A Cardiff University student is to represent South Wales in a prestigious national property competition. Devangi Depala, studying BSc Architectural Engineering competed against 3 other students studying on built environment degree courses, to win the regional heat of the eighth Association of Women in Property (WiP) National Student Awards. She will now go through to the national final at Claridge’s in London, in September when she will compete against ten other young women from across the UK.
Helen James, Chairman of the South Wales branch of WiP, congratulated Devangi on her win, saying, “Devangi has done incredibly well to get this far. These Awards challenge the entrants to really think hard about the work they’re doing and the impact they as individuals might have on the built environment.
“The judges, who are all from different property disciplines, are looking for someone pretty special as, after all, these young women are the future of the industry. Women in Property wishes Devangi every success in the national Final. We know she’ll do South Wales proud.”
Chris Sutton of JLL presented Devangi with her award. Because the standards were so high, the judges also created a Highly Commended award, which went to Jasmine Jones studying MEng Civil Engineering at Cardiff University, presented to her by Rachel Jones of Seren Contractors.
Elinor Weekley of Awards sponsor, RICS Wales commented; “We are honoured to be part of such a fantastic event, celebrating the achievements of Welsh women in property and construction. It’s encouraging to see an exceptionally high standard of entries for these prestigious accolades. We are already looking forward to next year.”
Devangi receives a cheque for £300 and a trophy. She said;
“I would like to thank the judging panel for their time and I would like to thank my parents and my university tutor for their support and encouragement. This has been a fantastic experience and I’ve learned a lot.”
In addition to Devangi there were three other regional finalists, all of whom were nominated by their Universities. They were invited to go before a judging panel of industry experts, where they were questioned on a piece of coursework and topical industry issues. The other finalists were:-
Jasmine Jones, Cardiff University, MEng Civil Engineering
Edyta Ratecka, University of South Wales, BSc Hons Project Management
Rebecca Sladen, Cardiff University, BSc City & Regional Planning
The 2014 judging panel included:
Helen James, JLL
Sinead Lawlor, AMCO Rail
Ann-Marie Smale, Powell Dobson
Jonathan Smart, DTZ
The facilitator was Ian Holiday.
The national ‘Best of Best’ black tie dinner will be held at Claridge’s on Wednesday 17 th September.