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Fear not; this needn't involve a year off that you have to fund yourself. The programme was developed by far-sighted m&e firms Amec, Haden Young and Crown House Engineering and the majority of students are sponsored by their employers and study part-time. "The course provides the opportunity to further develop the project management skills of our senior work package managers to the highest levels," says Bob Tibbles, project manager for Amec Construction.

With clients embracing Egan's Rethinking construction agenda and demanding better performance from their contractors, the building services sector cannot afford to be left behind. "We must continue to educate and train our managers to the highest level of professional competence to be able to provide exceptional customer satisfaction," concurs Tim Hawkins, training and development director with Haden Young.

The MSc is geared towards those with a minimum of five years experience working on the construction of medium and heavily-serviced buildings. The programme addresses the fundamental issues concerned with the integration and management of the services into the building design and construction processes.

"The course is designed to enhance the career of people with a technical or engineering background by introducing current and innovative project management theory and practice," explains programme director Dr Christine Pasquire of Loughborough University. Ideally, candidates will have an honours degree or diploma in a mechanical, electrical or construction-related subject.

The programme is offered on a full-time basis for 12 months or a part-time basis of 36 months and comprises a number of residential study blocks. There are a total of 12 taught modules accounting for 120 credits, plus an individual research project (60 credits). A postgraduate certificate is available for students completing 60 credits.

Clearly, with a host of modules and research project to complete, the course is no push-over. Richard Porter of Crown House Engineering admits that this is not an easy option. "At first, with the workload of the course and the cultural change in the methods of teaching (my previous qualifications were gained at a technical college) I did find it somewhat difficult. But I now feel more confident. I find the course content rewarding and beneficial to my everyday working environment."

Attendance on the MSc did no harm to Steve Dixon of Amec 星空传媒 Services. He went on to win the Amec Young Achiever of the Year Award and says: "In my opinion the course is an excellent platform to develop an individual's managerial and team integration skills."

Loughborough's innovative programme is an excellent model of how academia and employers can get together to deliver the project management skills the industry really needs. Only by attendance on such courses will today's m&e project managers acquire the skills necessary to play a central role in the integrated building teams of the future.