The BRU21 team has established a continuing education master program in Digitalization and Automation where the courses are aligned with the BRU21 reserach.

NTNU runs several continuing educatin programs, please see the continuing education pages at NTNU for a list of programs. Among these programs is the Technology Management and Digital Transformation program where a specialization in Digitalization and Automation has been established. The structure of our specialization is as follows:

• A set of 5 basic courses where the students choose 4 out of these courses
• A set of specialization courses in digitalization and automation in the energy sector where the students choose 4 out of these courses, see a list of current and planned courses below
• A master project where the student typically applies theory from the program on a relevant use case in her/his own company.

For continuing education programs it is expected that the student studies in parallel with ordinary work which means that the duration of the program is around 4 years. There is no required sequence of the courses to follow, but for some courses there is a recommended sequence.

To be admitted to the master program it is required to have a BSc degree in a technology discipline and minimum two years of relevant work experience.

Time table

The schedule for the courses in the specialization are as follows:

The courses can be attended free of charge according to the time schedule shown above (first come principle up to 25 participants on each course). On a permanent basis there will be a course fee according to the NTNU regulations, i.e., from autumn 2024 regular fees apply.

Description of the specialization courses

PK6031 - Digital Twins for Managing Safety and Reliability of Systems

The starting point for the course is a discussion of basic concepts within safety and reliability analysis. Then we introduce qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques: Functional Failure Analysis, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, Reliability Block Diagram analysis and Markov modelling. Based on these standard techniques we discuss requirements for digital twins and how real-time update of the digital twin can be carried out. Finally we discuss queries and “what-if” analysis to support decision making.

Read more (in Norwegian)

PK6029 - Digital solutions for planning and optimization of maintenance

The starting point for the course is a maintenance management and use of computer based maintenance management systems (CMMS). Specific topics to cover partly depends on the interest by the students, but tentatively we cover the following topics: Age, block and minimal maintenance strategies. Optimization of interval and intervention level in predictive maintenance. Digital twins for the maintenance function. Real-time models for synchronization of operation, operation and maintenance. Grouping of maintenance tasks and optimization of strategies for grouping – Dynamic approaches/real-time updating. Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM). Collection and analysis of experience data for use in maintenance analysis. Use of numerical methods.

Read more  / (in Norwegian)

IT6207 - Remote operations

Remote operations, and remote control or remote monitoring have long been used in oil and gas production facilities, and in several other industries like the utility sector. Remote day-to-day operations, engineering, maintenance, and environmental monitoring are increasingly performed at greater distances from production sites. The primary case for remote operations is usually to limit the number of personnel on a production site and thus limit exposure to hazardous environments, as well as to enable easier and faster access to expert support independently of the location. Ongoing digitalization in the energy sector (e.g., broadband subsea links, sensor networks, Digital Twins, Artificial Intelligence) presents several opportunities but also new challenges for current and future remote operations.

The design, planning, and performance of remote operations requires a multidisciplinary approach to define division of functions and responsibilities between remote and local operations, identify suitable technological solutions, enforce control-of-work policies, assure the reliability of remote communications, and not the least to identify and prevent the operational risks and challenges associated with the use of remote functions including cyber security risks.

Read more. / (In Norwegian)

PG6210 - Petroleum Cybernetics for Engineers and Managers

Efficient digital transformation of the oil and gas industry relies on people with knowledge of both petroleum and digital domains. However, traditional petroleum engineering education and practice often lacks information on and experience with digital and automation (cybernetics) technologies. This course is intended to fill this gap for (petroleum) engineers, researchers and decision makers.

During the course the participants will get acquainted with a toolbox of cybernetics technologies, learn about their benefits and limitations, specifics of their application in the oil and gas industry, as well as application examples within drilling and well, production, operations and reservoir domains.

Read more. / (In Norwegian)

PK6032 - Safety demonstration of novel solutions

The course will give a thorough understanding of concepts, requirements, and methods used in relation to reliability assessments of safety-critical systems, within the frames of standards like IEC 61508. More specifically, the participants will learn about (i) types of safety-critical systems, (ii) key requirements in IEC 61508 and related standards, (iii) methods to use for the derivation of safety-integrity level (SIL) requirements, (iv) constraints for the selection of hardware and software design in light of SIL-requirements, (iii)  commonly used methods for reliability assessment, including the selection of data and considerations to uncertainty .

The main case studies used to support the lectured material are taken from the oil and gas industry, and in to some extent also from machinery systems. The participants are welcomed to also introduce other case examples, in light of their working area.

A textbook from the Safety 4.0 project will together with the Reliability of Safety-Critical Systems textbook form the basis for the course.

Further information

Please contact professor Jørn Vatn or BRU21 program manager Alexey Pavlov for further information regarding the status of the BRU21-Academy, or if you have input on topics you would like to include in the study program.