A team of final year MEng Civil Engineering students from Loughborough University has won the East Midlands regional ICE Communications Competition.
The competition offers young engineers the opportunity to develop their communications skills in role play public consultation scenarios based around mock engineering scheme proposals.
The Loughborough University team took on the role of 'JJS Consultants’ and presented a proposal for a scenario regarding a harbour development to improve both the tourist potential of the town and the employment situation. The audience asked questions as if in a public meeting - the team had to develop a presentation and 'information flyer' about their proposal.
Oliver Latimer - team leader said “I found participating in the competition challenging and rewarding; the experience has enhanced our presentation skills and increased our confidence. I would recommend the competition to all students and graduates".
The winning Loughborough team faced strong competition from Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions and another team from Loughborough University to win the regional round; they will go forward to the next round for a chance of competing in the national final.
Robert Armitage, ICE East Midlands Regional Chairman and Director of Research Consultancy and Specialised Surveys at URS said “There’s no point in having a good idea unless you can communicate it. Tonight we saw groups of young civil engineers demonstrating passion about engineering projects whilst showing a good awareness of social, political and environmental implications. They also obviously had some fun when presenting and responded sensitively to questions from the audience dealing with several controversial societal issues”.
Malcolm Jackson, Regional Director of the ICE East Midlands said “The Institution of Civil Engineers is committed to developing the next generation of professional engineers which will lead the industry with the innovative infrastructure solutions required to address the issues we are facing, such as climate change”.