The Bright Futures Student Challenge 2023
On Wednesday 1 March, 36 students from 11 universities took part in the annual Bright Futures Student Challenge 2023, organised by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and sponsored by developers Reef Group and construction company VolkerFitzpatrick.
The competition invites students from built environment courses in London and the South to learn about construction first hand and compete for prizes. The day-long event kicked off with a visit to the Apex development site, which is one of six mixed-use buildings at Tribeca and the first to be completed later this year. Based on the learnings from the site visit, groups of two to four students were asked to compete by preparing a presentation that responded to a set question.
A panel of industry experts announced University of Portsmouth as the winning team, followed by runners-up University of West London. A special mention went to the highly commended students Justice Ohene Asiamah from the Royal School of Military Engineering and Milda Klimanskyte from University of West London. Aleena Paracha from University of Portsmouth achieved the 2023 Outstanding Student Award, which comes with an offer of a one-week work experience placement at VolkerFitzpatrick. The winner of one of the previous Outstanding Student awards, Lauren Webster, completed her placement at VolkerFitzpatrick, and now works for the company in a graduate role.
The Bright Futures Student Challenge is a chance for the participating students to meet peers and industry professionals on a fun and stimulating day out, where they can gain valuable insights and knowledge of the construction industry. And for one outstanding student, it can open up a route into employment.
