Hussain Chizari from University College London has won this year's Undergraduate Dissertation Award at the Chartered Institute of Building's (CIOB) International Innovation and Research Awards 2007/2008.

His dissertation 'Skill Shortages within the UK Construction Industry', investigates an area that has been causing the industry concern for sometime. Hussain's work will make a contribution towards identifying solutions to this ever pressing problem within the industry.

John Begg from the University of Westminster came a close second with his dissertation 'Climate Change and CO2 Emissions from Existing Housing in England'.

Carl Ferguson from the University of Wolverhampton has won the Master's Dissertation Award for his dissertation 'Road Recycling: A Sustainable Construction Solution for the UK Highways Sector'. Carl's dissertation is a good example of what constitutes a first class masters dissertation, whilst looking at the sustainability agenda in the context of one of the most environmentally damaging sectors.


Brian Kilgallon and Kevin Lee won the Innovation Competition for 'Project Bank Accounts'. This idea was a key point from Sir Michael Latham's report, Constructing the Team.

Tim Garnett and Jamie Bellingham of Wates Construction London won the Faculty of Architecture and Surveying Award for 'The A9-60 Person Modular Prison Houseblock'. This is a really shining example of where design utilising modern methods provides an absolute fit with public need and which can be immediately applied in a number of other cases.

The new International Construction Project Management Association Award was won by Dr Dongping Fang, Dr Martin Loosemoore, Dr Difei Zhu and Dr Patrick Zou from Tsinghua University, China and The University of New South Wales, Australia for 'Research, Development of an Enterprise Risk Management for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Venue Construction Projects and Programs'. This is a fantastic example of using a well established discipline but in a fast moving and critical multi-purpose environment that can be used to help Britain achieve its 2012 goals.

The PERA prize, which is worth €55 000 of business consultancy has not yet been awarded. This prize is still available and submissions can be sent to the CIOB's research manager at research@ciob.org.uk.

The awards will take place on the 14 May at the CIOB HQ in Ascot. The guest speaker will be Howard Shiplee construction director for the London Olympics, Fellow of the CIOB and previous Construction Manager of the Year Awards winner.

(JM)