Upturn to be focus of Construction Management Day Conference

The construction industry and preparations for the continuing upturn is to be the focus of a national conference hosted by the GMIT Department of Building & Civil Engineering in GMIT Galway on Tuesday 11 March.

Several hundred delegates are expected to attend the GMIT International Construction Management Day Conference including architects, engineers, contractors, surveyors, property professionals, academics, and undergraduate and post graduate students. Presentations will focus on a range of topics such as prospects for the industry, developments in construction products, best practice in building dilapidations, the Construction Contracts Act 2013, the Brooker Report and the new Building Control (Amendment) Regulations among other topics.

High profile projects of particular interest to Galwegians will also be presented;  Brendan Rudden of Tobin Engineers will outline proposals for the Galway Docks development which, pending planning approvals, will receive some of the largest cruise ships in the world; architect Tom de Paor will give a presentation on the Galway Solus Picture Palace Project which has been constructed entirely using in-situ concrete; and GMIT graduate Ciaran Murtagh of Shay Murtagh Precast will present a review of some of his prestigious projects including London’s Crossrail.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the Western Centre of the Chartered Institute of Building in Ireland and the Western Branch of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, and is supported by the Construction Industry Federation. 

Speakers include GMIT’s Mary Rogers, Head of the Dept of Building and Civil Engineering, GMIT President Michael Carmody, and postgraduate engineering research students including doctoral student Jan Gottsche who will present early findings from his study into reduction of energy use on construction sites.

Mary Rogers, head of the GMIT Dept of Building & Civil Engineering, says GMIT is holding its own in terms of numbers of incoming students selecting built environment programmes, despite national concerns of not enough students and graduates since the downturn in the construction industry

“In our Department of Building & Civil Engineering, 121 students graduates from Level 7 and Level 8 degrees last year (2013). A further 13 graduated with a Master of Science in Environmental Systems. The majority of our recent graduates are employed in the industry.”

“Most recent CAO figures for 2014 show increases in the overall number of applicants for our programmes over this time last year with a doubling of numbers in the Quantity Surveying discipline and 177 applicants for our new BEng (Honours) in Civil Engineering programme.”

If you wish to attend the conference on 11 March, please email the Conference Chair Martin Taggart martin.taggart@gmit.ie or telephone 091 742875. See the full conference programme: http://goo.gl/PtUunt