Team Saltire from Glasgow Caledonian University has won the second annual CIOB Global Student Challenge, beating finalists from five other universities.
The team – Ross Anderson, Dale Mason, Eugene Atiso and Graham Allen – collected their award from outgoing CIOB President Professor Ghassan Aouad.
They will also receive £2,000 in prize money along with access to mentoring from industry leaders who will offer advice and guidance on their future careers and professional development.
Glasgow Caledonian beat the second-placed team from Loughborough University, while the University of Hong Kong came third.
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The other three finalists were all from Australia: University of Newcastle, Australia; Curtin University; and Deakin University.
A total of 40 teams from universities all over the world entered the competition, which began back in March. After six rounds of competition, the top six teams travelled to Hong Kong for the finals on 9-10 July.
The teams have to run a “virtual” construction company in a simulated environment using MERIT software, which stands for Management Enterprise Risk Innovation and Teamwork.
Developed at Loughborough University, the software has been used to train young professionals since 1988 as part of in-course modules in degree programmes.
The software develops management skills by requiring players to take decisions on staffing levels, estimating and bidding, managing cash flow and capital, and seeking investment opportunities.
The Glasgow Caledonian team took an early lead in the competition. Speaking before the team’s victory was confirmed, Dale Mason said: “The best thing about this competition is the business learning side. It’s a massive learning curve, seeing things not just in terms of calculations and equations, but in terms of the outcomes of your decisions.
“The hardest thing has been learning diplomacy skills and finding a way to come to an agreement – team working – it sounds easy but it is quite difficult at times. Mostly at university you do solo projects so this is a real change.”
Professor Ghassan Aouad said: “We had six great teams here in Hong Kong and all of them are full of the future leaders of construction. There is not just one winner there are six winners. All the teams have shown their ability and potential to reach the finals here.
“The great thing about Global Student Challenge is that it gives the students the chance to feel what it would be like to work in a construction company making high level decisions. And I have no doubt that all of these finalists will be able to reach that level when they leave university.”
The final was held in Hong Kong for the second year running and was hosted by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The final also was sponsored by publisher Wiley.
To find out more, go to www.ciob.org/global-student-challenge.
