Green Gown Awards 2017 - University of Salford - Finalist

Gemma has explored the feasibility of a corrugated cardboard alternative to traditional flooring systems through her Masters dissertation project ‘Engineered Cardboard Origami Floor Joists’. Her novel joist design reduces the volume of raw materials required and the risk of manual handling accidents during construction.

GatorDuct, the cardboard used in the project was sourced through an industrial partnership, where Gemma was able to gain insight into the manufacturing processes. Her dissertation straddles subjects including sustainability, offsite construction, maker movement, numerical modelling, physical testing and health and safety in construction.

Her work has since received two awards from the IStructE and CIOB. Receiving these awards was a proud moment for Gemma ‘it’s fantastic to have my work recognised and great to be able to demonstrate the amazing projects going on at Salford University, who encouraged me to step outside the boundaries of a traditional dissertation subject’.

Top 3 learnings:

1 Do not be afraid to pursue the different ideas that research can generate.

2 Surround yourself with people who believe in you and support you.

3 Sustainable solutions can be identified by challenging traditional methods.

Videos

• Gemma Small (click to hide)