Four students studying Structural Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast have won the top prize at the UK annual Student Structural Concrete Competition.

Students, Mark Coughlin, Andrew Currie, Jill McIlveen and Grace Millar won the overall 1st Prize for their Design.

The UK wide competition, which is open to all universities invited applicants to design a new six storey high oval shaped office building with a basement car park using concrete. Working within the constraints of a specific set of design brief guidelines, the team from Queen’s developed their winning design by showcasing ingenuity through the use of a precast perimeter diagrid structure. They also displayed a keen awareness of sustainability issues by incorporating low carbon engineering measures throughout their design.

The competition works on two levels; with initial submissions being made at University level which is judged by a team of local academic tutors. The winning submissions from this stage are then entered by the University to be judged by a panel of experts at the Concrete Centre’s UK headquarters using the following criteria:

• Compliance with the project brief
• Safety, function, stability and robustness
• Material efficiency and sustainability
• Buildability, constructability and maintainability
• Speed of construction and cost effectiveness
• Imagination, flair, aesthetic appreciation and innovation.

Talking about the award and what it means for students their tutor, Dr Tony Martin said:

“The annual Concrete Centre 'Structural Concrete' design competition challenges structural engineering students to provide a complex design solution to suit the evolving needs of the UK concrete construction sector. Every year, top universities throughout the United Kingdom take part and I am delighted for Mark, Andrew, Jill and Grace who impressed the judges by winning the top prize. They have all now moved into exciting careers in the construction industry and this success has been a fitting conclusion to their time at Queen’s”

Commenting on how this success reflects on the Undergraduate Civil & Structural Engineering Course at Queen’s University, he further added:

“Having previously won this top prize with students last year, this continued success shows that the calibre of civil and structural engineering students at Queen’s is of the highest order and it further reinforces the message that our undergraduate programmes are at the cutting edge of what the Civil Engineering industry needs and expects.”

If you are interested in learning more about studying Structural Engineering at Queen’s please click here.