Mark Lee, of Sheffield Hallam University, has been named the winner of JCT’s Student Essay Competition 2013, for his piece, entitled “Self-build, the rising phoenix from the ashes”.
Runner-up prizes were awarded to Michelle Sally, Queen’s University Belfast, and Anne Ludovico, University of Reading, for their essays on “The betrayal of the sub-contractor” and “Internationalization in times of recession – SMEs looking abroad”, respectively. A Highly Commended was awarded to Jenny Jones, Kingston Mauward College, for her essay – “The changing face of construction”.
From over 100 entries, 12 essays were shortlisted, from which one winning prize of £1000, two runner-up prizes of £250 and a highly commended entry were chosen. The judging panel said of Mark’s winning entry:
“Despite being a close competition, Mark’s essay came out on top due to the quality of the writing, thorough research and being an enjoyable read.”
“It hit all the right notes for being interesting, engaging and imaginative.”
A special JCT awards luncheon held at the Royal Institution of British Architects was held today (Thursday 13 June), attended by the winners and their guests to collect their prizes.
The topic for this year’s competition was The changing face of construction – a broad subject which enabled students to comment on the industry as a whole, or chose one particular area of construction to discuss. Entries were limited to 2,500 words and candidates took part in the competition by registering via the JCT website. The competition opened on 15 November 2012, and closed on 20 March 2013.
The judging panel was made up of construction experts in legal practice, education and the media, and included Dr Ann Heywood (principal of the College of Estate Management), Rebecca Evans, (editor of Construction News), Mark Farrar (chief executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills), Tony Bingham (barrister and arbitrator at 3 Paper Buildings, Temple) and Professor Peter Hibberd (JCT chair and chair of the judging panel).
JCT chair and chair of the judging panel, Peter Hibberd, said:
“JCT is delighted by both the quantity and quality of entries to this year’s student essay competition. Following the inaugural competition in 2012 as part of our education and training initiative, we were keen to continue the competition, reinforcing our commitment to education and providing opportunities for construction students.
“The entries this year show we are definitely offering a valuable opportunity and experience to construction students. We are hopeful that this relationship will continue to strengthen in the future.”
The winning entries can be downloaded and read at the JCT Student Essay Competition pages.