Pawel Kudosz finished in first place in the Autodesk Digital Construction Challenge 2020. The online competition involved 25 students representing nine institutions across the UK.

Pawel, who studied HNC and HND Computer Aided Architectural Design and Technology (CAADT) at NCL’s Motherwell Campus, is now employed as a trainee BIM technician with BIMTech Engineering in Bellshill.

Pawel, who lives in Motherwell, said: “The education I received from NCL really helped me learn and develop the hands-on, practical knowledge and skills that the architectural, engineering and construction industry needs right now.

“It was an amazing experience to go on to compete at the highest level against students from all over the UK and really test my digital construction abilities.

“This is only the beginning of my journey and winning the competition gave me confidence and motivation to enhance my knowledge about Building Information Modelling.”

The competition saw students perform a series of real-world, industry-level project tasks designed to test their readiness for the architectural, engineering and construction workplace.

During the four-hour challenge, students were tasked with using Autodesk Revit, Navisworks and BIM 360 to produce and co-ordinate architectural and structural models in accordance with international standards.

The second-placed student was Brouk Anteneh of Oxford Brookes University, while Desislava Veleva of Middlesex University finished in third place.

The idea for the virtual competition came about following the cancellation of WorldSkills UK’s annual Skills Show in Birmingham NEC, which typically attracts hundreds of students and apprentices from across the country vying to be crowned best at their chosen discipline.

Given that the digital construction industry had moved successfully to remote working, New College Lanarkshire lecturer Michael McGuire, who is the BIM squad training manager for WorldSkills, worked with Philipp Mueller, Program Manager at Autodesk Education Experiences (AEX), to create a virtual version of the BIM competition.

Michael said: “Being invited to help co-ordinate the first Virtual Autodesk Digital Construction Challenge (UK), and getting to see first-hand the enthusiasm from some seriously dedicated and incredibly skilled students, was a great honour both personally and professionally.

“The competition was a real test of the education, skills and readiness for the Architectural Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry.

“The competitors shone and showed just how high their knowledge and skills really are. Every one of them was a credit to themselves and their education institution.

“We would like to congratulate everyone who took part who all contributed to making the event a huge success.”

Michael also helped to create a series of around 30 video tutorials, sponsored by Autodesk, which allowed students to train remotely in advance of the competition.

Matt McGuire, director at BIMTech Engineering, said: “Well done Pawel – we are all proud of you at BIMTech.

“I would also like to thank Michael McGuire for the excellent training and tutoring he provides, and the encouragement he gives his students to have the confidence to enter such tough competitions.

“It is great to have students coming into the industry with skills necessary to hit the ground running.”

In February, New College Lanarkshire was named Best Training Provider at the BIM Awards 2020, which honours innovators and pioneers of digital construction across the UK.