Maintenance practitioners from around Australia and beyond are spending this week at Central Queensland University Gladstone campus.

The 150 practitioners are in Gladstone to attend a week-long residential course as part of their CQU Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Maintenance Management programs. This year marks the 10th year that maintenance students have been coming to Gladstone to complete this component of their studies and program director Dr Patrick Keleher said it was always a rewarding time for both the students and staff.

“The students are all working full time in the field of maintenance and complete their studies via distance mode while working," he said.

“Twice a year both the students and staff travel from around the country and overseas to attend these sessions and the feedback always shows that this contact time is extremely valuable and rewarding to their studies.

“The students and staff get to put a face to the names of people that they work with throughout the term and have an opportunity to network with other maintenance professionals," said Dr Keleher.

This year students came from throughout Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, New Zealand and NSW and the staff included Dr Anthony Kelly, a maintenance academic who is based in the United Kingdom.

Photo: (L-R) CQU Lecturer Kevin Hancock meets with student Michael O'Shea from Weipa.