MIRI: First-year Construction Management students of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) took the opportunity to learn more about construction technology and construction management by visiting two ongoing construction projects at the university recently.
The visits were organised by the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science in collaboration with the project contractors.
The projects, which are slated for completion early next year, are a single-storey cafeteria and double-storey engineering research laboratory.
While at the sites, the students were shown the architectural and structural drawings of the buildings.
They engaged in extensive discussions with Curtin Malaysia’s clerk of works Tang Chong Hock and other project engineers for a better understanding of the drawings and the construction works.
The students also spent about two hours viewing the formwork, reinforcement bars and steel structural work on the sites.
Department of Civil and Construction Engineering head Assoc Prof Muhammad Ekhlasur Rahman said Curtin Malaysia valued authentic learning and was committed to helping students develop industry-ready skills and enhance student employability through embedding work-integrated learning (WIL) in the programme.
WIL involves providing structured and purposefully designed learning experiences that blend theoretical concepts with practice-based learning, as well as engagement in workplace and community settings where students interact and network with industry and community
partners.
“Due to the applied nature of Curtin’s engineering courses, it is important to extend teaching beyond classrooms so that students get exposure and first-hand insights into industry practices.
“They can connect theories they learn from books and their lecturers to real-life applications, as well as interact with industry professionals and get a feel of what their future careers as construction professionals will be like,” added Muhammad.
Two other groups of students, comprising 52 final-year students in the Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Construction Engineering programme studying a unit in Integrated Design and Construction, and 86 third-year students studying a unit in Reinforced Concrete Design, also visited the two sites recently.
The engineering research laboratory will complement the new Faculty of Engineering and Science building completed in 2016.
Designed to encourage and facilitate collaborative and interdisciplinary research, it is part of the university’s strategic plan to enhance learning and teaching by offering comprehensive engineering facilities and the innovative and efficient use of practical teaching space.
Further campus expansion projects include a three-storey Digital Centre of Excellence, two blocks of four-storey student accommodations, and a new rugby pitch.
