Concrete achievement for civil engineering students
A team of civil engineering students from Southampton has won a top prize in a competition to design a luxury apartment block using structural concrete.
Bolun Cao, Khaleel Rahemtoola, Katharine Aston and David Tame were awarded second prize in the contest organised by The Concrete Centre, part of the Mineral Products Association, with Laing O'Rourke. All the winners received their certificates and prizes at a ceremony at the Institution of Structural Engineers.
"Although we knew the principles, we hadn't designed a full building before so it was quite a challenge," says Katharine, who is a fourth year MEng student sponsored by Laing O'Rourke. "However, we all had experience of practical building projects through our first year residential at the Constructionarium at the National Construction Centre in Norfolk."
Lecturer Alan Bloodworth says it was a particular achievement as the Southampton students were up against tough opposition; a team of Masters students from Imperial College were the eventual winners. "The students were particularly innovative in their use of small-scale models to work out the best way of arranging the structure to make the building stand up," he says.