of Victoria (Australia’s second most populous State, now with about 4M people). Monash Faculties are well-recognized internationally for excellence in teaching and research.

In the late 1980s, the Australian Federal Government decided that the independent colleges should amalgamate with universities, or become universities in their own right. Among 4 colleges, gained a regional campus – Gippsland.

The universities accredit their own post-graduate courses. The maintenance management course is under the oversight of the Faculty of Engineering and higher level committees.

MONASH MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT & RELIABILITY ENGINEERING PROGRAMS TODAY

In the continuing education field, it is becoming accepted that a Graduate Diploma requires one year of full-time study or equivalent, with a Graduate Certificate half of that. Requirements for Master’s degrees vary. Distance education is usually considered to be half the study workload of on-campus students. The Monash programs in this field are:

· Graduate Certificate in Maintenance Management (GradCertMaintMgt)

· Graduate Certificate in Reliability Engineering (GradCertRelEng)

· Graduate Diploma in Engineering Maintenance Management (GradDipEngMaintMgt)

· Master of Maintenance and Reliability Engineering (MMaintRelEng)

To ensure that the applicant has sufficient background preparation to cope with university level study, admission into the Graduate Diploma is only available to graduates in engineering or similar professions. Direct admission into the Master’s is available to graduate engineers with Honors degrees. Others may articulate following completion of the Graduate Diploma with high grades.

There are many non-degreed engineers and others working in maintenance, often holding great responsibility for staff management or planning of maintenance. They are eligible for admission into either of the Graduate Certificates. After achieving high grades, they may articulate into the Graduate Diploma and later the Master’s degree.

Outlines of the subjects (called “courses” in some countries) are given in the Appendix.