Postgrad UK 2008/2009 - (Page 56) 56 Science and Engineering www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK Building a future Housing shortages, climate change, the energy crisis, globalisation – all these headline-grabbing issues have at least one thing in common. The built environment is of central importance to all of them. What, where and how we build determines whether our homes, towns and businesses are part of the problem or part of the solution. Dr Mark Gillott is co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Technology at the University of Nottingham. They run a number of innovative courses, including the MSc in Sustainable Building Technology. ‘It’s a multidisciplinary course that attracts engineers, architects and students from other backgrounds,’ explains Mark, ‘with the primary purpose of reducing energy consumption within the built environment – since buildings account for a substantial proportion of energy consumption in both the developed world and developing countries.’ The course offers students eight months in the UK doing coursework, followed by four months on the University’s China campus undertaking a dissertation project. Students get an essential mix of theoretical learning and practical experience. For example, the University has built a range of low-energy and zero-carbon housing on the UK campus to trial new technologies and evaluate how they perform in realworld situations. ‘There’s nothing better than getting practical, hands-on use of the equipment CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Of course, there and material,’ Mark enthuses. ‘And the Sonia remembers the Masters year as a research done at the Institute feeds into the very intensive experience. ‘As you can imagine, it is difficult to sandwich the teaching. Everything we impart to our students, therefore, should be state of the art representing the latest information and findings on sustainable energy.’ The success of this approach can be seen in the sorts of roles graduates go on to do. ‘We’ve got graduates who have gone back home and are now working as ministers advising on policy in their own governments,’ Mark notes. ‘Graduates also go into engineering consultancy, providing design advice for building projects. Or they can work as the energy expert in an architectural practice. There’s a huge market place opening up looking at how to make a building more energy efficient.’ working of a big industry into one year. But the structure of the course was brilliant, allowing maximum exposure to current industrial practices combined with coursework, lectures, site visits and networking with key industry figures from big construction companies or construction institutes. It’s a comprehensive course that covers various areas of the sector like planning, management, law, human resources, critical thinking, inclusive environments and IT. It definitely gives you a good taste of all aspects of the industry!’ Sonia is quite tempted by the prospect of staying in academia after completing her research, but she also wants to step back into the industry. ‘My research gets me involved in government policy on education, training and support for women in construction professions – which is an interesting area to work in. But at the same time it would be great to get back into industry and gain some more experience before perhaps coming back into academia.’ is also the option of further research. Sonia Gurjao got her undergraduate degree in architecture in India. After working for a couple of years, she decided to do a postgrad course and chose the MSc in Construction offered by the University of Reading. She is now researching a PhD in Construction Management. http://www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK
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