Education, education, education

Concrete, Apr 2007 by Luckey, James

Back in the days when he was a bright, young, prospective Prime Minister, Tony Blair made a speech in which he promised his three priorities for government would be "education, education and education."

And indeed much has changed with our teaching and schooling in the interim period, and no doubt improved. There are some, however, that will quibble over the success of policy relating to further and higher education.

An oft-heard debate centres on engineering. Every sector, be it civil, electrical or mechanical, has individual issues but the common ground is addressing a skills shortage and attracting the next generation of engineers.

Whilst the manufacturing sector of UK plc as a whole has shrunk back considerably amidst the competitiveness (or cheapest, depending on your viewpoint) of overseas production, those who have concerns about the future of the country's overall engineering excellence would do well to consider the efforts being undertaken by our educational establishments. This issue of CONCRETE has some prime examples.

The article from Robin Holdsworth and Alison Ahearn describes a real-life site experience for engineering students called the Constructionarium (page 36). Backed by a contractor, a consulting engineer and a university, the event gives students the chance to act in every role on a project site. The key message here is practical experience. For all the vital knowledge that academic study imparts, there is nothing to beat putting theory into first-hand practice.

In a similar vein, the National Construction College (see page 32) offers indoor and outdoor training for a range of subjects at four sites across the UK. Supported by notable industry firms, the NCC offers that element of practicality.

David Boyden's article highlights figures from the Construction Skills Network suggesting that approximately 87,000 more recruits are needed for the industry each year until 2010. The solution that all these site-experience courses offer is an excellent way to get round the stigma that extra study or training is just sitting in a classroom.

For those who prefer a more academic approach, our article on WINDS (page 34) provides an overview of this 'virtual university' for design education. A research and development project, funded by the European Union, WINDS takes learning and assessment online. Innovation in teaching application is another useful method to attract future students.

Visual impact

Leonardo da Vinci once pronounced, "Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication," and he certainly knew a thing or two about design and visual appearance. As do our contributors this month for our feature on visual concrete. The issue includes a wealth of innovation that highlights the versatility of concrete in producing both aesthetically pleasing and application-specific solutions for construction. From an RAF museum to the headquarters of those 'very nice men' of the AA, CONCRETE includes discussion of a range of projects.

Finally, magazines are a hub or forum for debate, so comments on any of the articles, or other content, are most welcome and can be sent via the contact details below.

James Luckey

Associate Editor

Tel: 01276 607 158

editorial@concrete.org.uk