Building Briefs - May 2nd

• Service Upgrades Underway at South Lanarkshire College

The East Kilbride-based campus is home to over 5200 students studying across a wide range of qualifications and fields of study, including being home to two Arc-Tech trade apprentices, 1st year plumbing and heating engineer, Sean Duncan and 1st year plumber, Finlay Bruce.

The works undertaken by Arc-Tech will be primarily focused on the main campus building consisting of lighting replacement to internal corridors, atria areas, selected classrooms, external car park lighting, external façade lighting and the installation of signage lighting, destratification ventilation installation to workshops, kitchen ventilation upgrades inclusive of kitchen canopy replacement, boiler efficiency upgrades including the installation of an energy monitoring system and Building Management System control upgrades and will be completed during the summer shutdown period, in advance of the staff and students returning from their break.

Arc-Tech managing director, John Gallacher said: “We are delighted with this direct contract award by South Lanarkshire College. Their team has been excellent to deal with prior to this site start and we look forward to working with them as works progress.

“Our affiliation with the College, of course, stems further than this contract with Sean and Finlay who have both thrived in their first year as trade apprentices, both theoretically and practically, and it’s been a pleasure to see them progress.”

Stewart McKillop, principal of South Lanarkshire College said: “The works that are being undertaken to improve the efficiencies of our main campus will go a long way to both reducing our carbon footprint and also the running costs of our building. We are grateful to SFC for providing funding to address the dilapidation issues which will provide a lasting legacy to our student body. We are looking forward to working with the Arc-Tech team in their phase of delivery.”

• APM Project Management Awards 2019 – Open for entry!

With an exciting new category line-up and a prestigious judging panel in place, we’re pleased to announce that the Association for Project Management (APM) Project Management Awards 2019, sponsored by RPC UK Ltd, are now open for entry!

The APM Awards recognise the valuable contribution that project professionals make to the development of the profession and showcase the best individuals, projects and programmes the profession has to offer.

With 19 categories in total, four of which are completely new to the awards, there’s a refreshed focus this year on rewarding particularly innovative project delivery approaches and achievements. In more detail the new categories are: Innovation in Projects Award which will focus on project delivery, recognising new and effective methods and Contribution to the Profession Award which will consist of three sub categories – Company, Consultancy and Not-for-Profit/Charity – which have been introduced to recognise the contributions organisations are making towards improvements in project management practice and developing project management teams. 

Returning categories include popular academic entries, lifetime contributions, sector-specific awards and many others. Full category descriptions and entry criteria are now available on the APM website.  

Debbie Dore, chief executive of APM said: “Our recent ‘The Golden Thread’ study with PwC shows that project management contributes £156bn to UK economy and employs almost 1 in 12 workers – with that in mind, it’s time to shine a light on the very best people, projects and programmes that our profession has to offer and recognise the incredible achievements.”

The deadline for submission entry is Monday 17 June 2019. Winners will be announced at the 2019 APM Awards ceremony which will take place at Old Billingsgate, London on Monday 18 November. www.apm.org.uk/apm-awards/

Previous winners can be viewed here: www.apm.org.uk/apm-awards/winners/

Full list of the APM Award Categories 2019

• Brian Willis Award (Academic)
• Herbert Walton Award (Academic)
• Geoffrey Trimble Award (Academic)
• Sir Monty Finniston Award (Lifetime Contribution to the Profession)
• Shell Health, Safety, Security and Environment Award
• Mike Nicholls Award for Inspiration
• Programme of the Year Award
• PMO of the Year Award
• Innovation in Projects Award
• Award for contribution to the profession: Consultancy
• Award for contribution to the profession: Not-for-profit/Charity
• Award for contribution to the profession: Company
• Young Project Professional of the Year Award
• Project Professional of the Year Award
• Technology Project of the Year Award
• Transformation Project of the Year Award
• Social Project of the Year Award
• Engineering, Construction and Infrastructure Project of the Year Award
• Overall project of the year Awards (chosen from the winners of the four Project of the Year Awards)

• Angus roads improvement programme set to begin

Five-weeks of roads maintenance and improvements starts in Angus on Monday 7 May.

Full details on the surface dressing programme, which covers 41.5km of the county’s roads, can be found on our dedicated surface dressing web page.

Generally, work will be carried out between 8am and 6pm. It is also weather dependent and can be delayed by cold, damp weather or hot, humid conditions.

Notices will be put in place locally to advise residents before work gets underway and traffic control measures will be in place while work is carried out. Please do not leave your car parked on the road or footways when and where work is due to start.

Vehicle and pedestrian access to properties should be maintained while work is carried out. We would ask people to expect some delays and to travel at a reduced speed through any areas where work in ongoing and observe speed restrictions at all times. We thanks residents in advance for their assistance and consideration.

• Dingwall confirmed for Norwegian style learning centre

Young people in Ross-shire are to benefit from a new Norwegian style learning centre as Dingwall is announced, today (Wednesday 1 May), as the location for the third Newton Room in the UK.

The centres are aimed at encouraging more young people in the area into studies and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The first two Newton Rooms were officially opened in Thurso and Fort William earlier this year.

A network of the centres in Norway work with schools and local employers to provide inspirational STEM education in the most rural parts of the country.

A similar network of Newton Rooms is being created in the Highland region by the Science Skills Academy (SSA), which is a partnership project led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and supported with £3m from the Scottish Government. The funding is part of the £315 million Inverness and Highlands City Region Deal, which is funded by the Scottish and UK Governments and regional partners.

Although initially focusing on the Highland region, the SSA aims to spread to all areas of the Highlands and Islands.

Other organisations behind the initiative include Skills Development Scotland, the University of the Highlands and Islands, The Highland Council and NHS Highland.

HIE has appointed international specialist firm FIRST Scandinavia, the company that developed and owns the Newton concept, to support the establishment of the Newton room at Dingwall Town Hall.

Part of the council-owned building, which is managed by High Life Highland, will be renovated and turned into a Newton Room and made accessible to school groups in Ross-Shire.

FIRST Scandinavia is a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to encourage children and young people’s interest in science, engineering and mathematics.

Organisations behind the project are developing Newton modules that will complement the school curriculum and STEM sectors in the region. The SSA will also collaborate with a wide range of other STEM activity providers, such as the Aberdeen Science Centre, to reach all parts of the region.

Andrew Johnston, HIE’s director for the Science Skills Academy. Said: “This new facility for Ross-shire will address the shortage of skills relating to science, technology, engineering and maths to help us meet current and future needs of the STEM labour market.

“We are delighted to confirm the third Newton Room in the Highlands and we are exploring options for other potential sites in the region for the benefit of all young people. We have been working with FIRST Scandinavia over the last few months and have been learning from their considerable experience in inspiring young people in rural communities about STEM subjects.”