KOREC has hosted the first in a series of KOREC Connect events in collaboration with BACH (British Association of Construction Heads) aimed at forging stronger connections between education and the construction industry. The primary goal was to address the pressing skills shortage within the surveying sector and highlight some of the challenges that BACH and BACH members are facing including high dropout rates.
The first event in the series was held on the 10th October in Durham and brought together representatives from further education, local survey companies and industry associations with a common aim – to explore proactive solutions for bridging the skills gap.
The event included a series of informative presentations from Jason Howe (BACH Regional Chair), Katie Holt (CICES) and representatives from KOREC and BuildingPoint UK and Ireland, outlining the latest advancements in cutting-edge digital technologies, which are set to captivate the next generation of tech-savvy, enthusiastic engineers and surveyors sought after by the industry.
Jason Howe spoke about BACH and how it was structured about the members who are mainly Heads, Managers and Leaders of the Built Environment workforce training in FE Colleges and training providers in the UK.
Katie Holt representing both CICES and TSA talked about their initiatives to attract new blood to the industry and the support they provide for schools and colleges.
Sam Hough from KOREC showed some of the past technologies used in survey, then moved onto future trends and some of the innovative technology that can be used to attract a new generation of talent to the industry including mixed and augmented reality, laser scanning and robotics.
Cesar Almeida from KOREC highlighted the vast amount of Trimble resources available on the technology and topics driving change in our fast-paced world. These included Ttimble’s Virtual World, a simulated work site training environment and other practical ‘how to’ guides.
The event was exceptionally well attended with strong participation from both industry professionals and colleges. The afternoon panel discussion, in particular, provided valuable insights and revelations on critical issues:
Colleges and industry found common ground with colleges struggling to find placements for students whilst survey companies actively sought able students for hands-on experience. Colleges urged survey companies to contact them with their requirements which they would seek to fulfil.
Colleges faced a dual problem in both attracting students to courses and retaining them with red tape restricting their visits to schools with a sixth form. Suggestions were made on course content.
Both industry, associations and colleges were unsure who should be responsible for raising awareness of the opportunities within the survey industry. However, it was agreed that a more holistic view to joining up career paths and education would be an excellent starting point with the focus on students of GCSE age and upwards.
Amanda Bradshaw – KOREC Regional Sales Director played a significant role in establishing the new event. She said: “It was wonderful to hear the passion from industry and the dedication to support the promotion of our sector. It was also magnificent to hear how the Colleges are in a prime position to work with employers and develop students to assist their business whether that be with graduate or full-time positions.”
Daniel Rogers – Associate at Ridge and Partners LLP property and construction consultants said: “Ridge were pleased to support KOREC’s first ‘Connect’ initiative in the UK. Bringing together representatives from further education, employers and industry bodies, the key aim of this Northeast event was to look at how we can improve the connection from education to industry. As UK wide multi-disciplinary business, we look forward to working with the industry bodies to build relationships with the colleges and help create an improved pathway to industry for the students. Ridge is passionate about working with individuals developing and supporting them to reach their full potential therefore we look forward to supporting future events.”
KOREC would like to thank BACH, CICES, Costain, Tri-Tech, Academy Geomatics, Gridmark Surveys, Ridge & Partners, Balfour Beatty, 360 Group, Esh Group and all the FE Colleges that joined us on the day.
For information on future events please contact atalanta.lawson@korecgroup.com
ENDS
KOREC is always delighted to support the next generation of surveyors coming through college, and especially when they’re keen to get their hands on some ground breaking Trimble technology! It was therefore with great pleasure that we loaned a Trimble X7 3D Laser Scanner to the BSc Geospatial Surveying TU Dublin final year students for a project that was also supported by a number of survey service providers.
The Project
Christ Church Cathedral has stood at the heart of Dublinfor almost 1000 years and this important heritage site welcomes visitors from all over the world every day. Facilitated by the Cathedral’s staff, the final year students were lucky enough to work as a team on an assignment that required them to undertake a series of scans to provide the cathedral with floor plans of the inside and elevations of the exterior. The end results were to be handed to the Cathedral’s insurance company before a policy renewal.
