A team of four construction students from the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction at IT Sligo have won the IT National Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Student Challenge that was held at Croke Park.
Michael Cunningham, a Donegal native, was among two quantity surveying students including Nathan Flanagan and Construction Project Management students, Gregory Kirkpatrick and Matthew Shaw.
The annual event was attended by students from Institutes of Technology, Universities and colleges throughout Ireland and run by the CIOB in association with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and a number of sponsors, including key Construction Companies in Ireland.
The Challenge consisted of the students being given a project brief relating to a complex real-life construction project, and then they were asked to produce a bid submission and presentation relating to the project within a tight time frame.
After the presentation, the students were quizzed by the judges in relation to their proposal. The teams were marked then the top three were asked to attend another nail-biting question and answer session in front of the judges and audience.
The Sligo team put in an outstanding performance in what was a highly testing challenge and were praised by the judges for their extensive knowledge, practicality and overall professionalism.
Along with receiving numerous prizes for the event, the students will be invited to attend the Construction Manager of the Year award (CMYA) in Dublin as well as the CIOB proposing to sponsor the team to go forward to the Global Student challenge, which was held in Toronto last year.
On being awarded the winners of the CIOB Student Challenge, Trevor McSharry, Head of Department of Civil Engineering and Construction said: “This is the first time IT Sligo have win this particular competition and this accolade, putting us ahead of our peers, is a testament to the excellent teaching of our staff coupled with the quality of our students.
“Many of our staff teach students who are upskilling in the industry through our online part-time programmes,” he added.
“This helps to maintain a strong connection between our department and the construction sector, which feeds into our full-time programmes in terms of quality and relevance. This is the feedback we get from our graduate employers.”
On conclusion, Trevor added: “We would like to thank the CIOB and CIF for arranging this important event to highlight the collaboration between stakeholders in the construction sector, celebrate the quality of Ireland’s construction students.
“Given the huge demand from industry for graduates, we need to do everything we can to promote the rewarding construction-related programmes available to CAO students.”
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