Past President on the bridge

Professor Sam Allwinkle PPBIAT MCIAT joins BRIDGE project to address skills shortage

CIAT's Past President, Professor Sam Allwinkle PPBIAT MCIAT has joined a project which aims to increase participation in higher education and address the construction industry's 
'skills shortage'. 

Gateshead College has joined forces with Northumbria University and Derby College to launch the BRIDGE Project, a research programme that will investigate why there are low numbers of women, people from disadvantaged backgrounds, ethnic minority groups, those with disabilities, mature and part-time students enrolling on construction-related degree courses.

The Project, which is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Catalyst Fund, aims to gain a deeper understanding of the factors affecting student degree and career choices before developing and testing a range of interventions aimed at improving the diversity of graduate recruitment in professional construction subjects.  This project is set to benefit those seeking professional, technical and management jobs by providing ways to encourage people from all backgrounds, sexes and ethnicities into higher education and a professional career in the construction industry.

Professor Allwinkle is Professor Emeritus at Edinburgh Napier University and a visiting Professor in Architectural Technology at Nottingham Trent University. He is currently Chair of the CIAT Education Board and an external assessor for UK research bodies and the Italian government.