Abstract:

New Zealand currently faces a critical shortage of infrastructure asset managers, engineers who understand the nature of the country’s infrastructure and who can draw on interdisciplinary knowledge to solve the problems that arise from infrastructure deterioration as well as future needs and natural disasters. Traditionally, these asset managers are drawn from traditional civil, electrical and mechanical engineers, who “grow” into the role through their own experience on city and district councils. This paper describes the development of a pilot curriculum for a three year engineering technologist apprenticeship degree in New Zealand, focussing on infrastructure asset management. This industry-led curriculum is designed to be delivered through a unique hub structure that will allow students to gain experience in city and district councils, consultancies and contractors. The advantage of this model is that students are able to learn different aspects of infrastructure asset management within the different organisations and hence come out better rounded engineers with more industry experience than traditional engineering students are exposed to. The structure also represents a partnership between local government, industry and the polytechnic sector.

Degree apprenticeships elsewhere in the world and in the United Kingdom in particular, have been shown to address historically underrepresented groups in technical fields including women in IT and engineering, and poorer students who cannot afford a university education without simultaneous work. In New Zealand, this curriculum has the potential to increase the number of Māori and Pacific Island students in engineering, as well as address the historically under-represented numbers of women in engineering

It is proposed in this paper that this new curriculum be used as a vehicle to achieve several goals simultaneously:
• Transform the way in which vocationally oriented degrees are taught within the polytechnic sector,
• Contribute to the growth of the economy by providing engineers trained in asset management at a time when there is a critical shortage of infrastructure asset managers,
• Provide access to groups who have been historically underrepresented in engineering in New Zealand.
The plan to evaluate the transformative nature of the curriculum is also discussed.

In addition, the paper will discuss the way in which the degree is delivered through an industry / polytechnic partnership which will include collaboration between different stakeholders such as councils, consultants and contractors through the formation of industry focused hubs. this "sharing" of apprentices brings these three stakeholders closer together by creating a common goal in the development of local infrastructure and the training of individuals who could be of service to the community in a number of different capacities.

Keywords:

Engineering, curriculum development, degree apprenticeship, infrastructure asset management.