The fivefold increase in responses compared to the previous year leads to impressive contributions from the leading minds in the field of sustainable construction of tomorrow.
ATLANTA, GA, December 18, 2024 – Applied Software, GRAITEC Group, a leading software developer in the AEC, construction and manufacturing industries, has announced the winners of its 2024 competition.Keep AEC green” Scholarship Essay Contest. This initiative encourages high school students to explore careers in sustainable construction. The competition attracted over 1,000 students in its second year, a significant increase from 200 participants in 2023. Participants explored and creatively addressed a variety of challenges in the environmental and construction industries, proposing innovative solutions with thoughtful implementation strategies.
Many participants presented existing innovations and solutions and examined in detail how they could impact future society and global climate change. The winning entries were able to go one step further and develop unique and convincing arguments for very creative solutions.
“We were thoroughly impressed with this year's entries,” said Scott McMaster, Executive Vice President of Applied Software, GRAITEC Group. “Many students went far beyond what we considered high school level research and presentation. Some of the submissions make excellent arguments for their solutions and we hope this recognition motivates students to further develop their ideas.”
The judges from Applied Software, GRAITEC Group, awarded first place and $1,000 to Munawar Ali, a sophomore at Elkins High School (Missouri City, TX), for an essay that included detailed research and designs on transforming biomass waste from the corn harvest into a sustainable building material called Cornstruct. The proposed solution could have far-reaching environmental and economic benefits in developing countries. Ali's school will also receive a $500 donation for its technology innovation or similar program from Applied Software, GRAITEC Group.
Second place winner Anika Deshpande of Mainland Regional High School (Linwood, NJ) will receive $300 for a paper exploring lower-cost, high-efficiency alternatives to precious metal catalysts for the advancement of PEC Water splitting technologies are required in the production of green hydrogen.
Fiona Chandler of Durango High School (Durango, CO) was awarded third place and will receive $250 to design a fascinating solution that integrates AI to help facility managers properly use complicated technology for more sustainable building operations .
To meet the growing demands of the population, the global construction industry is expected to build new infrastructure at an unprecedented pace. Yet it is woefully understaffed, resulting in a workforce gap estimated at around 500,000 unfilled jobs. The “Keep AEC greenThe aim of the scholarship is to reach as many students as possible and generate interest in developing future skills. It will take time for programs like this to develop new talent and fill needed construction jobs, but it is one of many steps Applied Software, GRAITEC Group is taking to help close the workforce gap.
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