MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY EDUCATION

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1 MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY EDUCATION Dr. J. Wesley Hines The University of Tennessee Maintenance and Reliability Center Knoxville, Tennessee Phone: Abstract: This paper has two main focuses: first it examines the status of formal education in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering (MRE) throughout the world and proposes some innovative ideas for the future, secondly it details the programs developed at The University of Tennessee. Additionally, it presents several changes in the educational environment as affected by the Internet and explores several future modes of operation. 1.0 WORLDWIDE MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY EDUCATION Several factors influence the way companies do business to assure economical competitiveness. These include Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, lean manufacturing; Internet marketing, including selling, support, and communications; just in time manufacturing, and many others. These new business methodologies and processes tend to increase uptime, reduce inventories and therefore increase the importance of reliability on the bottom line. With this increased sensitivity to reliability and maintenance, it is the responsibility of universities, around the globe, to update their programs in MREM to meet these new industrial needs. The professional status of maintenance and reliability practitioners will continue to grow as upper level management discovers that maintenance has a major impact on plant availability and reliability and can have a significant impact on company profitability. Students will be attracted when they learn about the technical and management challenge and the economic implications involved. This section explores the MRE programs of several leading institutions that have already recognized the importance of improved education in this area. 1.1 Maintenance and Reliability Education in Australia Monash University in Australia has focused MRE since 1985 and currently offers several programs [Beebe, 1997]. Three levels of academic programs are available: 1. Certification in Engineering Maintenance Management 2. Graduate Diploma in Engineering Maintenance Management 3. Masters Degree in Engineering Maintenance Management These programs primarily use distance education to reach practicing engineers throughout Australia. The typical course load is considered to be equivalent to half the

2 study load of an on-campus student. Non-degreed professionals are eligible for admission to the certificate programs and can articulate to the higher degree programs after achieving satisfactory performance. Graduate engineers can be admitted directly into the diploma program and graduates with honors can be admitted into the masters program. The engineering population is sparsely spread throughout Australia and this mandates a focus on distance education to provide continuing professional education to MRE practitioners. The distance education format is similar to correspondence courses coupled with a yearly one-week residence program. The residence program is held during the university break and includes guest lectures and teambuilding activities. Monash has produced hundreds of graduates through their programs and are currently offering them through the University of Tennessee/Maintenance and Reliability Center. 1.2 Maintenance and Reliability Education in England: The University of Manchester School of Engineering hosts the largest independent maintenance research organization in Europe. The research is accompanied by two-year and three-year degree programs that can be attended on either a full-time or part-time basis. These programs lead to a Masters Degree, a Postgraduate Diploma, or a Postgraduate Certificate in Maintenance Engineering and are aimed at working professionals in industry. However they are becoming popular with new graduates as well. Courses that are developed in one-week modules can be taken as stand-alone short courses and are recognized as Continuing Professional Development activities. European Corporations support many of the maintenance engineering researchers on staff. 1.3 Maintenance and Reliability Education in France: The French Public Education system emphasizes apprenticeship and co-op programs [Zwingelstein, 1997]. Professional certificates and Professional baccalaureate degrees in maintenance are offered through high schools and are funded through agreements with small companies. The University system delivers a Maintenance Technician degree through a two-year program involving academic and practical training through apprenticeship or internship. Again the student is employed and paid by a company. A three-year degree in maintenance management and technology is offered with alternating academic and work periods. Once again, the students are hired and paid by the company. Degreed engineers can attend a one-year program in maintenance management. The first six months is academic and during the second six months the student works on a small dissertation at the company. During the program, the company pays the student. As is apparent, there is a tight bond between companies, students, and Universities in the French Educational System. 1.4 Maintenance and Reliability Education in the United States: Neither an undergraduate or graduate degree program in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering exists at an ABET accredited universities in the United States. Educational activities in MRE are less formal in the U.S. and consist of certification and training programs offered through universities, colleges and trade associations. Several of these associations that offer certifications are:

