WIT student wins gold in BIM at Worldskills Competition

Luke O'Keefe of Waterford Institute of Technology and Ryan Dempsey from Technological University Dublin are Ireland's first winners at the Worldskills competition.

The Worldskills Competition, known as the skills Olympics, was held in Kazan in August 2019. Held every two years, it is the world’s largest professional education event. Approximately 1,600 competitors from 60 countries competed in 56 different skills and disciplines in Russia. 

Waterford Institute of Technology student Luke O'Keefe was one of a two-person team representing Ireland, along with Technological University Dublin team-mate Ryan Dempsey, in Building Information Modelling. Belarus, Russia, Poland and Singapore participated alongside Ireland in this category.

Luke is a BSc (Hons) year 3 student in CIAT Accredited programme Architectural Technology and Building Information Modelling Technology at WIT.

All participants have proven expertise in their chosen field having competed against their peers to secure their places at the Competition. Luke and Ryan were selected from the winners of the National Skills Competition Finals which were held in March 2019. 

The BIM competition was held in the Future Skills Zone, a specialised zone for showcases and competitions in skills, which are in demand in the era of high-tech production and digital economy.