MSc Project Management in the Built Environment: 5 years

The Department of Real Estate and Construction recently celebrated five years of the MSc Project Management in the Built Environment with a special afternoon and evening of activities for staff, students and alumni. More of that later. First a few facts and figures, or 'five years of the MSc PMBE in numbers'...

That's the last 5 years, but what of the MSc today? There are 33 students from 12 different countries following the MSc programme at the moment of which 40% are female and 60% male. There is an active alumni group on LinkedIn and our information tells us that our graduates are employed in positions across the globe (that's at least one in each of the four continents).

For more information on the MSc Project Management in the Built Environment visit our website.

And here's that report on the recent celebrations (by Hannah Bryant):

The celebratory afternoon commenced with a site tour of the newly named ‘John Henry Brookes Building’ led by Ben Catley Richardson. Alumni and students had a glimpse of the huge transformation that is currently taking place at the Gipsy Lane Campus. This 80 million pound project will bring together the library and teachings spaces and many more social areas such as the Students’ Union, as well as essential support services. Alumnus Nino Manci emphasised how interesting it was to see how the site had changed since he studied here in 2009. Naturally, Nino said he could not help relating what they were being shown to the subject matter he was taught during his MSc.

After hard hats were taken off and site boots removed, Ian Russell the Project Director of the constructors Laing O’Rourke, gave a short presentation outlining the different phases of the construction. Ian explained to guests about the aims of the new build to achieve BREEAM excellence rating, an environment assessment method which sets the standard for best practise in sustainable building design.

After the presentation, Yannis Roussos the Capital Projects Director and architect for the new building hosted a question and answer session in the recently completed Abercrombie extension. In the Atrium, guests got the opportunity to ask questions about his role as the client’s representative. Students stated that it was useful to learn about how both Yannis and Ian interact (whilst using varying approaches) to make projects like this a success.

Alumnus Simon D Petty ’11 commented what a great opportunity the event was, “to explore the new facilities at Oxford Brookes and network with other MSc PMBE students and alumni on the fifth anniversary of the course”. After speaking to Yannis, staff from the department joined guests for a drinks reception in the Atrium which marked the close of the afternoon.