Project Management

Projects are at the heart of delivering engineering outcomes. It is essential that engineers who act as project managers, have a very good understanding of the larger project picture and not only of the detail tools and techniques.  

There are a few fundamental concepts in project management that will help demystify what seems, for some at least, to be a black art.

This recorded webinar aims to present a structured and coherent way of accepted best practice principles used to define, plan and execute projects. It will introduce the fundamental underpinnings of this extremely useful technique to novices as well as to seasoned practitioners.

Learning outcomes

Participants will gain an awareness and understanding of:

• A perspective of what exactly a project is – showing the whole project/whole life-cycle actions and relationships.
• The need to define the project requirements clearly and comprehensively.
• Planning the project – defining the work to be done.
• Planning the project – resource allocation.
• Using the project plan as a baseline for project control and actions to keep the project on track.
• Closing out the project properly and lessons learned – often neglected.

Intended audience

Engineers, designers, consultants, contractors, principals (private and public sector) – frankly anyone who has to plan and manage projects, whether large or small.  

Presenter information

Piet Beukman has a passion for developing engineers into capable professional leaders that can deal with their technical, as well as their business tasks, with equal capability.

He retired in 2019 as the Director of the Engineering Management Programme at the University of Canterbury and is now self-employed as a consultant and educator. An accomplished “pracademic”,  he has 43 years of experience in the aerospace, military, marine engineering, venture capital, commercialisation and consulting industries to offer. He also has hands-on experience of developing specifications for complex engineering projects.

Piet is influential in developing NZ best practice methods for the effective execution of engineering activities. He is highly regarded in New Zealand and internationally as a practitioner with a sound track record of achievement for using a practical, but rigorous, approach.