UCEM Property Awards 2017: Academic Excellence Award Nominees
Posted on: 9 October, 2017
Assembled guests will descend upon Haberdashers’ Hall in London on Thursday for the 30th UCEM Property Awards.
In the lead-up to the prestigious, annual event, we will be posting a daily blog, focusing on each of the three awards.
Today, we look at the UCEM Academic Excellence award…
History
The UCEM Academic Excellence award will be presented for only the third time in its history on Thursday.
The prize was introduced to the main Property Awards programme in 2015, alongside the UCEM Alumni of the Year award, and recognises the academic excellence and quality of our current students’ research and dissertation submissions.
UCEM’s Academic Team review the submissions before shortlisting the best, with Alex Flanders walking away with the award in its inaugural year and Deborah McGhee the recipient of last year’s award.
So, who could be following in the footsteps of Alex and Deborah this year?
The nominees
Kirstie Nagle’s dissertation for the MSc Quantity Surveying programme researched the practice of ‘designing out crime’, with particular reference to the ‘Secured by Design’ UK Police initiative. As part of her project, Kirstie investigated the effectiveness of Secured by Design in two Greater London residential developments, focusing on whether this design approach can be perceived as ‘cruel’.
Julia Erskine’s dissertation for the MSc Real Estate sought to determine organisational demand for sustainable buildings on the Isle of Man, focusing primarily on the commercial office market. The project examined the Isle of Man Government’s stance on sustainability in the context of the Built Environment and the current guidance available related to Approved Document L (as amended by the Building Control (Approved Document) Order (2014)).
Sawda Chundoo’s project for the BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying programme looked into the factors which delay construction projects in Mauritius and how to reduce them. Through interviews and research, Sawda identified three possible solutions as: the better planning of financial resources; a more realistic programme of works; and better co-ordination between parties on a project.
Ross Pinney’s dissertation for the MSc Construction Management programme researched the skills gap in the construction industry with modern methods of construction (MMC) deemed one such solution to this issue and the pressures the industry experiences. Ross gained his inspiration for the dissertation from the two-and-a-half years he spent working in the industry prior to embarking on this project.
Claire Brown’s final project for her MSc Building Surveying looked at gender imbalance in the property industry. Claire investigated how role models, leadership and mentoring play a part in the career development of male and female surveyors, and her findings offered practical measures which could help make surveying a more accessible long-term career choice for women.
Elias Crang’s project for the MSc Quantity Surveying programme compared bathroom pods with traditionally built bathrooms in the student accommodation sector, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Elias interviewed industry professionals and unearthed a variety of views on modern methods of construction (MMC) during the course of the project.
Stay updated
To find out who will take the award this year, keep up-to-date with our coverage of the event this Thursday, with live posts going out on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
