Making a difference with Oracle Academy
The spotlight is on Dr. Hemanta Doloi, University of Melbourne, Australia.
The 165-year-old University of Melbourne offers over 270 degrees in a vast range of study areas and specialisations, including business, education, engineering, law, fine arts, science, agriculture, and architecture. The university has seven campuses in and around Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city and capital of the state of Victoria. Parkville, the main campus, is located just a few minutes from the central business district.
The faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning teaches a variety of built environment courses including a master of Construction Management. The three-year program focuses on the management of people, processes, and materials in the construction industry and how these apply to specific building projects. It offers students the opportunity to specialize in three areas: Building; Cost Management; and Project Management.
Associate Professor Dr. Hemanta Doloi teaches in the Master of Construction Management program and is coordinator of the Project Management specialisation. Doloi has published over 200 research papers, has led dozens of research projects and is widely consulted for corporate training courses on project risk management, scheduling and control. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Jorhat Engineering College, Dibrugarh University, India; a master’s degree in Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand; and a PhD from the University of Sydney, Australia.
In the Master of Construction Management (MCM) course, Doloi uses Oracle Primavera and the Primavera P6 Professional Project Management Fundamentals curriculum, giving particular attention to the all-important aspect of project scheduling, particularly in the Construction Scheduling subject. The annual student cohort for MCM numbers around 150, 70% of whom are from abroad and 30% domestic Australian or New Zealanders.
Oracle Academy: What made you select Oracle Primavera P6 for teaching construction scheduling?
Hemanta Doloi: That’s a good question! Australia is a big country, with a small population, but a healthy economy that currently supports AU$500 billion in infrastructure projects. A great part of this volume is federally funded — pipelines, railroads, tunnels, airports, harbors, highways, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, and more. When we kicked off the Construction Scheduling subject within the MCM in 2012, we were using MS Projects. But fairly soon we learned from visiting industry lecturers that hidden inside federal legislation was a clause mandating the use of Primavera P6 software when scheduling any project financed by the federal government’s money.
When we discovered this vital piece of knowledge, I went all out to find a source of P6 software for teaching the construction scheduling component of project management.
Oracle Academy: And how did you go about adopting P6?
Hemanta Doloi: Given the prime importance of giving our graduates scheduling skills for use in the massive volume of construction projects, we searched for a P6 software vendor. Where could we source it? There was only one in the whole country, far from Melbourne in Western Australia. But, since they offered no educational licenses, the price quoted for 20 licenses was in the tens of thousands of dollars, far more than my faculty could consider spending on just one subject out of more than 100.
But we kept trying. Eventually, after hard negotiation with my faculty, I secured a budget for a limited number of licenses, which somehow our IT people multiplied to match the number of enrolled students. This was in 2015, and we struggled on for five years. But in 2020 when Covid hit, many international students returned to their countries and all teaching became virtual. Because we could not deploy P6 remotely, we actually stopped the P6 component of the construction scheduling teaching during 2021. We started up again a year later, when in-class sessions resumed.
But in the meantime, whilst enrollment in our course was booming in the post-Covid period, we lost the ability to equip each student with P6 access. We were in the process of again negotiating exorbitant license costs but the negotiation for money with the faculty for even continuing the old arrangement was not going well. Then, surprisingly a breakthrough took place, and that too was due to our particular persistence to be able to teach P6 in our classes again! We were made aware that Oracle Academy provides Primavera P6 free of charge to educational institutions… and finally, here we are. To cut a long story short: In the last semester of 2023 we finally had 41 students accessing P6 free of charge, accessed from anywhere, and the same for visiting tutors from industry invited to teach construction scheduling. Oracle Academy saved the day.
Oracle Academy: And has it helped?
Hemanta Doloi: Yes, we are in a happy space with Primavera P6. As mentioned, there is a huge demand for construction scheduling skills. It’s a niche field of expertise. Planning and scheduling deficiencies have the highest impact on cost performance. Clients, consultants, and contractors avoid such pitfalls by using professional scheduling software, Primavera P6 specifically.
Tier-1 contractors bidding on federal projects in Australia must, as we know, use P6. In the residential sector, even small builders involved in about AU$1 million-plus home construction in the outer suburbs are increasingly looking at timely delivery. Overall, everyone is aware of the advantages of having a good schedule in order to deliver projects.
Project management and scheduling is relevant everywhere, as can be seen by the large number of students we have from countries that need to build efficient capacity to deliver projects across the board. We don’t see so many mega projects in developed economies at the moment, but in countries like India and China, we see building of six-lane highways, new airports and multiple other projects running as a portfolio. These include Delhi’s second airport and associated infrastructure, to be the biggest in the world. Scheduling with P6 is a powerful asset.
Oracle Academy: It sounds like your graduates have no problem finding jobs…
Hemanta Doloi: Correct, we’ve witnessed 100% employment year over year. Every single student, before they graduate, usually has a job. Any student leaving us with P6 on their resumés will find good work opportunities. The University of Melbourne has strong relations with industry, and over the recent years we have certainly become known as the go-to place for construction schedulers.