The Deliverables
- A geo-referenced colourised point cloud – to be used for future work in the cathedral.
- Sections, plan and elevation drawings in 1:50 scale. These drawings would then be used by a quantity surveyor to measure the volume of the assets.
- A walk-through of the point cloud. This was done to illustrate the possibility of creating a virtual tour of the church.
On Site
The students were divided into two separate teams, a laser scanning team and a control network team.
A control network to geo-reference the scans was established. The exterior of the building, minus the roof, was then scanned in just a day using the Trimble X7 and involved around 54 setups.
The students found the instrument ,and the tablet connected to it, very intuitive and following the initial setup, very simple to use: “All we had to do is press “start scan”. The X7 did the rest of the work!”
Highest rated Trimble X7 feature
The students rated the automatic registration and the self-levelling features above all. Automatic registration meant that they did not have to register the scans when they got back to the office whilst the attendant report allowed them to prove the accuracy of their work to the client and lecturers.
The self-levelling feature was also appreciated for the way it cut down on site time – the whole building scanned in a single day.
Finally, being able to geo-reference the project on site meant less work when it came to post-processing. The students were also able to colourise their scans on export.
After the survey
The final year students presented their survey and scan results in the beautiful Henry Roe room in the Cathedral.
Our thanks to Dylan de Beer and Adam Hoey for their feedback on both the project and of course the X7. Both felt the use of a top range 3D Laser Scanner to be extremely beneficial their studies and also a good indicator of what industry standard surveying can be like with the use of good equipment.
A trio of news stories celebrating the support that both KOREC and Trimble are providing to the education sector across the UK
There isn’t much that’s more important than ensuring the next generation are informed, enthused and inspired to join us in the exciting world of engineering, construction and the built environment.
In how many other industries can you make such a direct and positive change in how we design, build and maintain the spaces in which we live, work and play?
That’s why we’re delighted to highlight 3 recent stories that do just that;
KOREC & National Highways make a Big impact
Our team were delighted to support National Highways at the recent Big Bang Fair in Birmingham.
The 3-day event saw tens of thousands of children aged 11-14 descend on the NEC to get involved in all things STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).
The KOREC team were on hand to showcase the very cool technologies that are being utilised to made the collection, sharing and understanding of spatial data easier and more intuitive. The star of the show was most certainly the Trimble XR10 headset. The team loaded various digital models including dinosaurs, robots and an airplane into the device, which the kids could then view and explore!
Check out more photos of the event and the team, here!
Trimble Technology lab expands in Edinburgh
Trimble and Edinburgh Napier University are celebrating the expansion of the Trimble Technology lab – the first of its kind in the UK.
Click here or the link below to read the complete story over on the North Edinburgh News site.
SMB College Group invest in Trimble Technology
Leicestershire-based SMB College Group has recently invested over £80,000 in Trimble technology, supplied by KOREC Group.
The college is a leader in Construction T level courses – preparing its students for work in the construction and engineering sectors including quantity surveying, civil engineering, project management and architecture.
The equipment includes some of Trimble’s most cutting-edge digital construction solutions, including the X7 laser scanner, the XR10 mixed reality headset, and the S5 robotic total station.
Read the full press release on the SMB College Group site
Next Generation is KOREC’s higher education strand – it’s how we inspire, support and train the institutions and the students who are the future workforce of our industry.
If you’d like to know more about Next Generation, or how we can help you, why not get in touch?
Ahead of next week’s COP26 climate summit, how KOREC are playing their part by investing in the future – not just of our planet, but the next generation of geospatial experts, too
Next week, virtually every world leader will descend on Glasgow for possibly the most important climate summit since Paris in 2015. By the time the summit wraps on 12th November, it is hoped they will have committed to limiting global temperature rise to the vital 1.5C to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
Since COP26 takes so close to home, and with KOREC in attendance, what better time than to make some commitments of our own?
This week, KOREC Group signed up to the SME Climate Commitment, where we as an organisation have committed to halving our emissions by the year 2030, and going carbon-neutral by 2040 – a full decade ahead of the UK government’s target.
