As a systems engineer myself, I would find the infrastructure upgrades in both construction and energy very interesting, particularly how you manage disruption to the parts you are upgrading at any time.
That's the key for your masters level...personal interest.
Whether you write a paper or do a capstone project, it is a LOT of work so research something you find personally interesting.
If it was me and wanted a career in those areas, I'd start researching what are the biggest problems of the day, and which I'd like to get paid to solve. Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Great question. It reminded me of the paper I presented as the final deliverable of my Masters of Science program at the University of Waterloo in Ontario in 1986 - 35 years ago. The introduction paragraph read:
"The Canadian construction industry has not adapted well to the concepts of modern management. Each section or department within an organization operates independently each with its own concerns with minimal co-operation or liaison. The results are costly inefficiencies both in the office and on the construction site."
Things have obviously changed since then but there remains much to do. Keep in mind that at that time we were just staring to see CPM scheduling programs, primarily Primavera in its earliest version. PMI was in its infancy. We now have LEAN construction, Agile and numerous other helpful models and computer programs but full integration remains the weakest link in the process. We still operate mostly in silos in both our attitudes, experience, and contracting models.
There already is a lot of literature, and even more opinion, on this topic but I don't believe the problem has been fully solved. Saving Changes...
