T.EN E&C Limited won the 52nd ACTIVE Cup project management competition as nine teams from companies in the engineering construction industry (ECI) competed at Cranfield University near Milton Keynes.
Now in its 31st year, the event was the third of three ACTIVE Cup events this year, after teams from Aker Solutions Ltd and Subsea 7 came out on top in January and March respectively.
Meet the winners
T.EN E&C, a global technology and engineering company providing engineering design for the petrochemical industry, claimed the coveted title after one of its two competing teams, ‘Parrot Protectors’, came out on top after three days of competition.
The Milton Keynes-based team (pictured) was made up of process engineers Taran Toor and Bethany Lam, Ukesh Bharathi Radhakrishnan, a senior design HSE engineer, project engineer Aisha Ejaz and Nikhil Chelorakandy, who is a principal mechanical engineer.
Reacting to the win, Taran said: “It was a great weekend, we got a lot out of it. We worked well together as a team and we’re really happy with how we did.
“It was very intense, but in a good way. The simulation structure works really well, the timings make it intense, so we had to make decisions quickly.
“We learned that working cohesively as a team doesn’t mean doing everything together and having a consensus. Leadership means having the right people in the right places.
“Technical skills we learned were project management principles, but we also learned soft skills like teamworking and decision making.”
ACTIVE Cup an ‘invaluable experience’
Teams from Johnson Matthey (Gold Award) and Saipem (Silver Winner) were the runners up in an event organised by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and run in collaboration with, and hosted by, Cranfield School of Management.
Jamie Duncan, who is a graduate process engineer at Johnson Matthey, said: “It was a fun, insightful weekend and we developed a lot.
“We learned not just about project management but about quick thinking, communication and strategy. Decision making was probably the biggest learning and that we need to take a step back to reflect and make the right decision.
“We also learned that ‘the plan’ shouldn’t be concrete so that we have the ability to adapt.”
The Most Improved Award went to the ‘Numentum’ team from Amentum/Nuvia, while the remaining cohorts came from EIC companies Genesis, McDermott Marine Construction Limited and two teams from McDermott Energy Solutions (UK) Ltd.
Graduate Project Manager Fleur de Sarandy, of the Numentum team, added: “The event is very fast paced with lots of learning involved. It was an invaluable experience. I really enjoyed meeting and working with new people.”
Pictured: The Amentum/Nuvia ‘Numentum’ team working on and giving its presentation at the ACTIVE Cup.
Simulated project management experience
The ACTIVE Cup is part of the ECITB’s wider project management training programmes aimed at raising skill levels within the ECI.
It involves teams of up to five managing a project from concept through to completion with the aim of making the most profit against their initial cost.
The competition sees teams manage a simulated project through an execution phase of 28 weeks and tests skills such as planning, cost control, negotiation, working under intense time pressure and collaboration.
ECITB Chief Executive Andrew Hockey, who was on hand to give out prizes to the winners, said: “Congratulations to T.EN E&C Limited and all the teams that took part in what is a high-pressure competition testing a range of project management skills. I’d also like to thank the respective employers for supporting their teams.
“By putting on practical learning events like this, the ECITB is helping ensure the industry and our employers across the ECI have the project management skills needed to run projects.
“I would encourage anyone that has not participated before to consider doing so in the future so that they too can benefit from this fantastic experience.”
Pictured: ECITB’s Andrew Hockey handing Jamie Duncan of Johnson Matthey his award. Images by Martyn Thompson, Photography MK Ltd