3 The Association for Facilities Engineering offers a Certified Plant Maintenance Manager credential through work experience and an examination. The Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals has developed a Certification Exam offered to Maintenance and Reliability practitioners. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers offers a Certified Manufacturing Engineer Credential through examination. The Vibration Institute offers a vibration certification program at three levels. Also, several vendors such as CSI provide training courses in the area of MRE. CSI currently offers close to 40 classes including 3 new management related courses developed for plant management, senior engineers, and engineers. These three new courses cover topics in asset management, continuous improvement, and maintenance optimization. Most of these 1-4 day courses are geared towards technicians and engineers in specific technologies such as tribology, vibration, ultrasonics, or multichannel analysis. Although engineering degree programs specifically in MRE are not offered by U.S. Universities, a few do offer course work or credentials in this field. Auburn University, Clemson University, Penn State University, University of Toledo, and The University of Wisconsin-Madison offer seminars and short courses in MRE. In some cases, the courses can be used to meet the requirements for broad degree programs such as The University of Wisconsin-Madison Professional Development in Engineering degree. We will now explore some university programs specifically dedicated to MRE The University of Maryland Reliability Engineering Program: The University of Maryland has a Reliability Engineering Program that was started in They offer a Credential Program to engineers who wish to improve their knowledge and skills in reliability engineering. This requires the completion of 9 credits of work that can be taken by distance education using videotape. They also offer MS and Ph.D. degrees in Reliability Engineering. In order to make the education more attainable, the coursework is offered in the evening and throughout the DC area on an Instructional Television Network and also through the use of videotape The University of Dayton Center for Competitive Change: The University of Dayton offers a collection of seminars in two series: Maintenance as a Reliability Function Series and Operations Reliability. These 1-4 day seminars can be taken in clusters leading to certifications in Lean Operations or Lean Reliability. By taking a larger number of seminars, one can attain a Master Learner's License The University of Tennessee Maintenance and Reliability Center: The University of Tennessee offers several different programs related to Maintenance and Reliability Engineering that will be described in the next section.

4 2.0 UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE PROGRAMS IN MRE The University of Tennessee (UT) College of Engineering developed a curriculum in Maintenance and Reliability Education with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a Combined Research Curriculum Development (CRCD) grant. The original grant funded the development of five new MRE courses: 1. Introduction to Maintenance Engineering (senior level undergraduate) 2. Introduction to Reliability Engineering (senior level undergraduate) 3. Maintenance/Reliability Management Planning (senior level or graduate) 4. Advanced Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis (graduate level) 5. Reliability and Life Prediction Technology (graduate level) The first four courses were developed by UT and the fifth by UT's partner: The University of Alabama. Each of the courses was first offered through traditional classroom delivery and then offered with distance education methods. The distance education methods vary from videotape to synchronous Internet delivery. Two additional courses from the UT engineering curriculum are currently being re-developed to include MRE content: 1. Mechanical Vibrations (graduate level in mechanical engineering) 2. Statistical Methods in IE (graduate level in industrial engineering) These courses will be offered in Additionally, course curriculums for two classes were transferred from French Universities and translated into English: 1. Reliability Centered Maintenance (graduate level in mechanical engineering) 2. Asset Management (graduate level in mechanical engineering) The University of Tennessee offers three different programs related to Maintenance and Reliability Engineering. These offers include: 1. BS Certification through on campus courses and internship. 2. Graduate degrees through Monash University DE partnership. 3. Graduate Certification through distance education (DE). 2.1 BS Certification The University of Tennessee Maintenance and Reliability Center (MRC) offers a Certification in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering to BS engineering students. This program was developed in response to industry needs through the Maintenance and Reliability Center and has been funded with a National Science Foundation Grant. The certification is a document that accompanies the student s BS in engineering degree from any of the seven engineering departments. The BS certification requirements include practical work experience and academic training in the area of MRE. The practical work experience is gained through completion of at least two twelve-week summer internships with MRC member companies. The intern's summer job must be directly related to the maintenance task and has included tasks such as analyzing reliability data, assisting in the development of new maintenance

