Swansea University Engineering student has been crowned Young Sustainability Champion

3rd December 2015

Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales inaugural Sustain Wales Awards ceremony was held at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff with an audience of national and international businesses and champions of sustainability in Wales. The awards were a chance to reward and highlight the great things people and organisations are doing on sustainable development. Cynnal Cymru aims to seek out and praise the best examples of their kind, cross-sector, across Wales.

Mousa, aged 22 and originally from Amman in Jordan, came to the UK straight from Jordan to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering at Swansea University in 2011. Mousa said: “I had several options from different Universities worldwide, however Swansea University was one of the most appealing at the time because of its great reputation in Civil Engineering which made it stand out as the best option, in addition to how close it is to the beach. A decision that I am proud of today!”

Mousa graduated in 2014 with a First Class Honours degree with most of his academic success from sustainability modules. He decided to carry on and do his MSc in Civil Engineering at Swansea due to his appointment as Vice-Chairman of the Institute of Civil Engineering Graduate and Student Group in Swansea and in addition obtaining a bursary from the University.

Mousa’s MSc thesis is looking into the effect Building Information Modelling (BIM) will have on sustainability and construction projects after the decision of “Level 2 BIM” is adapted to all public sector projects by March 2016. Mousa hopes that his enthusiasm for sustainability as well as his academic research will one day improve the engineering industry.

Speaking about his nomination and his success Mousa said: “I am involved in several Institute of Civil Engineering (ICE) groups and it all happened when I was in one of our meetings and got introduced to the Co Director of Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales Group.   

“The selection process for the awards involved answering several questions and filling in some questionnaires that required some detailed answers. This was then followed by global online voting, where a total of 5000 votes were recorded.
“I was one of the three finalists that were shortlisted for the Wales Young Sustainability Champion category. I decided to put my name under Swansea University, which eventually led me to represent the University in the final stages.

“It’s a great privilege and an honour to be named the first Wales Young Sustainability Champion. This award will certainly increase my motivation to work towards a more sustainable future both within the engineering sector and in my daily life.”

The inaugural Awards ceremony, promises to become a great event in the Welsh calendar. Derek Osborn, Cynnal Cymru Chair said: “It is an exciting time for Cynnal Cymru with the successful awards supported by great organisations from Wales and internationally. It was an evening of celebration which we hope will be followed by a year of collaboration, and we are all excited about what may come from these great organisations and individuals working together.”

Click here for more information about the Sustain Wales Awards. 

Source: Swansea University