Construction Industry Plan to Attract Future Construction Workers with Gaming

11th July 2017

School students in Scotland will be the first to trial a new computer game, developed at Ulster University and endorsed by Morgan Sindall, designed to attract the next generation of construction workers.

BeIMCraft was developed by the University department in conjunction with a construction consultant to give young people a greater understanding of the industry, and how technology plays a vital part.

 

The game, based loosely on the Minecraft platform, gives players the opportunity to create a 3D world, yet encourages them to consider planning challenges, health and safety objectives, structural issues, sustainability and cost when creating their city.

This is accurately representative of the Building Information Modelling process (BIM), a building project management platform in a 3D environment - which is experiencing growth in the construction sector. The University participants attended the European BIM Summit held in Barcelona, Spain, to deliver their game to professional industry attendees.

MD of Morgan Sindall Construction in Scotland, Mr Stuart Parker, is delighted with BeIMCraft and is hopeful that it will encourage an entire generation of Scottish students to consider the construction industry sector for their future careers. He said, 'We are always looking for new and innovative ways to encourage pupils to develop skills and understanding of the construction process. As a main contractor, it is vital we play our part in attracting the next generation to the industry. BeIMCraft is perfect for this, as it takes something familiar to thousands of children and puts it to a new use. We are sure it will be a hit in our schools.'

The project is being trialled in Scotland, with funding in place by Morgan Sindall for 12 months.

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