TESTIMONIALS

Chifley helps Reece build Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

I attended an information session on the MBA-Technology Management towards the end of 2001 at the Hyatt in Canberra. After listening to an overview of the course, hearing from one or two past graduates and seeing how such a course aligned with my long term career goals, I knew this was a decision that would benefit me in multiple ways.

The APESMA MBA in Technology Management is immediately applicable to my work as a Project Manager on Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner aircraft. This program depends heavily on people who have a holistic perspective because there are so many different interests involved. In my dealings with the aerospace community in the US, I have observed that the biggest need is for engineers who transcend their technical base and seek to optimise the technical and non-technical (financial, political, human, ethical) dimensions. This is particularly the case in the space arena where drivers are usually non-technical.

The one thing that I discovered about distance learning is that it requires a great deal of self discipline, requires you to stay on top of the course material and not get too far behind. In distance learning, no one is there to push you so you need to rely heavily on your ability to learn independently and if you don’t understand something, use the resources of fellow students, the lecturer, message boards, notes and extra readings to fill in the gaps. I absorbed quite a lot from reading comments of fellow students and their questions on the bulletin board. This is not something you would have access to in attending normal scheduled classes unless you were right next to the student asking the question.

I enjoyed the course immensely because I learnt things that I apply routinely in my work. Seeing some of the issues I was studying play out in my workplace helped enhance the learning experience for me as it provided an extra anchor to help me understand the concepts.

The MBA-Technology Management added a powerful dimension to my professionalism. It provided me with the ability to reason on technical issues from a multi-dimensional position, backed up by logic and problem solving skills I had already developed through my engineering undergraduate degree.