Students from the School of the Built Environment took part in a two-day interdisciplinary construction challenge on 18 and 19 February.
The event was organised by Teambuild, a UK Charity sponsored by the main construction industry institutions including CIOB, CIBSE, ICE, IStructE, RICS and RIBA, in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh and Dr Gill Menzies and Dr Colin Elliot from the School of the Built Environment. Approximately 27 students took part from each university, a total of 54 students, split into nine interdisciplinary teams made up of undergraduate and postgraduate students from Architecture, Engineering, Surveying, Construction Management and Real Estate Planning disciplines.
Over the course of two days the students worked hard to produce team presentations on five different construction stages (Masterplan, Outline Design, Procurement, Detailed Design and Construction/Handover) mimicking the progress of the real project. The students also visited the real construction site, the University of Edinburgh Student Accommodation at Holyrood North.
The challenge was won by "Team 8-ball": Alvin Seng Chun Tan (Urban Studies, Heriot-Watt), April Lachlan (Construction Project Management, Heriot-Watt), Mihnea-Codrin Florescu (Civil Engineering, University of Edinburgh), Rebecca Goodson (Architecture, University of Edinburgh) and Scott Brady (Carbon and Energy Management, Heriot-Watt).
Feedback on the event has been very positive. Dr Gill Menzies said students had a fantastic time participating in the Construction Challenge, and learned excellent key skills for life beyond the exams.