Recently I had the chance to meet Greenwich University Civil Engineering students at the Olympic Park. The students, along with teams from the universities of East London, South Bank University and Imperial College, were there as part of the annual week-long 'hands-on' engineering project called Constructionarium.
The project involves the building of smaller-scale constructions of prominent UK landmarks and is designed to recreate the appearance and atmosphere of working on a real large-scale civil engineering project.
On the Olympic Park the students recreated Barcelona Tower, Kingsgate Bridge in Durham, the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield and Brewery Wharf footbridge in Leeds:
I am a keen supporter of this scheme, which enables students to experience the hours, conditions and challenges of working on a construction site.
The bringing together of the theory and reality of construction is an excellent way to prepare students for work in the industry when they go on to be the UK’s future civil engineers.
