The CIOB International Innovation & Research Awards 2015 are now open for entries. The annual awards, which celebrate excellence and showcase innovation across the built environment, are open to entries from recent graduates, academics and industry practitioners, including international and non-CIOB members.
There are six awards this year including three for academic research – the Undergraduate Dissertation, Masters Dissertation and Research Paper awards. There are a further three that recognise innovation in the profession – the Innovation Achiever, Digital Innovation and Innovation in Education & Training awards.
"Our industry is modernising so quickly that we need the best ideas from the best minds and these awards can help facilitate their development."
Dr Chung-Chin Kao, head of innovation and research, CIOB
Premier, highly commended and merit awards will be announced in each category, with all the winners taking home a trophy and certificate. In addition the Premier Award winners will receive a cash prizes of up to £2,000, with the highly commended winners getting £500.
Dr Chung-Chin Kao, head of innovation and research at the CIOB, said: “We know there are lots of great ideas out there and these awards allow us to highlight the best of them. Every year we eagerly anticipate a wide diverse range of research pieces and innovations from around the world. Our industry is modernising so quickly that we need the best ideas from the best minds and these awards can help facilitate their development.”
Last year, the CIOB received 178 entries from 17 different countries to the highly respected competition with a range of international winners representing universities in Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Nigeria. British Universities were also well represented with winners coming from Reading, Loughborough, Leeds Beckett, Cambridge, Ulster and Robert Gordon Universities.
From the industry, there were winners from Bam Ferrovial Kier JV and the Education & Employers Taskforce along with Robert Harris MCIOB and Stanley Whetstone who won the Innovation Achiever Award with their product Oxypod.
This gadget, which was featured in last month’s feature Innovators Meet the Dragons in Construction Manager, takes air out of domestic and commercial water-based heating systems – thereby reducing energy consumption by perhaps 15-30%.
Entry closing date for this years awards is 2 October with the exception of the Masters Dissertation Award, which is 20 November. All entry details can be found online at http://iandrawards.ciob.org. The winners will be announced by the CIOB in February 2016.
