On Tuesday 5th July, the Civil Engineering Division hosted a one-day Transferable Skills conference titled Expanding Skills. The day, focused on workshop sessions, was an opportunity for graduate students within Division D to extend their background in various non-technical areas.
Included in the day was a 3-minute thesis competition. The idea, developed by the University of Queensland, Australia challenges competitors to effectively explain their research in three minutes using a single static slide and in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. 10 competitors in total took part and cash prizes were available for the top three.
Heba Hamad, a second-year PhD student in the Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group supervised by Prof. Abir Al-Tabbaa came 3rd with the title Greener pervious concrete incorporating modified activated carbon. Petros Giannaros, a third-year PhD student also supervised by Prof. Abir Al-Tabbaa came 2nd with his presentation titled Autonomic self-healing of cementitious materials. The winner of the competition was Tim Hillel from the Future Infrastructure and Built Environment (FIBE) CDT group. His stand-out presentation titled Understanding passenger behaviour at urban scale won him the top step of the podium and a £150 cash prize.