Profile picture of Chris Willetts

Brighton student wins construction industry accolade

Congratulations to Chris Willetts, who’s studying Project Management for Construction BSc(Hons) who took the Outstanding Student Award at an annual construction industry event for London and the South East.

The Bright Futures Student Challenge – run by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) – brings together students studying construction-based courses at universities and colleges in London and the South East. This year it challenged students to showcase their skills and knowledge via a presentation to an expert panel, based on a site visit to the ongoing £29m Tribeca mixed-use new build development in London’s Kings Cross.

Chris is currently a second year student and his reward for winning the CIOB’s ‘Outstanding Student’ title for 2022 includes a week of work experience with VolkerFitzpatrick, the company behind the Tribeca development.

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Quantity Surveying alumni visit photo with Debra

Class of ’71 reunion for Quantity Surveyors

On Tuesday 26  May, a group of Quantity Surveyors revisited the University of Brighton to relive their university days. They graduated from the Brighton College of Technology in 1971.  A large group attended a reunion back in 2016 and six years later, four of the cohort came back to take another look. A lot has changed on the Moulsecoomb campus since their last visit with the near completion of the big build. The group observed that the campus now looks very different and more built up since they saw it last and even more different from when they studied back in the late 60s when the campus consisted of only the Cockcroft Building! They reminisced about Club 66 which was situated on the mezzanine floor and observed that the ground floor of Cockcroft didn’t exist back when they were studying, there was water which went underneath the building to the courtyard beyond.

The graduates had a tour from Noel Painting, Rotimi Joseph and Mahmood Alam (School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering) who discussed the current curriculum and structure of the Quantity Surveying course and how their cohort was the last for a number of years before it was recently reinstated. The group enjoyed a tour of the new Business School (Elm House) and then a look around their old building. The Vice Chancellor Professor Debra Humphris stopped by to welcome the alumni and answer some of their questions about the size and shape of the university.

The group were intending to meet with another 18 of their cohort in the evening to have their dinner in English’s Seafood Restaurant which was their restaurant of choice after final exams because ‘they could only afford to eat there once a year!’

David Porter who attended the reunion said:

“It was both interesting and informative. The meeting with the Vice Chancellor was enlightening. 19,000 students is a great deal more than our time in Brighton. We were all highly impressed with the progress which has been, and is being made, at the University. It goes without saying that we were all so pleased that the QS degree has been revived.”

“Our reunion was a great success. As you may imagine there was much reminiscing of what happened in Brighton all those years ago. Both at work and at play!!”

Profile of Michael Spooner

Meet the staff: Michael Spooner

Michael is an architect and educator, with a passion for understanding how people and cities work.  He trained in medical science in Canada and Japan, before arriving in London to study at the AA, RIBA Studio and Bartlett. As associate director at dRMM, he led the design and delivery of many award-winning projects, including the 2017 Stirling prize-winning Hastings Pier.

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Profile of Sophie Ungerer

Meet the staff: Sophie Ungerer

Sophie Ungerer is a tutor on our Interior Architecture BA(Hons).

Sophie is an architect, practicing, teaching and exploring in London and Brighton.

Sophie is curious about the threshold between the interior and the city. How can our designs reflect the transient urban lifestyle of today and respond to the social and environmental global challenges we are facing?

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Still of water rocket launching

Challenge to design, build and fire a water rocket

To kick start a project to design and build a water rocket, our first-year engineering students took a trip to Wild Park to see some live test firing. With some final year students helping lecturers to lead the session, it was a great opportunity for the project students to see different water rocket designs in action and understand what they are aiming for.

A fun project firmly rooted in engineering and product design, students focus on measurements, building rigour into the design and keeping in mind what they want the rocket to be able to do. Gathering and using data is key, from fluid dynamics analysis to data assimilation which can be tested in the wind tunnel.

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