We have been working to reduce emissions across our vehicle fleet for several years with most of our vehicles now hybrid electric models – but we recognise there is work to do when it comes to our offices, our staff travel, and our supply chain.
But it’s not just the climate that we’ve committed to. KOREC was also recently confirmed as a partner of Geospatial UK. Based at Newcastle University, the organisation was formed to counteract the widely-publicised skills shortage in our geospatial industry. Their key aim is thus to engage and inspire the next generation of geospatial experts – by educating and informing them about the exciting, fast-changing and varied industry that we love. As well as being a key sponsor, KOREC will be supporting this great work in a much more hands-on way – more on this to come!
This focus on the climate and future generations will converge beautifully at next week’s COP event, which we are delighted to be attending. Our partners at Edinburgh Napier University (home to a Trimble Technology lab which is helping to expand the University’s leadership in training and research in 3D building design, digital fabrication and the sustainable built environment) have invited us to take part in their #GetOnWithIt event in Glasgow.
Sam and Stuart from KOREC will be in attendance, showcasing key digital construction tools such as the X7 laser scanner, SiteVision augmented reality and XR10 mixed reality headset, to the student body and public alike. Besides being excellent tools to showcase to a live audience, these solutions are excellent examples of ‘connected construction’ – efficient, effective digital tools that allow online collaboration (cutting down unnecessary trips to site) and as well as reducing construction site waste and rework.
We’ll be sure to be sharing pictures and clips from the event – so keep your eyes peeled on our social channels next week!
It’s a topic of great concern to many in our industry – how do we attract the next generation of geospatial professionals?
It’s also a question that we’ve addressed in a column for GeoConnexion magazine based on the experiences of KOREC Director, Mark Poveda, who recently returned to his Dublin College with two colleagues to talk to final year students studying Geospatial/Surveying. However, college students are already engaged with our industry having actively chosen a relevant course and maybe we should be talking to students earlier.
A visit with value
For KOREC Operations Technical Support, Liam Hartley, the 450th Anniversary of his old school, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Horncastle (QEGS), set him thinking as to what sort of career information he’d have valued as a sixth former living in a rural part of the country just starting to consider future job prospects, apprenticeships, or degree courses.
As a QEGS alumni, he’d seen invites to assist students in CV preparation or interview techniques but felt that this could be the perfect opportunity to offer some time to share his thoughts on geospatial careers with an age group just starting to think about their own futures.
At the invitation of the school’s careers lead, Sarah Holmes, Liam was able to spend a couple of days at the school chatting about the geospatial industry to teachers and students alike.
Great technology and engaging examples
Equipped with a Trimble X7 3D Laser Scanner and plenty of examples of what our industry has to offer, Liam reports that he spent a very rewarding 50 minute Development Class with the mixed group of students. Drawing on relevant examples such as 3D data (used in the gaming and film world) he outlined how F1 tracks are surveyed with Mobile Mapping, how sports events measure distance with total stations, how music festivals are set out with GPS mapping systems and how spatial data is everywhere and in everything we do, from using Google Maps to creating smart cities.
Liam feels that at least three quarters of the class seemed very engaged with four or five particularly responsive to the geospatial world. He reports, “I had a really rewarding two days at QEGS sharing my enthusiasm for an industry that has so much to offer as a career. Interestingly, very few of the students were familiar with the term ‘geospatial’ and of course, this highlights the problem we have in promoting a career where our key audience has very little understanding of what we do. If we’re to overcome this, then it’s vital that we are actively promoting our industry to this age group. Here at KOREC, we want to be a supplier that does just that and we’re perfectly positioned to do so from a unique perspective because we see everything that the industry has to offer technology wise. I very much want us to step forward and lead from the front.”
What next?
Liam used his two days at QEGS to plan for a future event for next year that he hopes can be rolled out to similar age groups in different schools. Watch this space!
To learn about KOREC’s Next Generation initiative (aiming to encourage a new generation to the geospatial industry) please contact marketing@korecgroup.com
Got a question? Want to find out more about the X7? Why not submit an inquiry with our friendly team?
