Gold medal for FBE duo
Two academics from UNSW's Faculty of the Built Environment have won a major industry award for their work on the Beijing Olympics.
Published on the 27 May 2008
Faculty of the Built Environment Associate Dean (Research), Professor Martin Loosemore, and Director of Research Students, Professor Patrick Zou, have been awarded the prestigious UK Chartered Institute of Building's (CIOB) International Construction Project Management Association (ICPMA) Award for their contribution to the Risk Management system developed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"We feel extremely honoured to receive this award in recognition of both the collaborative research project with Tsinghua University, and in being chosen to assist in the risk management planning for the Beijing Olympics," says Professor Loosemore.
"We could not have achieved this without the support of BOCOG and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology - this award is testimony of the successful multidimensional and multilateral partnerships."
The Awards were established by CIOB to encourage innovation and research, and to create a greater awareness of the importance of higher education in the industry. The collaborative Beijing Olympics Risk Management project stood-out among its competitors due to the increased recognition of risk management within the international construction industry.
"The success of the project was attributed to identifying much-needed frontier international construction management issues, formulating a truly collaborative research team which was built-on their knowledge and expertise, as well as the great support provided by the Faculty," says Professor Zou.
"I hope that the risk management lessons learned from the process will be helpful to London 2012 Olympics venue constructions and China's construction industry as a whole."
Professor Peter Murphy, Dean of the Faculty, congratulated his colleagues saying "this award is another example of the Faculty's exceptional academic talent and ongoing commitment to exploring new and interesting partnership opportunities".
The award was presented at the CIOB Awards Evening event in the CIOB's Headquarters in London on the 14 May.
"We will be watching with great interest the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, knowing all too well the enormous risks overcome to deliver the games," Professor Loosemore says.