5 technologies, and performing root cause analysis on unreliable systems. The academic training is provided through short courses, affectionately entitled "Internship Bootcamp", and additional academic coursework. Each intern attends a one-week short course before reporting to work each summer. He or she receives training from industry experts in maintenance and reliability technologies, practices, and management. Expert from CSI provide a significant portion of the training. The internship program has just finished its fifth year of existence and currently has 25 participating engineering students. 2.2 Graduate Degrees Through Partnership With Monash University The University of Tennessee's Maintenance and Reliability Center has partnered with Monash University, one of the largest university centers in Australia, to provide distance education programs in maintenance management & reliability engineering throughout North America. Academic graduate, undergraduate and non-graduate level courses in maintenance and asset management began in March 2001 by distance education technology via correspondence and the Internet. Current classes end in November Applications are being accepted for the 2002 school year scheduled to begin in March Three levels of academic programs are available. The first level of study is the Graduate Certificate Program. The Graduate Certificate Program in Maintenance Management requires completion of four yearlong courses. The Reliability Engineering Graduate Certificate Program also requires completion of four courses, but each of these is one semester long. The second level is the Graduate Diploma. The Graduate Diploma requires completion of all certificate level requirements and four additional courses. The third level is the Master of Engineering Maintenance Management and Reliability Engineering Degree. This requires completion of all diploma level requirements and four to six additional courses. All required courses for this degree will be available in The certificates, diplomas and degrees are all conferred by Monash University, and are only available by distance education. Anyone is welcome to enroll in most single courses; however, an undergraduate degree in engineering or related science is required for the Certificate, Diploma and Degree programs; "or" other qualifications or experience deemed satisfactory preparation. A benefit of this program is the ability to enter at the certificate level, and then continue on the diploma level, and finally to the Master's level. Excellent results on completion of a single course will be favorably regarded for program entry and advancement. 2.3 Distance Graduate Certification in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering The University of Tennessee's newest program offering is a Graduate Certification in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering. Students can earn this certificate in either Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Nuclear Engineering by completing

6 four graduate engineering courses (3 credits each). The four courses consist of two core courses, Introduction to Reliability Engineering (IE/ME/NE 483) and Introduction to Maintenance Engineering (IE/ME/NE 484), and two elective courses selected from the following list: Statistical Methods in Industrial Engineering (IE 516), Managing Maintenance and Reliability (IE 591), Mechanical Vibrations (ME 534), Reliability Centered Maintenance (ME 599), Advanced Monitoring and Diagnostic Techniques (NE 579), and Process System Reliability and Safety (NE 585). The credit earned in completing the certificate program can be used towards a MS in any of the three engineering disciplines. More detailed information about the certification program is available online at The courses in the MRE certificate program are delivered live and interactively (i.e., synchronous delivery) to the student's desktop computer via the World Wide Web. Synchronous classes will be available asynchronously (i.e. saved on a server) to accommodate students who must occasionally miss class. The following section will describe these new delivery methods in distance education. 3.0 FUTURE TRENDS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION It is envisioned that future methods of delivery for continuing education will be heavily weighted towards distance education and specifically towards the Internet (Chute, 1996). This trend is evidenced by the recent explosion in courses and training available on-line, the growing number of major conferences (approximately 100 this year) and journals (approximately 50 now exist) dedicated to distance education. The benefits of Internet distance-based learning include: Availability to learners regardless of geographical location. Real-time, synchronous, and interactive delivery. Alternative asynchronous delivery to meet any schedule. Cost effective for short courses due to reduced travel costs. It is also envisioned that new paradigms in collegiate education will appear including collegiate scholarship programs that pay the student s education expenses in return for a work commitment. The armed services has been doing this for years with their ROTC programs, and several other countries such as France (Zwingelstein, 1999) currently operate in this mode. These programs work best when the student is allowed to gain work experience early through alternating work/study periods similar to co-op or internships. With increasing competitiveness in the search for qualified MRE trained engineering students, it may be necessary for companies to enter into these types of programs. For example, a large corporation with over 30 billion dollars of assets, recently interviewed 25 engineering students for summer internships on the University of Tennessee campus, gave 21 offers, and had only 4 acceptances. This company is currently providing internships, fellowships, and part time work to recruit qualified engineering students. Companies that quickly make this transition will position themselves for future excellence.

7 4.0 CONCLUSIONS The educational system must address the growing needs developing in the Maintenance and Reliability Engineering fields. Although several U.S. universities have developed programs, they are still behind the international leaders in terms of degrees offered and number of graduates. Many of the future educational needs, especially for postgraduate students and maintenance practitioners, will be met with on-line delivery technologies. And lastly, in order to meet the MRE staffing needs in such a competitive environment, companies will need to collaborate with universities and students earlier in the education process. 5.0 REFERENCES Beebe, R., Education in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering, published in the Proceedings of the Maintenance and Reliability Conference, Knoxville, TN, May 1999, pp Chute, A. and K. Gulliver, Distance Education and Partnerships: Tools for the Future, Kerlin, T., and others, A Program in Maintenance and Reliability Engineering Education, published in the Proceedings of the Maintenance and Reliability Conference, Knoxville, TN, May 1999, pp G. Zwingelstein, The Growing Role of Apprenticeship in the French Education System for Maintenance Craftsmen, Technicians and Engineers, published in the Proceedings of the Maintenance and Reliability Conference, Knoxville, TN, May 1999, pp