Teams from engineering companies Wood, Air Products, Stopford and combined DORIS UK & ODE Asset Management were the winners at the 44th ECITB ACTIVE Cup held at Cranfield School of Management. Wood took the prestigious winning place in the closely fought competition.
Eight teams took part in the high-pressure project management competition, which involves overseeing a simulated construction project. The teams of five contenders from Wood, Air Products & Stopford Engineering shared the top prizes while the team from DORIS UK and ODE Asset Management took the most improved accolade for their excellent performance.
This year’s scenario saw teams of five deliver a high-tech environmental monitoring centre along an industrialised stretch of South American river to a fixed price, negotiating loans and working under intense time pressure.
The winning team of the 44th ECITB Active Cup from Wood receiving their trophies from Andy Brown (ECITB). L-R: Eleanor Cross, James Kelliher, Mohaned Taha, Andy Brown, Alexander Gray, Daniel Davies, Haris Sufi.
Andy Brown, ECITB Director of Operations, said: “Project management competence is the absolute bedrock of effective delivery of projects in our industry. As the demand for industry to support our journey to Net Zero increases, project management capability will become even more critical, in particular the understanding of how to collaborate effectively which is a key feature of the Cranfield programme.”
Organised by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the ACTIVE Cup is run in collaboration with and hosted by Cranfield School of Management. Now in its 29th year, the ACTIVE Cup is just part of the ECITB’s wider project management training programmes aimed at raising skill levels within the engineering construction industry.
Dawn Thompson, ECITB Senior Account Manager, said: “Running a project is not for everybody, but everybody should understand how a project is run, and that is what the ACTIVE Cup teaches industry.
“Our companies tell us this is one of the best ways of developing their staff – some even have it written into their training plan for staff for their graduate employees. With so many glass trophies in board rooms around the country, combined with the fact that some companies having won the ACTIVE Cup nine or ten times, there’s always plenty of competition.”
