Poli continues worldwide project management discussions

HOBOKEN, N.J. – Dr. Michael Poli, Distinguished Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Project Management program in Stevens Institute of Technology’s Howe School of Technology Management, has just completed the second of his two six-week Erasmus Mundus Scholarships for scholarly activity within the Master’s in Strategic Project Management - European (MSPME) program at the Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy in May/June 2009.

While in Milan, Poli met with the directors of the three European Universities in the Erasmus Mundus consortium: Amos Haniff, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK; Dr. Antonio Calabrese, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy; and Dr.Tomas Blomquist, Umea University, Umea, Sweden, plus fellow visiting Erasmus Mundus scholar, Dr. Ronggui Ding, Dean, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, China. It was agreed at the meeting that the group would continue to discuss ways and means to collaborate in research, teaching, exchanges of students and teachers, and the development of executive programs. The effort is seen as a way of establishing “Worldwide Project Management” – to bring ideas about project management from Europe, the Far East and the United States into a new forum for a better world.

Poli’s first scholarship was at Umea University, Umea, Sweden in September/October 2008. The MSPME program offers professional training to students at the postgraduate level inspired by the most recent research in the field. Selection of students and scholars is competitive and based on academic performance and credentials. Poli participated in three lectures at each university on the subjects of project success, project strategy and strategic focus with examples of each from real world projects. He also gave a speech to the Italian Project Management Association (IPMA) of Milan.

Currently in Beijing, China, Poli is teaching an advanced project management class for Stevens, for the third time in the last three years. While there, he is working with Dr. Guijun Li, Vice-Dean, School of Management Science and Engineering, Central University of Finance and Economics to firm up plans for a third cohort of masters students for the fall 2009 semester. Additionally, Poli and Dr. Li will be working on developing a new accelerated graduate program with some unique features that will help solidify the concept of “Worldwide Project Management.” Plans are for this new program to be active the fall 2010 semester.

Poli continues to promote Stevens’ Project Management program worldwide. In June 2008, Poli was a plenary speaker at Project forum 2008 held in Radenci, Slovenia where his message called for attendees to “think out of the box and be great together – in worldwide project management.”

In May 2008, Poli designed and implemented five two-day training sessions in “Implementing Strategic Project Management” as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Competitiveness Project in Serbia. That was followed in June 2008 by talking with small and medium sized companies in Serbia about their projects and project management needs. In October 2008, cited for his efforts on behalf of the Serbian people, in particular “for his enthusiasm and willingness to share his knowledge, experience, creativeness and capability directed towards increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of managers and companies in the country of Serbia.” Poli was elected to the International Academy of Management of Serbia. Previously, Poli has taught project management for Stevens in Paris, France, twice in the Dominican Republic, many times on-campus and through WebCampus, reaching out to a worldwide project management audience.

Stevens continues to be a leader in cutting edge education and research in the field of project management. Stevens developed and championed the concepts of Strategic Project Management and Project Strategy. Getting better business results, achieving competitive advantage, and producing value from projects have been the challenges presented to graduates of the Stevens Project Management program. These concepts have been embraced by Stevens’ students for years and are only now emerging in academic and practitioner programs, articles, books and best practice worldwide.

The Stevens Project Management program has a long history of success. The first project management course was offered in 1986. The Graduate Certificate program was established in 1997. Stevens Project Management degrees and courses were accredited by both the Global Accreditation Center (GAC) and the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2004. At that time, Stevens was only the third such university worldwide to receive accreditation. In May 2009, Stevens awarded its 750th certificate. This is a remarkable growth rate. Students who initially come to Stevens for their Graduate Certificate in Project Management go on to obtain their Masters or MBA degrees. The growth of the Stevens Project Management program can be attributed to the popularity of the project management courses offered and the practical and academic experience of the project management faculty, both full-time and affiliate.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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