Three students of the BSc (Hons) in Construction Management & Engineering recently received recognition for excellence in their final year dissertation by receiving the 2013 Sisk Awards for Excellence in Project Management & Research. The dissertation forms an integral part of the student’s work in their final year, consisting of a substantial piece of academic research into a topic of their choice.
The overall winner was David Whitty from Wexford, who investigated the area of “Corporate Social Responsibility in Construction.” As part of his research, David conducted in-depth interviews with some of the leading international practitioners in this field and now intends to pursue a Masters degree in Environmental Sustainability. The runners-up were Hanshuo Chang from Shanghai who explored the potential development of “Ecological Residences in Urban Areas” and PJ Delaney from Kilkenny who investigated “Communication within Large Construction Organisations.”
The students provided an overview of their research findings to WIT staff and Declan Gahan, Contracts Manager with Sisk, who presented the awards. Declan congratulated the students on their achievements and commended the high standard of research undertaken, particularly the importance of such research to the construction industry.
The long-standing relationship between the Construction Management & Engineering programme and Sisk was acknowledged by Programme Director, Brian Graham, who thanked Declan and his colleagues for their continued support. In addition to sponsoring the annual awards, Sisk support the 7 month Industrial Placement provided for students, where they get first-hand experience of working in management and site engineering roles on major building projects. At present, a number of the 3rd year students are working with Sisk on projects in both Ireland and the United Kingdom.
For further information on the Construction Management & Engineering programme at WIT, please see www.wit.ie/construction or contact Brian Graham ([email protected] or 051-302084).
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