BRU21 Academy

BRU21 Academy

BRU21 Academy

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

NTNU runs several continuing education 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 you find our specialization in Digitalization and Automation. 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 where the students choose 4 out of these courses, see a list of current 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:

Course name Contacts Semester
Remote operations Elena Parmiggiani, Vidar Hepsø September 16 & 17 and October 14 & 15 - 2025. Sign up ☑.
Maintenance optimization Jørn Vatn October 7, 8 & 9 and November 18, 19 & 20 - 2025.  Sign up ☑.
Petroleum Cybernetics for Engineers and Managers Alexey Pavlov Autumn 2025. Sign up ☑.
Safety and Reliability Jørn Vatn  Spring 2026. Sign up ☑.
Demonstrating Safety of Novel Solutions Jørn Vatn Spring 2026. Sign up ☑.

Description of the specialization courses

Description of the specialization courses

PK6018 - Safety and Reliability

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.

PK6021 - Maintenance optimizaiton

The starting point for the course is maintenance management and the use of computer based maintenance management systems (CMMS). Then we introduce maintenance otpimization in various settings: (i) classical age, block and minimal repair strategies, (ii) the PF-model, (iii) optimization of interval and intervention level in predictive maintenance, (iv) renewal strategies, (v) grouping of maintenance activities, (vi) spare part optimization, and (vii) digital twins for the maintenance function.

IT6207 - Remote operations

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 presents several opportunities but also new challenges for current and future remote operations.

PG6210 - Petroleum Cybernetics for Engineers and Managers

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.

PK6032 - Safety demonstration of novel solutions

The course gives 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. Python and Excel are introduced to perform quantification.