Last week a former student, now in the industry as a scheduler, told me his organization needed to recruit three more schedulers: Who would I recommend?
What’s more, the University of Melbourne policy for alumni is to give access to facilities and resources for life. This means that alumni, who in the future might find themselves working in a project overseas, can come to us for a ‘top-up’ skill in a specific aspect of their job role.
Oracle Academy: How do you structure the teaching?
Hemanta Doloi: Currently we have over 100 students in the course. On average, 50-60 students in Construction Scheduling class need access to the scheduling software, which is managed by the central IT department on individual PCs. Initially we give them a six-week ABC of scheduling using MS Projects. Then we switch to P6, designating a set of activities to perform. These include challenging them to develop construction schedules using real-life projects for the assignment.
Oracle Academy: How has Oracle Academy benefited the University of Melbourne since adopting Primavera P6?
Hemanta Doloi: One important result is that we get industry validation. We are known for being able to supply schedulers with the P6 skills required by the government. There are Tier-1 contractor case studies showing how scheduling has made them profitable in their delivery — thanks to P6. We have frequent guest speakers from the industry who are happy to share their experiences with our classes, knowing that we are on the same page in learning and using Primavera.
At the same time, I have a case study of over a dozen graduates who are working in Tier-1 organizations who publicize their use of P6 in testimonials, conference presentations and so on. This ‘banging our drum’ is important. With 70% of students from overseas, including India and China, the University of Melbourne education is a commodity that gets exported, so we rely on students and industry professionals to talk us up. In addition, we compete with five other universities in the state of Victoria, and the fact that this Construction Master’s stands out is a real plus!
Personally, I give my heart and soul to preparing project managers with world-class scheduling skills thanks to Oracle Academy. My name is used as a reference, and we have a very strong alumni bonding, with former students frequently visiting to share real-world construction project experiences.
I thank Oracle Academy for providing this high-end software package.
Oracle Academy: Terrific, it’s a win-win situation! And what do the students think?
Hemanta Doloi: In terms of feedback, our course has some of the best student experience scores. In surveys with scales 1 to 5 we always get a score of 4+, which is very good. Apart from that, they are excited about having access to the Oracle Academy resources, including the additional materials on the Oracle Academy Member Hub where they can learn related aspects of technology that are of value to future careers.
Oracle Academy: Lastly, what are your interests outside of the university?
Hemanta Doloi: Well, let me divide that into my home life and the projects I’m involved in. On the home front, whenever time permits, I go out with my wife to enjoy a nice coffee or breakfast or even just to a beachfront to enjoy some time together. Often this involves a meal of fish and chips, a routine that became more frequent in the post-pandemic era!
I also play badminton at a club, at least once per week. Then of course, household support including cooking (when allowed in the kitchen). And there is my enjoyment of reading — especially my weekly Time Magazine; I can’t stay away from Time!
Oracle Academy: That all sounds relaxing. And in the field of projects and research, does this include your Life-Cycle Project Management specialty?
Hemanta Doloi: Yes, absolutely. Basically, I devote 40%-50% of my energy into research and development across four key areas: Project Management, Construction Economics and Management, Infrastructure Planning and Development, and Smart Villages and Rural Development. In the early part of my research career, I developed a new project management concept, known as Life-Cycle Project Management (abbreviated to LCPM). The new model has been widely presented across journal papers, book chapters, and a book. My other areas of research were also widely published across numerous high quality outputs. Over the recent years, however, I am focusing substantially in a fairly new project called Smart Villages.
LCPM is about evaluating the investment in a project into various dimensions across the lifecycle of the project. Some of the important dimensions include appropriate design and scope, supply-demand, profitability and social inclusivity, climate responsiveness and other factors contributing to values that go beyond handing over the keys. It’s about optimal decision making and management of the long-term social impact of projects. My efforts go into creating awareness that a project manager’s responsibility should cover not only the design and delivery but also operational performance after completion of the project, ensuring that the end users get value by using the project in the long-term.
Oracle Academy: And Smart Villages?
Hemanta Doloi: This is a field I am passionate about. The world is roughly split 60-40 into urban dwellers and rural dwellers. The lifestyle of the latter is low or carbon neutral, while we in the cities are the worst offenders in the complex issue of climate change.
I established a new research facility, Smart Villages Lab, after securing an AU$1.9 million grant for improving rural construction and development, targeting the 40% rural population and contributing towards a climate-positive planet. We have a three-year project to assist the State Government of Assam to create smart villages, which mobilise good governance, construction management, and technology to improve rural living environments. In this context I have launched an international conference on smart villages and rural development (COSVARD 2024) to be held this December in the Institute of Technology Madras, where I have accepted to be a visiting professor for six months.
Thank you, Dr. Hemanta Doloi, for your passion for Oracle Academy and for preparing your students to make a positive impact.