About Constructionarium Australia.
Taking place at The Construction Training Centre in Salisbury builds are held during the university holidays and centre on two structures, a replica Story Bridge and a replica Eleanor Schonell Bridge.
Taking place at The Construction Training Centre in Salisbury builds are held during the university holidays and centre on two structures, a replica Story Bridge and a replica Eleanor Schonell Bridge.
Constructionarium Australia Limited was established as a not-for-profit organisation in July 2016. It builds upon a hugely successful concept that has been running for over a decade in the UK where cohorts of students participate each year from a range of different universities. Constructionarium Australia retains links to the UK Constructionarium.
We provide a safe environment for new engineers to develop team working skills, problem solving capabilities and real-world experience building a replica of a larger structure. Constructionarium is a hands-on learning experience – an exceptional opportunity for young professionals to develop practical project development, leadership and team skills.
Typically, students of the programme work as a team and together learn to plan, tender, build and handover a scale project – a challenge – that resembles an iconic civil engineering feat – bridge, building, tower, station, pumped hydro or other structure.
Constructionarium Australia aims to provide practical learning and real-world project experience for undergraduate, post-graduate and early-stage professionals in the construction and infrastructure industries as they work collaboratively to deliver an infrastructure project from tender to client handover.
We aim to create a generation of infrastructure and engineering professionals who:
Participants are drawn from across the sector, including students, engineers, designers and professionals from additional disciplines that support major project delivery. This includes specialists in cost control and scheduling, planning and environment, communications and stakeholder engagement, surveillance, safety, human resources and industrial relations and information technology.
By drawing from a diverse range of professions, we can more accurately replicate the workings of a real-world project and mirror the skills, roles and responsibilities required to complete a program of works successfully.
Each build includes training on the latest construction theory from industry experts and includes Lean Methodologies, BIM and Digital Engineering, Design Principles and Project Controls.
Each project includes a real build of an iconic structure such as the Story Bridge and includes a tender, construction phase, safety management and more.
An important part of Constructionarium Australia is our networks as we enable our cohorts to build relationships with their peers and industry.
Our first build was a Constructionarium Australia pilot program which launched on 29 August 2016 and ran for five days at the USQ Springfield campus. Early-career engineers from BMD, Aurecon and TMR worked together to construct a nine-metre-tall replica of the Barcelona TV Tower.
Since then, we have grown, creating three purpose built, reusable structures in Queensland – replicas of the Story and Eleanor Schonell bridges, as well as an operational pumped hydro (water battery) structure.
Over the coming years, we will continue to grow and develop, adding new locations, structures, expanded training opportunities, increased cross industry partnerships to become a vital practical training program, designed, developed and delivered by our industry for our industry.
Our board comprises of leaders in the construction and infrastructure sector, who give their time to help improve outcomes for our industry.
Passionate about innovation, developing meaningful collaborative partnerships and supporting early career professionals, Nicky has demonstrated expertise in building lasting successful partnerships needed to develop and deliver projects and take products to market. She has over twenty years’ experience in working with research organisations, universities, industry and government, and has been Director and Secretary at Constructionarium Australia since its establishment in 2016.
Nicky has a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry, a Dip Ed (Pass with Distinction) in Educational Stats and Psychology, an MBA and is an MAICD.
Kerrin is a lawyer with more than 25 years of experience. She was a partner in a boutique corporate law firm but left to pursue her passion of working with small to medium not-for-profit, research and start-up technology organisations as a consultant lawyer and governance advisor. As a lawyer, Kerrin works in the intellectual property, innovation and technology development space, where she has developed a reputation for her work constructing large-scale multi-party collaborative joint ventures in the research and IP commercialisation fields.
Kerrin also has over 15 years of experience working with not-for-profits, particularly community controlled indigenous organisations. Kerrin’s work in this area has been primarily in governance, assisting these organisations with drafting and reviewing their constitutions, reviewing their board and other governance structures, conducting governance training and facilitating with strategic planning and risk management.
As well as being a founding director of Constructionarium Australia Ltd, Kerrin is currently also a Director of the Institute for First Nations Governance Professionals Ltd and a Global Partner and Director of the Haines Centre for Strategic Management Ltd.
Tanya is a senior communications and stakeholder engagement expert, with a successful career representing major contractors, clients and joint ventures across construction and infrastructure.
With a strategic outlook and a talent for narrative, Tanya thrives on transforming construction sites into hubs of connection, understand, and advancement. Her career seamlessly blends corporate strategy with community empathy, positioning her as a beacon of goodwill that encourages a balanced relationship between organisations, key stakeholders and the communities they serve.
Tanya’s dedication lies in making lasting contributions to communities and pushing new boundary’s in advancing the industry’s dedication to responsible, sustainable development.
Mark has over 25 years of experience in leadership and management of infrastructure planning, design and construction. His speciality is transforming communities through the planning, design and delivery of major transport projects. Mark is Managing Director of HDR’s engineering practice in Australia.
Alex has 10 years construction industry experience and has spent another 8 years working as a teacher in schools and other government educational sectors. With Bidjara and Guarani heritage influences, the focus of his work is in building capacity towards realisation of Indigenous self-determination through community, economic and social engagement. He is a Specialist in Indigenous perspectives, technologies and community outreach, looking to help further foster positive contributions to construction industry practice in Australia. Alex is the founder and Director of the multi-industry-based company The Selva Vita Company based in Brisbane.
Debra is a passionate advocate for gender equality in the infrastructure sector and has previously worked with the UQ Women in Engineering Program and was the Sponsorship Chairperson for the National Association of Women in Construction (Queensland). Debra is currently a Board Member for the Infrastructure Association of Queensland (IAQ).
Currently a Senior Consultant, Roya has over 5 years’ experience in operations and project management on the client side. Roya is passionate about infrastructure, major projects and collaboration between designers, contractors and clients to achieve innovative and optimal outcomes. Roya is able to understand business needs and deliver results whilst clearly communicating with key stakeholders. This has been proven through her leadership on award winning projects, being a 2022 Top 4 Finalist in Engineers Australia Project Excellence Awards for QLD, IWEAQ Asset Management Award Winner 2022 and Tunnelling Festival Awards 2022 Finalist.
Roya is a Chartered Professional Engineer in Civil Engineering and Project Management disciplines with a Civil & Environmental Engineering Bachelors qualification. Roya is currently studying her MBA with aspirations to perfect her skills in being an inspirational leader in infrastructure working on meaningful things and making an impact.